difficult but rewarding
350122
Very realistic skate game.  After enduring years of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater titles, it is definitely a plus to see a skateboarding game where nobody is grinding powerlines or backflipping off skyscrapers.  "Skate" is a smooth and realistic package that feels (and looks) like you are right there in the streets, grinding rails and getting chased by rent-a-cops.  I gotta say though, the control scheme is innovative but unforgiving.  Timing is everything; simple stuff in Tony Hawk will take some patience on Skate...like grinding a rail.  It is worth it though, ten times over...much more satisfying than the present competition.
1143872
Its a challenge but its probably the best book that I have ever read, as well as the most challenging.
272443
It took a while to get into this book and several times I had to reread passages as it is so complicated. The way it is written as a dialogue to the main character 's recently dead wife seems very strange at first but actually makes sense at the end. It is not the kind of book that you can put down and pick up a few days later as you have to keep the train of thought going and relate each event to the previous ones and the background. The implications may seem far fetched to some people but stranger things have happened so it doesn't seem all that improbable. This book takes effort but is intriguing and worth it in the long run.
119631
"A Discourse on Method: Meditations and Principles" is more than a book, it is a challenging and rewarding mental experience. It is a tough read but well worth it just to read "I think, therefore I am" in its proper context (the simple statement that Descartes considers his first principle of philosophy).
The book is divided into three parts. In "A Discourse on Method," Descartes lays out his first principle of philosophy, and his plan for rejecting false assertions and deriving true principles. The "Meditations on the First Principle" is the wide ranging essay where "I think, therefore I am" is expanded to include all of its implications. These implications are wide ranging, from the existence of God, to the existence of our bodies, other physical objects, various scientific principles, and finally, whatever we are able to know as truth. Here is where the book poses its greatest challenge. At this point I was only reading 2-4 pages at a time. Then when I finished this part, I went back and reread a bulk of it to fully grasp the key points of the "Meditations." The third part, "The Principles of Philosophy," wouldn't have been so difficult if my brain hadn't been taxed as it was by the "Meditations." But the Principles are well organized and clearer, making the book more satisfying to read again.
Overall, this book is a treasure as an intense mental revelation. It brings together Descartes' best writing for the general reader, if the reader is up to the challenge.
3232453
There is a lot to be learnt from this challenging book. You will find yourself reading and rereading it.
2790772
This book would be a challenge for some folks as it does get into some deep topics. However, I found it very well written, very informative, and it helped me to see evil, the divine and scripture in a whole different way. It is long, and it does take a lot of thought, but it's worth the investment if this subject has been one that has been a struggle or a challenge for you.
4640492
Many people feel that this book is difficult to wade through, there is much after the initial image that reads as though it is in another language, and frankly it is. This version of the I Ching is presented for those with a history of use of the text and a desire to go deeper into the hexagrams. I personally feel that this book represents the I Ching in a more accurate light than most other texts, it feels to me as a student of the ancient Chinese to be an exploration of how metaphor was a constant in the life of those who wrote and have used the system for millenia.
Though the text is scholarly in presentation, one can use it with little understanding or need to go into the limitless depths of mathematics or mystical underpinnings. One can simply throw the coins (though to be sure, the yarrow stalks are the preferred method with an entirely different mathematical system) and read the first image to establish a relationship with oracle.
The downside of the book is that it is time consuming to move into the language as Karcher attempts to write in English as one would write in pictographs, with words as metaphor. Though it can be trying, still there is much to be gleaned by this manner of exploration and i recommend this translation for the serious minded, but it is the system (Ba Gua) that students of the I Ching are studying, the words are but translations of the images whether in ancient Chinese or in modern English.
2729510
very fun game, however it gets extremely challenging near the end, and I had a very hard time with it. However after several attempts I got through it.
592065
long, complicated, slow, but worth it. This book require a lot of patience since it's not easy reading that you can get done in a day or two. The book is very detail which i like. You need to read at least 50 pages to really get into this, once you past this point then it'll get interesting. Hope to nee his other novels soon, especially "half a confession".
1297922
This is a book that must be read slowly and savored.  It can be hard going at times, as it requires "thinking" on the part of the reader.  But  it is so worth it.  So much to be learned!
19587
This is an extremely difficult book, but very rewarding. It is hard to read without an extensive knowledge of both modern philosophy and the physical sciences (especially modern physics).

Rabbi Soloveitchik discusses the rationalist systems of metaphysics which were once popular, noting that philosophy and theology (in the wake of modern science) have move past them to more "holistic" ways of viewing the world. He then argues that the opposite extreme - non-rational "spiritualism" - is not an appropriate basis for religion either.

In the end, he proposes a rational approach to theology, which however has its source in the halacha rather than in external metaphysical speculation. Physicists perform experiments and think critically to determine the characteristics of the natural world which surrounds them. Similarly, religious Jews occupy a world of halachic literature, which can be mined for philosophical as well as ritual/technical meaning.

The best practical example of this approach is probably Rabbi Soloveitchik's book "On Repentance", which uses this method systematically. To take one example from there (IIRC), a sacrificial animal whose ownership is shared cannot be sacrificed if one owner dies before it is sacrificed. However, sacrifices can be made on behalf of the entire nation, even though some Jew somewhere will probably die after the animal is selected and before it is sacrificed. This indicates that communal offerings cannot be seen as jointly owned by all the Jews in the world, but rather, as belonging to the Jewish people as an independent entity.  Thus, the technical laws of jointly-owned sacrifices are used to prove that the Torah views the Jewish people as having independent status. This clearly has implications for how Jews view the relationships between God, themselves, and their people.

"Halachic Mind" may be seen as the intellectual justification for the personality type which is described in "Halachic Man". It is worthwhile, after reading "Halachic Mind", to reread "Halachic Man" - and to see what a different perspective on it you may then have.

I was much helped by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' excellent article in understanding the book (and writing this review). As I said, the book is very difficult. But it is extremely helpful as a window into Rabbi Soloveitchik's thought, and as a perspective on Jewish philosophy as a whole.
679660
In my humble opinion, it is a very challenging book, starting from the elaborate language through the peculiar use of pronouns (I will not reveal the rule so as not to spoil the fun) and finishing with a complex setting built up from myriads of different worlds and their successes or failures at attempts to maintain unity. The reader will encounter a huge number of scenes depicting or at leat suggesting sexual intercourses hetero, hemo and (for the lack of better words) interespecies. Yes, sex is very important in the novel. Yet it is neither vile nor cheap, and the narrator manages to stir things up and finish the scene with a blackout just before the reader would be forced to proceed through physiological details.
It is challenges the ideas of gender (yet it does it in a very surprising and intelligent way), it makes you realise how carnal pleasure is important and vital to you (and how beautiful experience it may bring once you accept who you are), it depicts a universe made up of six thousand worlds!
It is a beautiful piece of art. I draw pleasure not only from ingenuine ideas about the way the world could be but also (or even mostly|) from the fabulous language Mr Delany emplyed to depict his wonderful yet unsettling world.
4047731
This book is a challenge. But it is also worth the challenge if you want to think about marriage, identity, love, and society in serious ways. If you put the book down half-way you are undoubtedly going to walk away disliking it-the final chapters really tie everything together and the Penelope chapter is vital to understanding the ideosyncratic bits of the text that leave you asking, "What?"

I would not suggest making a go of it without buying "Ulysses Annotated" by Don Gifford. A lot of what he includes is superfluous unless you read the book for school, but it really gives such a greater idea of what Joyce is trying to do with this book, explaining the Odyssey stories for each chapter, stylistic intentions, and illuminating obscure references to Judiasm, Irish nationalism, character histories, food obsessions, etc. Without it the book will probably not have that much meaning for the reader, it's too complex.

At first Stephen may seem annoyingly self-involved, Bloom a weak coward, and Molly a tart, but when you consider the themes Joyce is taking on-Irish nationalism, being an outsider, understanding another person in a way that allows you to accept their flaws, etc. their character "flaws" give way to another interpretation. Especially considering the novel takes place in a single day.

The book definitely gets better as you read, so don't get frustrated, the end, while not idealistically upbeat as most novels tend to be, is really fitting and satisfying.
305854
This book is often difficult and uncomfortable to read. It will likely challenge you and frustrate you. Nearly every character will infuriate you at some point with only a couple of exceptions. While it can seem a little heavy-handed at times, I think in hindsight that it was necessary for some of the lessons to sink in. This was not quite what I expected and I'm very glad I found it.
2855422
Hard to engage in at first, but got more interesting
4813632
Not so easy but with time and patience can be learned
1476596
I think if Oscar could have, he would have given the book this exact title.  In the beginning, I was frustrated because I wasn't sure who the narrator was, or which character was being presented, but eventually the different stories became compelling.  It was a fascinating look into a culture with which I have no familiarity at all.  Wonderful, just a challenge getting started.