Falconer by John Cheever
Published 1977 · 229 pages · 58,620 words · about 4 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction
How hard is Falconer to read?
Falconer scores 51 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: 48 out of 100
- Cheever writes in his signature lyrical style, with the vocabulary of suburban gentility transplanted to prison. The prose is elevated but accessible, with beauty found in unexpected places.
- Sentence structure: 50 out of 100
- Sentences are elegant and rhythmic, with Cheever's characteristic flow. The style is literary but not difficult—the challenge lies in the dissonance between beautiful prose and brutal setting.
- Abstraction: 55 out of 100
- The novel moves between gritty prison realities and flights of almost mystical lyricism. Cheever finds transcendence in degradation, mixing concrete detail with spiritual searching.
- Information density: 55 out of 100
- Cheever packs prison life and one man's interior journey into compact space. The novel is short but rich, with each scene carrying multiple weights.
- Narrative indirection: 50 out of 100
- Farragut's emotional and spiritual transformation shows through action and perception rather than explicit analysis. His relationship with another prisoner develops with understated power.
- Symbolic density: 55 out of 100
- The prison becomes a crucible for transformation, with the falcon imagery carrying obvious symbolic weight. Cheever's symbolism is present but not overbearing.
- Ironic distance: 50 out of 100
- Cheever maintains some distance from his protagonist's past self while investing deeply in his potential for change. The irony is gentle and humanizing rather than satirical.
- Resolution withholding: 50 out of 100
- The novel builds toward a conclusion that is both surprising and prepared for. Cheever offers something like redemption while leaving its meaning open to interpretation.
- Structural complexity: 45 out of 100
- The narrative follows Farragut through his prison term in roughly chronological order, with flashbacks to his previous life. The structure is straightforward, the power residing in prose and theme.
How Falconer is regarded
Falconer holds a literary regard score of 62 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.