Far to Go by Alison Pick
Published 2011 · 320 pages · 80,000 words · about 5 hours at an average pace · Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
How hard is Far to Go to read?
Far to Go 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: 45 out of 100
- Lawson writes in clear, accessible prose with some Czech and German terms and period vocabulary that context clarifies. The language serves the story without calling attention to itself.
- Sentence structure: 48 out of 100
- Sentences are well-crafted and conventional, with the prose moving smoothly between past and present timelines. The style is clear and readable.
- Abstraction: 50 out of 100
- The novel grounds the Holocaust and Kindertransport in one family's experience. Historical tragedy becomes immediate through specific characters and their choices.
- Information density: 55 out of 100
- Historical context and family dynamics interweave throughout. Lawson assumes some familiarity with the period or willingness to absorb its details.
- Narrative indirection: 50 out of 100
- The dual timeline creates gaps and mysteries about what happened to various characters. Present-day sections gradually reveal the fates the past sections leave uncertain.
- Symbolic density: 55 out of 100
- The journey from Czechoslovakia operates as symbol for larger displacement. Lawson's symbolism supports the historical narrative without overwhelming it.
- Ironic distance: 50 out of 100
- Lawson writes with compassion for characters making impossible choices under historical pressure. Dramatic irony comes from knowing the history, not authorial detachment.
- Resolution withholding: 50 out of 100
- The dual timeline structure creates suspense about character fates. The novel eventually reveals what happened while acknowledging historical wounds that can't fully heal.
- Structural complexity: 50 out of 100
- Past and present timelines alternate throughout. The shifts are clearly marked and the structure serves the novel's exploration of memory and survival.
How Far to Go is regarded
Far to Go holds a literary regard score of 56 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.