What is the most challenging book ever written?

Answer 1

I'll second Finnegan's wake by James Joyce. Practically every word is a multi-lingual pun, and the narrative itself is one long dream sequence. Ten pages of that and you'll appreciate how plain-spoken and down-to-earth Ulysses is.

Answer 2

As the lone writer stated, there is indeed no future tense in English. The word 'will' is a modal auxiliary verb, used in English to express the speaker's attitude to the likelihood of an event occurring. We use it in a way that expresses futurity, but in terms of linguistics, no inflected future form exists. We only have past and non-past. However, for the sake of your question, there isn't really any problem with referring to the use of 'will' as future tense. By the way, very interesting concept you have here. It's like having your fortune read. I think it would be quite fun to read actually, but only as a short story. I can't imagine anything more god-awful than reading 300 pages of your future (which you know to be fake anyway). Another thing to note about this so-called 'future' tense. You will find when you write such a story, that you can get away without using 'will' for the most part, and still express futurity. I guess that's another reason why English doesn't have true future tense. In a language with true future tense, you would not be able to mix it with present. Here's a mind-bending second-person future tense paragraph for your enjoyment. (I actually confused the hell out of myself while writing it). "Four weeks from now, you will enter an old, abandoned house, and climb the rotten panels of the termite-infested staircase in the centre of the room. At the top of the stairs, you will see a door slightly ajar. You slip through the gap and enter into the master bedroom, where you will find a note lying on the bed. The note will say 'This is all in your imagination, for English has no future tense. The narrator is simply expressing an affirmative attitude to events that are likely to occur in the future, but might not.' You will place the note back upon the pillow in utter dismay, and you will realise that I, the narrator, will have been tricking you into thinking that these events are transpiring, because until this future point in time, you will have believed that there is a future tense in English. But alas, these future events will no longer be able to occur, because you now know that future tense does not exist in English, so you will no longer be surprised when you read the note, unlike what I previously said." Hmm... I kind of like this pseudo-future tense. Much more interesting than present tense novels. (ahh how I despise present tense novels)

Answer 3

The House of Leaves.

Answer 4

Ulysses by James Joyce.

Answer 5

Finnegan's wake by James Joyce.

Answer 6

The Odyssey by Homer

Answer 7

I'd say "The Brothers Karamazov" because each lines seems to be so densely packed with theological and philosophical issues.

Answer 8

Being and Time by Martin Heidegger

Answer 9

I would have to say the worlds fore most religious texts