The World’s Most Difficult Books – No Place on Earth, Part 3

Welcome back to my reread of the Guardian’s list of the world’s most difficult books. Previous entries can be found here. This is the third part of the No Place on Earth review in which I’ll be tackling pages 25-50. What happens: When we left them, Kleist and von Gunderrode were both attending an afternoon tea party, neither of them particularly enjoying it. They are aware of each other, sensing a kindred spirit, but have made no move to speak. In pages 25-50, Kleist eavesdrops on a conversation between von Gunderrode and Clemens Bretano, the brother of her friend Bettine in which they discuss von Gunderrode’s character. This causes Kleist to reflect on his own relationship with his ex-fiancée Wilhelmine and how he did not have romantic feelings for her. He notes that he has a bad habit of reflecting on the past, or looking to the future rather than living in the present. Despite his sharing his dreams of death with his fiancé, they shared no emotional intimacy. Once again, Kleist touches on his feelings of depression and the choice he faces of allowing it to overpower him, or to deal with it and live a hum-drum boring existence….

The World’s Most Difficult Books – No Place on Earth, Part 3

Welcome back to my reread of the Guardian’s list of the world’s most difficult books. Previous entries can be found here. This is the third part of the No Place on Earth review in which I’ll be tackling pages 25-50. What happens: When we left them, Kleist and von Gunderrode were both attending an afternoon tea party, neither of them particularly enjoying it. They are aware of each other, sensing a kindred spirit, but have made no move to speak. In pages 25-50, Kleist eavesdrops on a conversation between von Gunderrode and Clemens Bretano, the brother of her friend Bettine in which they discuss von Gunderrode’s character. This causes Kleist to reflect on his own relationship with his ex-fiancée Wilhelmine and how he did not have romantic feelings for her. He notes that he has a bad habit of reflecting on the past, or looking to the future rather than living in the present. Despite his sharing his dreams of death with his fiancé, they shared no emotional intimacy. Once again, Kleist touches on his feelings of depression and the choice he faces of allowing it to overpower him, or to deal with it and live a hum-drum boring existence….

The World’s Most Difficult Books – No Place on Earth, Part 1

So, my copy of No Place on Earth has finally arrived, and I’m ready to make a start on my blog challenge to read the World’s Ten Most Difficult Books as defined by The Guardian. I plan to follow a similar format to Leigh Butler’s wonderful Ice and Fire reading blog; that is, I will read a few chapters each week, note what happens and my reactions to it. I hope to post once a week. Before I get into No Place on Earth, some background information. Christa Wolf was born on March 18, 1929, in Landsberg, which is now Gorzow, Poland. Her father joined the Nazi Party and she became a member of the girls’ version of the Hitler Youth. In 1949, she joined the Socialist Unity Party and studied German literature at universities in Jena and Leipzig. She wrote numerous novels during her lifetime including The Divided Heaven, The Quest for Christa T., A Model Childhood, and Cassandra. She won several awards including the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1963 and Thomas Mann Prize for literature in 2010. She died on December 1, 2011 at the age of 82. Published in 1979, No Place on Earth describes an imaginary…

The World’s Most Difficult Books – No Place on Earth, Part 1

So, my copy of No Place on Earth has finally arrived, and I’m ready to make a start on my blog challenge to read the World’s Ten Most Difficult Books as defined by The Guardian. I plan to follow a similar format to Leigh Butler’s wonderful Ice and Fire reading blog; that is, I will read a few chapters each week, note what happens and my reactions to it. I hope to post once a week. Before I get into No Place on Earth, some background information. Christa Wolf was born on March 18, 1929, in Landsberg, which is now Gorzow, Poland. Her father joined the Nazi Party and she became a member of the girls’ version of the Hitler Youth. In 1949, she joined the Socialist Unity Party and studied German literature at universities in Jena and Leipzig. She wrote numerous novels during her lifetime including The Divided Heaven, The Quest for Christa T., A Model Childhood, and Cassandra. She won several awards including the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1963 and Thomas Mann Prize for literature in 2010. She died on December 1, 2011 at the age of 82. Published in 1979, No Place on Earth describes an imaginary…

The Guardian – The world’s most difficult books
World's Most Difficult Books / August 10, 2012

Recently, the UK’s The Guardian posted an article on the world’s most difficult books. These are: Nightwood by Djuna Barnes; A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift; The Phenomenology of Spirit by GF Hegel; To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf; Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson; Finnegans Wake by James Joyce; Being and Time by Martin Heidegger; The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser; The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein; and Women and Men by Joseph McElroy. Now, I’ve not read any of these so I cannot comment on their level of difficulty. However, I did think this sounded like an interesting blogging challenge. There is also one book I will personally add to the list: No Place on Earth, by Christa Wolf. This was one of my set books at university and I could never get to grips with it. Maybe after, um, quite a few more years of life experience I may find it easier. I will not be starting this blog challenge straight away – I have several books I’m reading currently, and ones I’m waiting to read so the challenge will have to wait a bit. It’s unlikely I’ll read…

The Guardian – The world’s most difficult books
World's Most Difficult Books / August 10, 2012

Recently, the UK’s The Guardian posted an article on the world’s most difficult books. These are: Nightwood by Djuna Barnes; A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift; The Phenomenology of Spirit by GF Hegel; To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf; Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson; Finnegans Wake by James Joyce; Being and Time by Martin Heidegger; The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser; The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein; and Women and Men by Joseph McElroy. Now, I’ve not read any of these so I cannot comment on their level of difficulty. However, I did think this sounded like an interesting blogging challenge. There is also one book I will personally add to the list: No Place on Earth, by Christa Wolf. This was one of my set books at university and I could never get to grips with it. Maybe after, um, quite a few more years of life experience I may find it easier. I will not be starting this blog challenge straight away – I have several books I’m reading currently, and ones I’m waiting to read so the challenge will have to wait a bit. It’s unlikely I’ll read…