Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
Published 1960 · 706 pages · 260,045 words · about 18 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction, Thriller & Suspense
How hard is Advise and Consent to read?
Advise and Consent scores 56 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it quite demanding. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 68 out of 100
- The text employs a sophisticated vocabulary, blending formal political terminology like 'hypotaxis,' 'asperity,' and 'recriminations' with vivid, sometimes colloquial, descriptive phrases such as 'sardonic son of Arkansas' or 'gussied-up fit to kill.' While not laden with archaic words or invented language like 'Finnegans Wake,' it frequently uses precise, elevated diction and literary allusions (e.g., 'Under which king, Bezonian?'). Readers will encounter words that require a strong vocabulary or contextual inference, placing it above 'The Great Gatsby' but below 'Moby-Dick' in specialized jargon.
- Sentence structure: 70 out of 100
- Sentences are frequently long and complex, featuring extensive subordination, parenthetical asides, and parallel structures that demand sustained attention. The narrative often builds detailed descriptions and internal monologues over many lines, such as the lengthy reflection on Bob Munson's career and the state of America. This style is more demanding than 'The Great Gatsby' but less extreme than the multi-page sentences found in 'Absalom, Absalom!' or the unpunctuated stream of consciousness in 'Ulysses'.
- Abstraction: 65 out of 100
- While grounded in a concrete narrative of political maneuvering and character interactions, the text frequently elevates to philosophical and theoretical discussions about the nature of power, national identity, and the moral compromises of governance. Characters engage in internal monologues reflecting on America's decline or the 'delicate balancing of dream and desire' in politics. This blend of the concrete and the abstract is comparable to '2666,' which is grounded in story but probes deeper meanings, rather than being purely philosophical like 'The Waste Land'.
- Information density: 72 out of 100
- The excerpt packs a high volume of information, introducing numerous Senators, their personalities, political alliances, and backstories within a short span. It simultaneously details the intricate dynamics of Washington society and global politics, requiring readers to track multiple characters, motivations, and evolving relationships. This dense layering of character, setting, and thematic content demands significant attention, placing it above 'Lolita' but below the encyclopedic scope of 'War and Peace'.
- Narrative indirection: 40 out of 100
- The narrative largely operates through an omniscient narrator who explicitly states character motivations, political dynamics, and the underlying 'truth' of situations, leaving little for the reader to infer. For example, the narrator directly explains Bob Munson's political philosophy and the President's health concerns, rather than subtly implying them. While characters have internal thoughts, these are presented clearly, making the narrative more direct than works like *The Great Gatsby* (65).
- Symbolic density: 30 out of 100
- The narrative primarily focuses on literal events and political machinations, with symbolic elements serving as straightforward metaphors rather than deep, pervasive allegories. Descriptions like Washington as a 'city in dreams' or the Senate chamber as a 'fishbowl' are illustrative rather than carrying multi-layered, abstract meaning. The text lacks the dense, interwoven symbolism found in works like *The Great Gatsby* (75) or *Moby-Dick* (90).
- Ironic distance: 68 out of 100
- The narrative maintains a significant ironic distance, frequently highlighting the gap between characters' public pronouncements and their private thoughts or cynical motivations. The narrator often presents political maneuvering with a wry, critical tone, such as Bob Munson's manipulation of Howard Sheppard with the NATO job offer. This requires the reader to constantly interpret the subtext of dialogue and actions, placing it closer to the simultaneous sympathy and critique found in *The Great Gatsby* (70).
- Resolution withholding: 80 out of 100
- The narrative deliberately withholds resolution for the central conflict of the Leffingwell nomination, explicitly stating that the outcome is 'not entirely clear' and will be a 'terrific fight.' Key plot points, such as the President's hinted-at mortal illness, are introduced but left unresolved, adding significant suspense and ambiguity to the future of the nation. This open-endedness, where the characters themselves are uncertain of the path forward, places it closer to works like *The Crying of Lot 49* (75) in its resistance to closure.
- Structural complexity: 35 out of 100
- The narrative follows a largely linear and chronological structure, progressing through a single day with clear chapter divisions. While it employs multiple points of view, these shifts are smoothly managed by an omniscient narrator and do not involve significant timeline jumps, unreliable narration, or experimental formal devices. The structure is traditional, focusing on a broad cast of characters within a straightforward progression of events, making it less complex than works like *Midnight's Children* (68).
How Advise and Consent is regarded
Advise and Consent holds a literary regard score of 51 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.