Friday Mood Recs: 8 books that prove a novel can be both complex and entertaining
I have loved reading all of your thoughts about “the end of reading.” I’ve found it fascinating to see our varying reactions to it as well as your insightful ideas about working to resist a theoretical slide into postliteracy.
One of my points of agreement with the piece is on the importance of practicing the skill of reading complex texts. I know I recognize for myself that it is growing harder and harder to read books that demand my focus, rereading, and interpretation. I’ve gotten used to books I can breeze through and gathering the effort to read something that requires a little more effort can be a seriously uphill battle.
But that doesn’t mean that complex books are all work and no fun. In fact, the interpretive work of more challenging texts is what I love about them. I don’t like having themes served to me on a silver platter. And more sophisticated language doesn’t negate drama, intrigue, and all-around plottiness. Today I’m sharing eight books I love that I would say are both entertaining and complex. These books aren’t all “complex” in the same way. I’ve included long books, books with complicated syntax and sophisticated diction, books with many characters and threads to follow, books that force you to pay attention to subtext, books with inventive structures, and books that require inference and interpretation to really appreciate. All of them require some amount of effort or friction to read, but are also engaging, entertaining, emotional, immersive reads.
