We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)
(10) Mount Everest
By virtue of its length alone, The Interpretation of Dreams is a doozy. Even the starchiest of couch potatoes might find the muscles in their legs getting stiff after days and days on the cushions with this one.
On top of the massive length of the book, readers also have to reckon with Freud's language. For one thing, Freud's turn-of-the-century medical training is on full display: he uses a lot of technical terms for psychological and physiological phenomena. On top of that, Freud is a dude who loves wordplay. Scratch that: Freud is the Vito Corleone of wordplay. That creates a lot of extra work for those of us who are dealing with him in English translation instead of in the original German.
But don't worry, Shmoopers: reading The Interpretation of Dreams doesn't have to be a nightmare. English-language translators like James Strachey and Joyce Crick do a bang-up job of explaining Freud's linguistic riddles and terminology. So, even if sauerkraut and frankfurter are the only German words you know, we promise you'll be fine.
And as for the length of this baby—just do what Freud did. Indulge in a good night's sleep whenever you feel wiped out.