For me personally: Triton. I remember reading it 25+ years ago. I really had to fight through it, after circa half of it I put it away and never touched it again.
So remarkably not my favorite book that I still feel the exhaustion when thinking about it.
I thought Their Eyes Were Watching God was really rough to read through because Hurston was trying to phonetically write out how her characters spoke and it was painful to read through.
And I like how it is somewhat discussed in American Fiction through the different writers and their approaches to black literature.
Can't remember the name but there's a novel set in Ireland in the not-too-distant future
Synopsis implied it had become a surveillance state but didn't gave up before confirming due to the literal writing style
I swear every sentence was written in the passive voice (poorly remembered examples):
"It was made known through the clothes he wore they were sent from the department of security"
"As she walked outside the smell made Spring's arrival clear"
Totally fine normally but do it every single sentence and it becomes a mystery novel where the mystery is what the hell you just read!
... Or idk, Harry Potter 5 is pretty meandering
Are you sure it wasn't set in Scotland? Charlie Stross wrote a novel a bit like you describe, its in the second person, which is very unusual and definitely rubs some people the wrong way. I think it was Halting State.
Doesn't sound familiar but I understand there's very little to go off here
The Executioners Song
Court of Thorns and Roses. It came highly recommended by my sister and many others.
I get the appeal, an adult retelling of classic fantasy. But it felt like it was written just to be edgey, sexy and proactive. Which is fine if that's what you are wanting, lots of media does this. I was just hoping for a new angle or dimension on Beauty and the Beast, not just a sexy B&B. I guess that does count as a new angle, but not one for me.
Any author of the french mouvement réalisme.
I've read some utter wank in my day, but the one that first springs to mind is Fault in their Stars by John Green.
Had to read Animal Farm for school. Haven't read it since then, so this could be a now incorrect edgy high school opinion, but I felt that its allegory was so obvious and direct that it had no need to be written and was a waste of time to read when we could've just directly discussed communism instead.
i recommend reading 1984 to get a more refined look at the author's views. A lot of people read animal farm first and think the premise purely amounts to 'communism bad' and stop there. Whereas i suspect most people that started with 1984 eventually still read animal farm and come away with a more nuanced take for both.
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