The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

Published 2006 · 480 pages · 110,000 words · about 7 hours at an average pace · Nonfiction, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Nature

How hard is The God Delusion to read?

The God Delusion scores 30 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: 35 out of 100
Philosophical and scientific vocabulary. Accessible.
Sentence structure: 32 out of 100
Abstraction: 42 out of 100
Philosophical arguments about God's existence. Evidence-based.
Information density: 48 out of 100
Dense with argument, evidence, and examples.
Narrative indirection: 80 out of 100
Direct, thesis-driven argument.
Symbolic density: 100 out of 100
Analytical. Minimal symbolism.
Ironic distance: 22 out of 100
Witty, combative, sometimes caustic.
Resolution withholding: 50 out of 100
Clear thesis. Dawkins is certain.
Structural complexity: 25 out of 100
Thematic chapters building a systematic argument.

How The God Delusion is regarded

The God Delusion holds a literary regard score of 49 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

Richard Dawkins