Approach #1: Accept the author's language. Many good writers will use elevated or unusual language, quite different than you may usually read in contemporary, genre, or more plot-driven books. One time I was looking at the sentences in The Three Musketeers (I think it was) and became quite cross as I realized I could consistently edit his sentences down to half as long. Or less. What a waste of words, what sinfully sloppy and sprawling wordiness! Obviously Dumas had never heard the excellent axiom to "omit needless words." He had boatloads of needless words! When I encountered A Clockwork Orange, I found Anthony Burgess had invented his own language (called "Nadsat"). Well, this was totally unfair. We had Spanish, not Nadsat, in school. Si? But in a chapter or two I'd caught on and the novel was just as horrifying as it was meant to be, even in its own unique dialect. Don't fight the language (even Jane Austen takes some getting used to). Accept it, assimilate it, learn to read the book in its own way. You'll soon find it's not that difficult. Good readers learn to read the writers' style, and don't expect the writer to change her style for the reader (they're often dead by now, anyway). A handy addendum to this is to get a dictionary app -- it'll make reading easier and quicker.
Approach #2: Read for the time. Here I'm not talking about historical fiction. In such books the author often carefully spoonfeeds the historical bits for the non-historical reader. I'm talking about that Austen wrote in the early 19th Century, Fitzgerald wrote in the 1920s. Times were different then, and the reader will not fully understand such novels without some knowledge of the times in which the books were written. There are many annotated editions of Austen to provide the reader with the secret anachronistic knowledge. Less so for Fitzgerald. So don't expect to fully comprehend The Great Gatsby without some knowledge of American history up to the 1925. Sorry. You may still enjoy it without any knowledge, but more likely it'll be a bit opaque in places as you have no idea what F. Scott is talking about. This is especially true because The Great Gatsby is about the American Dream. The reader needs some of that American stuff. (Just as some knowledge of the British world makes Terry Pratchett much better reading.) Think of books as wee time machines: you're going back in time to the book's writing; life will be a little unusual for you there.
Approach #3: Read for the author's intent. In good literature, sometimes the author is only writing for herself. Don't expect the author to come to you or make it easy. While reading, try to figure out what the author is trying to say, what is the author trying to do, where is the author coming from? Austen can be read as a simple purveyor of romances, the reader can easily just gasp and sigh over Elizabeth and Darcy. But Austen was doing more than that. A good reader will also be looking at what she's saying about society: about the class system, women's rights, economics (and I'm not even talking about those critics who mistakenly argue that our dear Jane was a Tory, Jacobin, radical lesbian, or Brexit supporter). Many good writers write much more than plot, and focus more on the characters -- so what about the people in the book? Many good authors want to talk about psychology, morality, philosophy, religion, and more, and often use their characters to do so. They just often like to put the good stuff between the lines or in the background (lurking in the shadows). Identifying what the author really cares about will make books even more rewarding. Think of the plot as a treat or inducement to listen to what the author really wants to talk about, what the author has on his mind, what the characters are saying or thinking.
These are just a few habits of good readers when faced with a good writer. Another is to slow down. You can't read every book like The Prisoner of Azkaban where you're figuratively dying to get to the next page. Read a little slower, a little more carefully, and see what sinks in to the little gray cells. Accept the book for what it is. So enjoy and good reading! Literally. 🐢
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