Arne by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Published 1858 · 432 pages · 56,761 words · about 3 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction

How hard is Arne to read?

Arne scores 32 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. 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: 32 out of 100
Simple Norwegian prose in translation.
Sentence structure: 35 out of 100
Clear pastoral sentences.
Abstraction: 35 out of 100
Rural life and growth explored.
Information density: 30 out of 100
Sparse narrative.
Narrative indirection: 35 out of 100
Bjørnson tells directly.
Symbolic density: 40 out of 100
Norwegian landscape carries weight.
Ironic distance: 30 out of 100
Romantic sympathy.
Resolution withholding: 30 out of 100
Pastoral resolution.
Structural complexity: 25 out of 100
Simple pastoral structure.

How Arne is regarded

Arne holds a literary regard score of 61 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.

About the author

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson