Genome by Matt Ridley
Published 1999 · 368 pages · 100,000 words · about 7 hours at an average pace · Nonfiction, Science & Nature
How hard is Genome to read?
Genome scores 28 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. 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: 38 out of 100
- Genetics and molecular biology terminology explained clearly.
- Sentence structure: 32 out of 100
- Abstraction: 42 out of 100
- Molecular biology and philosophical implications of genetics.
- Information density: 52 out of 100
- Dense with genetic science, historical context, and philosophical implications.
- Narrative indirection: 15 out of 100
- Chapter-by-chromosome organization. Direct presentation.
- Symbolic density: 15 out of 100
- Chromosomes serve as organizing metaphors.
- Ironic distance: 15 out of 100
- Ridley writes with wry British humor.
- Resolution withholding: 100 out of 100
- Each chapter completes its topic.
- Structural complexity: 25 out of 100
- 23 chapters, one per chromosome. Clear, clever organization.
How Genome is regarded
Genome holds a literary regard score of 41 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.