As a counterexample (and they are science fiction works, not necessarily literature) I give you Anathem and Ridley Walker (similarly A Clockwork Orange).
They both make use of the same stylistic device of an invented language that you need to untangle and internalize, before you can seamlessly scan the phrases.
50 pages weren't enough for me to understand what the stories were about. I pushed through it and I found both highly satisfying and I enjoyed the language puzzle that they put in front of me.
It can be argued that it's clear that the stories did grab me before 50 pages, and that's why I pushed through, and maybe this is right, but I just wanted to clarify that 50 pages might not be enough every time. :)
As a counterexample (and they are science fiction works, not necessarily literature) I give you Anathem and Ridley Walker (similarly A Clockwork Orange).
They both make use of the same stylistic device of an invented language that you need to untangle and internalize, before you can seamlessly scan the phrases.
50 pages weren't enough for me to understand what the stories were about. I pushed through it and I found both highly satisfying and I enjoyed the language puzzle that they put in front of me.
It can be argued that it's clear that the stories did grab me before 50 pages, and that's why I pushed through, and maybe this is right, but I just wanted to clarify that 50 pages might not be enough every time. :)