Books We’re Scared Of

I had a conversation with a very close friend of mine about this very topic a few months ago. I kept wanting to put something up on this blog about it but I kept forgetting. But it works out great because now I can spin this to fit in a general Halloween theme (albeit not really).

What I mean when I say books we’re scared of isn’t in a spooky sense. I mean books that a part of you really wants to read but another part of you is scared to start it for various reasons. From my experience, I believe this occurs with a lot of the readers and the classics.

Personally the number one book I’m scared of is Moby-Dick. A part of myself really wants to read Moby-Dick because it’s so iconic and it’s left a visible mark upon American literary culture. But I’m fearful of the book. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve heard there’s any entire chapter dedicated solely to the description of the old New England whaling industry or if I feel like it’s going to be a long and slow read.

So in the spirit of Halloween what are some books that you’re scared of?

@7 months ago with 13 notes
  1. latinisnotadeadlanguage answered: Gone with the Wind. It’s a classic, but as a native girl from GA, I really don’t want to read a Southern apologist book because it’s popular
  2. abed-is-batman-now answered: Frankenstein, not because of the monster, but because I’ve heard so many conflicting opinions about it, and it is so hard to get through.
  3. sirmorgana answered: Les Miserables. I just find Victor Hugo so dry and with 1500 pages of him it’s easily the most intimidating thing on my shelf ._.
  4. onlyposersfall-in-love answered: definitely It. The first time I read it I stopped midway and it took me two years to get up the courage to finish it.
  5. russellhammond answered: I feel this way about many classics. I hold them in such high esteem and I’m scared that I’ll be let down!
  6. booksquotesandreviews answered: Moby Dick as well.
  7. fieldnotesfromabroad answered: Stephen King’s It.
  8. bookshavepores answered: Goethe’s Faust. I’ve been wanting to read that play for so long and almost got it for my birthday, but I chickened out in the end.
  9. ipreferbooks answered: Blue is for Nightmares Series
  10. optimistsdaughter answered: Oh there’s a lot more than just one chapter about whaling. But it’s still awesome.
  11. unrestrained-inkslinger answered: House of Leaves. It’s intimidating and I know it’s going to take me a long time and I don’t know if I want to deprive myself of other books.
  12. nobodys-pendeja said: War and Peace
  13. theliterarysnob posted this