10 Great Books That Are Hard To Read Today

Image via Mondadori/Joshua Reynolds Published Oct 26, 2026, 7:05 AM EDT Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel. A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated. Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point. Sign in to your Collider account Books don't only age physically; they also age culturally as society's values, social norms, language, and artistic preferences evolve over time. Sometimes, great classics are so timeless that you can barely tell they were written decades ago. Other times, no matter how great a book is, it can become significantly harder to read over time for one reason or another. Whether it's because it's abnormally long, uses language that feels archaic by modern standards, or depicts certain elements of society in ways that simply wouldn't fly today, these books can be somewhat hard to read today. Nevertheless, the effort is worth it. We are, after all, talking about books that are almost undeniably among the greatest classics ever written. It's worth noting that this is a list of books that have become hard to read with the years' passage, not books that were specifically designed to be hard to read in the first place. 'Robinson Crusoe' (1719) Image via CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform Written by Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe is widely credited as the very beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre, and is sometimes even regarded as the first true English novel. Written as a combination of epistolary, confessional, and didactic genres, the story follows a castaway who learns to master his environment after surviving a shipwreck and spending 28 years marooned on a remote tropical island. There are several reasons why the book is much harder to read today than it surely must have been back in the early 18th century, when it became an instant commercial success. Defoe's archaic prose can be pretty challenging, Crusoe's religious meditations can grow exhausting after a while, and the depiction of colonial and racial dynamics is quite problematic. Even then, this is one of those classic adventure books that are still must-read material in 2026, thanks to Defoe's commitment to psychological realism and his ability to make the survival genre feel irresistibly entertaining. 'Paradise Lost' (1667) Image via Simon & Schuster One of the most famous, important, and culturally impactful epic poems ever written, John Milton's Paradise Lost is a masterpiece written in blank verse, about Satan plotting revenge against God by tricking the newly-created Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Widely considered one of the most artistically significant achievements in the history of the English language, this is a monumental work of literature, theology, and philosophy alike. Paradise Lost is philosophically dense to a fault, and Milton's frequent structuring of certain sentences using Latin grammar makes for some incredibly challenging passages. But even though reading Milton's magnum opus is something akin to summiting the Mount Everest of English-language classics, it's nevertheless thoroughly worth it. Sublime in its artistic value, intellectually delightful, and with a level of philosophical depth that's impossible to not appreciate, it's a true must-read for those with the courage to tackle it. 'Heart of Darkness' (1899) Independently Published Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is almost universally regarded as one of the best novellas of all time, one whose scathing critique of European colonialism in Africa shattered Victorian literary conventions, exposing the moral rot of European imperialism for all to see. In it, a sailor travels up the Congo River to find a mysterious ivory trader, who has lost his mind and set himself up as a god among local native tribes. Originally published as a three-part serial in Blackwood's Magazine, and then published in book form for the first time in 1902, Heart of Darkness has remained one of the most widely studied and discussed works of late-19th-century English literature for over a century. But even though its psychological intensity is unmatched and its warnings against moral hubris and colonialism are timeless, Conrad's prose is remarkably dense. Furthermore, even though its intentions of critiquing European imperialism were good, the book still features racist terminology, dehumanizing language, and inescapable Victorian stereotypes. ‘Ivanhoe’ (1819) Image via Bantam Classics Credited with greatly renewing interest in chivalric and Medieval romance for Georgian-era readers, Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe is a sweeping tale. In it, disinherited Saxon knight Wilfred of Ivanhoe returns from the Crusades to win a tournament, rescue his captured family and friends from Norman lords, and defend a Jewish healer from false witchcraft charges. Featuring characters like Robin Hood and King Richard the Lionheart, it's one of the most essential works of Medieval fiction from the 19th century. Originally published in three volumes, Ivanhoe may surprise unassuming fans of modern chivalric literature today with its dense prose, uneven pacing, archaic dialogue, and frequent pauses to deliver lectures on elements of Medieval English society. "Hard to read," however, by no means equals "not worth reading." Ivanhoe is a surprisingly cinematic and immensely entertaining masterpiece of adventure literature, with some unforgettable action set pieces and fascinatingly complex characters. 'Moby-Dick; or, The Whale' (1851) Image via Penguin Classics The debate on what "The Great American Novel" could possibly be is perhaps inherently never-ending. There have, after all, been many incredible books worthy of the title written over the centuries, including Herman Melville's Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, better known simply as Moby-Dick. It's the story of a vengeful sea captain who drives his whaling crew to their doom while obsessively hunting down the giant white sperm whale that took his leg. The book received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure upon publication, going out of print by the time Melville died in 1891. It wouldn't be until the 20th century that it would begin to garner a reputation as one of the greatest works of American literature in history; and today, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who wouldn't consider it a must-read. However, it can be a daunting read, mostly because of its philosophical density and exhaustive use of highly technical 19th-century whaling language. 'Uncle Tom’s Cabin' (1852) Image via Suzeteo Enterprises Published as an anti-slavery novel in two volumes, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is widely credited with having helped to shift public opinion on slavery, acting as a major catalyst for the American Civil War. This best-selling cultural sensation follows the paths of Uncle Tom, an enslaved man sold away from his family, and Eliza, a mother who flees to Canada with her young son to escape being separated from him. But even though it's one of the most politically explosive novels in American history, making it essential reading for anyone even slightly interested in American history as a whole, it can nevertheless be an uncomfortable read today. Its intentions and importance are still appreciated, but it's difficult to deny that its use of heavy religious melodrama, paternalistic tropes, and racial stereotypes hasn't exactly aged the best. 'War and Peace' (1869) Image via Vintage Classics Russian writer Leo Tolstoy is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important authors in the history of literature, and there's really not much of a question as to what his magnum opus is: War and Peace, one of the most universally acclaimed books of all time. Monumentally epic in scale yet surprisingly intimate and human in scope, it completely shattered contemporary narrative rules and redefined what the medium of the novel was capable of achieving. It follows five aristocratic Russian families as they navigate the many upheavals of the Napoleonic Wars. Over a century and a half later, War and Peace is still every bit as admirable, a blueprint for epic storytelling whose influence can be felt across innumerable novels to this day. But while anyone who loves literary classics should read it before they kick the bucket, that's pretty much bound to be a challenging task. Spanning over 1,200 pages in most presentations, it's a true colossus of a novel with so many characters and footnotes, and such philosophical heaviness that it's not exactly well-suited for people who aren't already avid bookworms. 'The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling' (1749) Image via CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (also known simply as Tom Jones) is one of the greatest coming-of-age and picaresque novels of the 18th century. It's actually one of the earliest English works to be classified as a novel, covering the life of a good-hearted foundling who's banished from his adoptive home, going on to discover his noble birth and try to win the hand of the woman he loves. The book greatly helped reshape and redefine the scope of the traditional English novel, and has thus endured the test of time as a metafictional and genre-bending classic unlike any other. But though it's a foundational pillar of English comedic fiction, it's also incredibly long, hugely episodic, and full of satirizations of 18th-century English social conventions that aren't at all easy to catch for those not in the know. 'Don Quixote' (1605–1615) Image via Penguin Classics There's really not much of a question as to what the single most important piece of writing in the history of the Spanish language is: It has to be Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, the first modern novel and one of the best adventure book masterpieces of all time. It was published in two parts and tells the story of the titular character, an aging Spanish gentleman who loses his mind from reading too many chivalric romances and sets out across the countryside with his pragmatic squire, Sancho Panza, in order to fight foes who are merely figments of his imagination. By blending high and low cultures, as well as tragedy and realism, Cervantes completely redefined what literature could do, and even helped greatly shape and standardize the modern Spanish language (which is sometimes given the moniker of "the language of Cervantes"). But though it's one of the greatest achievements in the history of world literature, it should come as no surprise that, as the first true modern novel, its entertainment value isn't exactly up to modern standards. Its parody of Medieval chivalric romances may not feel all that timely anymore; its episodic nature can get somewhat tiring, and its baroque prose can be challenging regardless of what language one reads it in. 'Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady' (1748) Image via Penguin Classics Since Samuel Richardson rewrote and republished it several times, many versions of the epistolary masterpiece Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady exist. In all its versions, however, it's considered one of the longest novels in the history of the English language, containing nearly a million words (amounting to around 1,500 pages in most standard print editions). It follows the titular Clarissa, a virtuous young woman fleeing a forced marriage, who's tricked and imprisoned by a manipulative man. Clarissa was an immediate cultural phenomenon across Europe at the time of its publication and brought an unprecedented sense of psychological realism to English literature. Its length, however, is inevitably intimidating, as is its slow-burning pacing and archaic approach to the epistolary format. As if that weren't enough, the story is incredibly dark and tragic, making it all the harder to get through the whole thing. Even so, many fans of classic English literature consider reading the entirety of Clarissa a huge goal, and for good reason. It is, after all, one of the greatest masterpieces of the 18th century.