Like other people, I'm a baffled by the inclusion of Foucault's Pendulum. Read as a thriller it is addictive (if you're willing to keep the internet/an encyclopaedia on hand to look things up). I enjoy Eco in general - I'd disagree with the Baudolino dissing elsewhere in this thread, because in terms of sheer enjoyment I'd rank it over FP. The book of his I did have trouble finishing was The Island of the Day Before. I'm not sure how much my extreme youth at the time contributed to this.
I think it might be useful to this discussion to make a distinction between books that are difficult because they're terrible and books that are challenging but ultimately feel worthwhile? The challenge of reading Shadow of the Torturer (hard work but exhilarating) and that of reading the Twilight series (caused brain to curl up into foetal position) are clearly not the same sort of thing at all. The books (and poem) on the HT list that I have read are all works that I like and respect. As for Rand, I was quite pleased by the Fountainhead when I was fourteen. Even in my undiscriminating youth I found Atlas Shrugged intolerable. >
