Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah

How hard is Desertion to read?

Desertion scores 67 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: 55 out of 100

The text incorporates numerous untranslated Swahili and Arabic terms (e.g., 'adhan,' 'mzungu,' 'dukawallah,' 'simsim'), which, while often clarified by context, require active reader engagement. Gurnah also uses a literary vocabulary that is elegant and precise, elevating it beyond simple contemporary fiction without resorting to archaism or invented language.

Sentence structure: 58 out of 100

Gurnah employs sentences of varying lengths, frequently incorporating multiple clauses and descriptive phrases that extend their structure. While generally clear, some paragraphs feature complex subordination and parenthetical asides, demanding sustained attention to follow the narrative flow.

Abstraction: 70 out of 100

The narrative, though grounded in character interactions and setting, frequently delves into profound philosophical and theoretical discussions, particularly concerning colonialism, race, and the nature of empire. Characters like Frederick articulate explicit ideological stances, and their internal monologues explore themes of identity, belonging, and historical legacy.

Information density: 75 out of 100

The excerpt is rich with interwoven layers of cultural, historical, and personal detail, presenting a complex tapestry of life in a colonial setting. It demands high attention to track multiple character perspectives, intricate backstories, and the constant influx of specific cultural practices and historical allusions.

Narrative indirection: 45 out of 100

The narrative largely tells readers characters' thoughts and motivations directly, such as Hassanali's explicit anxieties about his duties or Frederick's clear colonialist views. While multiple perspectives offer differing interpretations of shared events, the internal world of each character is often transparent, reducing the need for deep inference of unstated meaning. The reader is given access to characters' internal monologues and emotional states, rather than having to deduce them from subtle cues.

Symbolic density: 70 out of 100

The text is rich with objects and events carrying meaning beyond their literal function, such as the 'eating mat' symbolizing violated hospitality or Rehana's hidden book representing inaccessible knowledge and personal burden. Pearce's arrival as the 'mzungu' is a potent symbol of colonial intrusion, viewed with fear, opportunity, and disdain by different characters, akin to the symbolic weight of the green light in The Great Gatsby. The colonial discourse itself is laden with symbolic terms like 'civilization' and 'savagery', inviting deeper interpretation.

Ironic distance: 78 out of 100

The author maintains a significant ironic distance, particularly from Frederick's and Burton's colonialist rhetoric, presenting their self-important pronouncements about 'civilization' and 'savagery' with clear critical detachment. Frederick's performative 'rescue' of Pearce and his misinterpretation of local customs, such as viewing local medicine as 'mumbo jumbo pap', highlight this gap between character perception and authorial intent. This pervasive irony, similar to the critique found in Lolita or The Great Gatsby, invites the reader to question the characters' stated beliefs and actions.

Resolution withholding: 70 out of 100

The narrative resists definitive closure, leaving key aspects of characters' futures and pasts ambiguous. Rehana's enduring bitterness over Azad's desertion and the unresolved fate of Pearce's book exemplify a resistance to neat emotional or narrative resolution. While immediate plot points are addressed, the deeper personal and societal issues, including the uncertain colonial future discussed by Frederick and Burton, remain open-ended, creating a lingering sense of incompleteness.

Structural complexity: 75 out of 100

The novel employs a complex structure, shifting between four distinct character perspectives (Hassanali, Frederick, Rehana, Martin) across chapters, requiring constant re-evaluation of events and motivations. Within these shifts, extensive flashbacks and personal histories, such as Rehana's detailed account of her past marriage and family, create a non-linear chronology that challenges the reader. This multi-perspectival and flashback-heavy approach is more complex than The Great Gatsby's retrospection, aligning closer to the structural demands of Midnight's Children.

How Desertion is regarded

Desertion holds a literary regard score of 67 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

Abdulrazak Gurnah