==These kinds of books force the mind to focus
They are demoralizing. I hope they get to read something interesting.
I cannot with any truth say that books like "Ethan Frome", "The Good Earth", or "Great Expectations" focused my mind.
That last one almost turned me off Dickens forever, which would have been a damn shame and I'm lucky my mother talked me into giving "The Pickwick Papers" a shot.