Reading path
The Difficult Masterpieces (Worth It Edition)
Let us be honest: some of the greatest books ever written are intimidating. Long, dense, formally challenging, or just plain hard. This path does not pretend otherwise. But every work here repays the effort many times over. Think of this as the path for readers who want the summit, not the scenic overlook. Bring patience. Bring coffee. The view from the top is worth every step.
In the app a path keeps your place, marks what you have read, and hands you the next work when you are ready for it.
The first button needs the app on this device; the second gets it there.
The route
- 1. UlyssesJames Joyce, 1922
- 2. In Search of Lost TimeMarcel Proust, 1913
- 3. War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy, 1869
- 4. The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky, 1880
- 5. The Divine ComedyDante Alighieri, 1308
- 6. Paradise LostJohn Milton, 1667
- 7. Moby-DickHerman Melville, 1851
- 8. The Magic MountainThomas Mann, 1924
- 9. Gravity's RainbowThomas Pynchon, 1973
- 10. MiddlemarchGeorge Eliot, 1872
- 11. Infinite JestDavid Foster Wallace, 1996
- 12. 2666Roberto Bolaño, 2004
- 13. Bleak HouseCharles Dickens, 1853
- 14. The Tale of GenjiMurasaki Shikibu, 1010
- 15. Finnegans WakeJames Joyce, 1939
- 16. The New ScienceGiambattista Vico, 1725
- 17. The Death of VirgilHermann Broch, 1945
- 18. KaputtCurzio Malaparte, 1944
- 19. Doctor FaustusThomas Mann, 1947
- 20. Auto Da FéElias Canetti, 1935
- 21. First FolioWilliam Shakespeare, 1623
- 22. The Devil to Pay in the BacklandsJoao Guimaraes Rosa, 1956
- 23. JealousyAlain Robbe-Grillet, 1957
- 24. The Education of Henry AdamsHenry Adams, 1907
- 25. ParadisoJosé Lezama Lima, 1966
- 26. The Golden BowlHenry James, 1904
- 27. The Principia MathematicaAlfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell, 1910
- 28. Principia MathematicaIsaac Newton, 1687