My recent read of Soul Mountain got me thinking: what is the value of reading difficult books? But before I even begin thinking about the value of difficult books, I had to ask:
What is a difficult book?
The way I see it, difficult books can fall into three categories:
- Emotionally difficult to read: these books may have a clear storyline and it’s easy to follow along, but they handle sensitive and emotionally charged topics. These books don’t have to be for adult – for example, The Weight of Our Sky tackles difficult subjects and I’d consider it emotionally difficult to read.
- Technically difficult to read: These books can be extremely academic/technical or just poorly written – either way, it’s hard to follow what they’re saying unless you’re very patient or trained in academic lingo. You could probably divide this category into two since academic/technical books are intentionally written this way but I’d say that since both types are inaccessible, they can be grouped together.
- Intentionally difficult to read: These are often, in my opinion, literary fiction. The writers have intentionally employed an unconventional and/or experimental way of telling the story in order to layer the story with meaning. For me, books like Soul Mountain, Noli Me Tangere, and The Zenith would fall under this category.
What is the Value of Reading Difficult Books?
So what is the value of these books?
Emotionally difficult to read: I think these can have great value. One of the most rewarding aspects of reading is that you get to inhabit the lives and worldviews of people you may not meet frequently (or ever). For example, The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf is an amazing book but because it covers a very difficult part of Malaysian history and the sensitive topic of racism, was hard to stomach at times. And because of that, books are one of the best tools we have to break down walls between people. A well-told story can probably change people’s opinions on a touchy subject – perhaps far better than the most well-constructed argument – because they move people’s hearts.
Technically difficult to read: This is easy – don’t bother unless there’s information that you need from this. I recently read (and discussed) an article with a group of friends, and because the article wasn’t well-written, a lot of time was wasted on parsing the meaning of the text. Given that we were the target audience, it was frustrating. A lot of people mentioned that they wouldn’t have bothered reading the article if we weren’t discussing it. I think that the point of academic reading is to be accessible, at least to its intended audience, so unless there’s great meaning in a technically difficult piece of work, there isn’t much point in reading.
Intentionally difficult to read: This was the hardest for me to ascribe value to. Clearly, people see value in such works, as they’re often chosen for translation or win literary prizes. Sam Leith from The Guardian argues that we confuse readability with literary value, although he also admits that “[j]ust because literary fiction doesn’t necessarily tell a story (though it usually at some level does), and frequently spars with its own form, and tends to pay attention to its language, it doesn’t mean that by turning all those things up to 11 you’ve created a worthwhile work of art”.
It’s the second point that I wrestle with. How do we determine when an intentionally difficult has literary merit and when it’s just bad writing?
After all, I’m sure that there are people who created what we judge to be ‘bad writing’ often think that they are being intentionally difficult and that the world just doesn’t understand their genius. There are also books that are lauded by critics or other readers that I just don’t get.
Even after a few days (weeks!) of thinking, I don’t have a good answer. I’d like to say that we should just let the experts decide, but my ToK presentation on What is Literature all those years ago taught me that there’s no global authority on literature; even the Nobel Prize for Literature has some serious blind spots in terms of the books that get nominated and win. And let’s be honest, what’s one person’s idea of genius for literature (or any type of art) may be another person’s trash. I was talking with my friend and we went round and round between “well everyone has their preferences” and “I would not be happy if (x piece of art/literature) is considered as good as (y piece we don’t really think is art/literature)”.
What do you think? Do you intentionally seek difficult books to read? And how do you differentiate between a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ book, apart from your personal preference (and technical things like grammar)?
Of the different types of difficult books, I find myself most seeking out the emotionally difficult ones. I really do like books that make me draw out strong emotions. And a bonus is being able to step inside someone else’s shoes for awhile, into a lifestyle or culture different from my own. There is also another factor that attracts me to those types of books though. I am not the most expressive person. Growing up, my dad’s moods shifted so often that I never knew what would set him off, and so I learned to suppress my own emotions and reactions. In my work, I have to keep my emotions separate because of the nature of my job dealing with trauma. As a result, I find reading books that help bring out my emotions to be therapeutic in a way.
I do not read a lot of technically difficult books. I did when I was in school and occasionally will pick one up now if the topic really interests me, but it isn’t often.
I do enjoy literary fiction from time to time. A beautiful turn of phrase can make me swoon (figuratively, anyway). I do not think literary fiction has to be difficult to read. Sometimes it can be, but it isn’t always that way. What is considered literary fiction is a bit subjective as it is, just as what someone would find good writing versus bad writing. I think we all ascribe varying value to what equals good and bad, depending on our preferences and experiences.
I agree we assign value based on our preferences. I’ve enjoyed some literary fiction too, but the more experimental ones tend not to be as satisfying to me (or I don’t get why they are so lauded).
Emotionally difficult books are the most rewarding type of difficult book for me. Depending on their intensity, they can be exhausting but they are often cathartic as well.
Fantastic post!! I really think it can be important to read emotionally difficult books, because it helps to expand our horizons and be more empathetic. I also think you can learn a lot from technically difficult books as well. I’m not sure I’m crazy about intentionally difficult books to be fair- because for a lot of the time if they don’t fit into the above two categories as well, I don’t know whether I think they’re any good.
Haha same! I’m really not good with experimental fiction so I find it hard to read and it doesn’t resonate with me :p