This could be from any age really. I remember reading lots of books like Harry Potter as a 4th grader to seem smart to the teachers looking at me but I didn’t understand any of it. When the big YA dystopian boom was happening, I read tons of terrible YA dystopias to seem cool but many of them frustrated me.
Focault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I just couldn’t follow it. Now I just place it on my table at the cafe to look intellectual.