Would You Read a Book that is Insanely Difficult?

"The Interpretation of Dasein in its everydayness, however, is not identical with the describing of some primitive stage of Dasein with which we can become acquainted empherically through the medium of anthropology: Everydayness does not coincide with primitiveness, but is rather a mode of Dasein's being, even when that Dasein is active in a highly differentiated culture - and precisely then."
~Martin Heidegger

Two months ago the search for the world's most difficult books came to an end.  The adventurous and brave reader will be dared to give them a try.  Click over to Publishers Weekly for the list.

When boredom strikes or when the mind needs some push, I love to be challenged.  It adds that spice in everyday that one needs once in a while.

This is why I picked up Heidegger's Being and Time.  I got this in 2009, about the same time as The Million started its quest for the most difficult books.

I've read, reread, and reread it over and over for more than the number my fingers and toes can count but I can never get past page 77 or part 1.  And each time I end up with more forehead wrinkles accompanied by a headache.

"The 'essence' [Wesen] of this entity lies in its "to be" [Zu-sein].  It's Being-what-it-is [Was-sein] (essentia) must, so far as we can speak of it at all, be conceived in terms of its Being (existentia)."

~Heidegger

...See what I mean?
The book drives me crazy!
His intelligence is so demanding!
But those are some of the things that makes the world of reading fun.

Back to the question: Would you read a book that is insanely difficult?

♥

When History becomes Fiction

There has been news about recalling from shelves and halting publishing of The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths you've always Believed About Thomas Jefferson due to inaccuracies and misinterpretations made by the author.  You can read the full story here.

There are numerous reasons why, if not careful, historians or writers can turn history into fiction.  History is such a gigantic subject.  It is a given that historians tend to be biased on their subject or topic based on their beliefs and prejudices.

But when someone writes history by interpreting it to suit their bias they are then writing, well, fiction.

Also, history has countless points-of-view and the historian is limited to their chosen few to tell the story.  Therefore, it is important to have reliable sources regarding their chosen point-of-view.  But with archives and archives, and books and books of information available, this is not an easy task.

Learning from not so distant past I have no plans of reading The Jefferson Lies.

Have you read this book?

The Secret Wife of Louis XIV.  I picked this up from a discount rack of second hand books.  I was smittened with it until I searched the web for more information on the author and the book itself.

One of the author's secondary sources for this book is The Secret Diary of Louis the XIV.  Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?  It turns out that source is a fiction written by an academic imagining the contents of Louis XIV's diary if he ever had one.  How come the author of The Secret Wife..., who had a critically acclaimed book on a queen of Sweden, did not know this source is fiction?

It is heart-breaking for readers, damaging for writers, and a headache for publishers when a history book that seems promising end as being unreliable.

♥