Most of us have books that we just can’t finish, no matter how many times we try.

This hour, a look at those books that we find unreadable, whether they’re too long, too difficult, too confusing, or too dated. What makes a book unreadable?

Plus: The Voynich Manuscript, an unreadable and undeciphered book housed at Yale University’s Beinecke Library.

GUESTS:


Ray Clemens: Curator of early books and manuscripts at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library


Rand Richards Cooper: Fiction writer, contributing editor at Commonweal, and restaurant critic for The Hartford Courant


Dennis Duncan: Lecturer in English at University College London and the author of Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age


Juliet Lapidos: Deputy editor for The Atlantic and the author of Talent

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired September 14, 2022.

Most of us have books that we just can&rsquo;t finish, no matter how many times we try.
This hour, a look at those books that we find unreadable, whether they&rsquo;re too long, too difficult, too confusing, or too dated. What makes a book unreadable?
Plus: <a href="https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/collections/highlights/voynich-manuscript">The Voynich Manuscript</a>, an unreadable and undeciphered book housed at Yale University&rsquo;s Beinecke Library.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>
Ray Clemens: Curator of early books and manuscripts at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
</li>
<li>
Rand Richards Cooper: Fiction writer, contributing editor at&nbsp;Commonweal, and restaurant critic for The Hartford Courant
</li>
<li>
Dennis Duncan: Lecturer in English at University College London and the author of&nbsp;<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324002543">Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age</a>
</li>
<li>
Juliet Lapidos: Deputy editor for The Atlantic and the author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/juliet-lapidos/talent/9780316480543/">Talent</a>
</li>
</ul>
Join the conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/ColinMcShow">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/colinmcshow">Twitter</a>.
<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/newsletters">Subscribe to The Noseletter</a>, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.
The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-colin-mcenroe-show/id714179884">Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0AXtqrzWounIoJyIqz003p">Spotify</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9b6b3cee-f69b-4729-a78b-181f851d80e8/the-colin-mcenroe-show">Amazon Music</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/The-Colin-McEnroe-Show-p1208473/">TuneIn</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-colin-mcenroe-show-connecticut-public-lXR08dxQSM5/">Listen Notes</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.
Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired September 14, 2022.

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.