Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature by Masao Miyoshi
Published 1976 · 115,000 words · about 10 hours at an average pace · Essays & Criticism
How hard is Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature to read?
Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature scores 63 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: 65 out of 100
- Theoretical vocabulary drawn from both Western literary criticism and Japanese literary tradition; assumes some familiarity with the texts discussed.
- Sentence structure: 62 out of 100
- Abstraction: 78 out of 100
- High theoretical engagement with questions of selfhood, literary form, and cultural translation across two traditions.
- Information density: 80 out of 100
- Dense with close textual analysis and comparative cultural argument; each chapter covers complex intellectual territory.
- Narrative indirection: 18 out of 100
- Direct scholarly argument; each chapter states and develops its thesis without structural indirection.
- Symbolic density: 16 out of 100
- Analytical throughout; Miyoshi traces symbolic patterns in his subjects' works rather than deploying them in his own prose.
- Ironic distance: 24 out of 100
- Miyoshi's double positioning as Japanese-American allows for productive ironic perspective on both traditions.
- Resolution withholding: 15 out of 100
- Arguments are clearly stated and resolved; the critical position is never withheld.
- Structural complexity: 42 out of 100
- The argument requires holding multiple authors and their relationships to Westernization in mind simultaneously.
How Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature is regarded
Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature holds a literary regard score of 84 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.