The Conference of the Birds by Attar of Nishapur
Published 1177 · 35,000 words · about 2 hours at an average pace · Philosophy, Poetry
How hard is The Conference of the Birds to read?
The Conference of the Birds scores 60 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: 60 out of 100
- Persian mystical poetry with Sufi terminology; allegory aids comprehension.
- Sentence structure: 50 out of 100
- Verse narrative with embedded tales; structure is clear.
- Abstraction: 85 out of 100
- Sustained allegory of spiritual development; abstract concepts made vivid.
- Information density: 55 out of 100
- Embedded tales illustrate principles; pace allows absorption.
- Narrative indirection: 60 out of 100
- Allegory requires interpretation; the birds are souls.
- Symbolic density: 85 out of 100
- Every bird, valley, and detail carries symbolic weight.
- Ironic distance: 40 out of 100
- Gentle humor in birds' excuses; overall tone is earnest teaching.
- Resolution withholding: 30 out of 100
- The journey reaches its goal; the seekers find themselves.
- Structural complexity: 55 out of 100
- Seven valleys structure with embedded tales; clear allegorical framework.
How The Conference of the Birds is regarded
The Conference of the Birds holds a literary regard score of 86 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.