Short but Challenging Novels: Exploring Difficult Literature in Compact Form

László Krasznahorkai's recent Nobel Prize win reignited the perpetual debates about 'difficult literature.'

The kind of books that a certain type of reader loves to brag about having read, and that others avoid like the plague.

But difficult literature doesn't have to be long. In fact, some of the most challenging books are also some of the shortest.

What makes a book 'difficult'? Is it the style, the structure, the content, or some combination of all three?

These are books that demand your full attention, that refuse to be read casually, but that you can finish in a single sitting.