Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

How hard is Mortality to read?

Mortality scores 54 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: 80 out of 100

Hitchens employs a rich and precise lexicon, blending specialized medical terms (e.g., 'squamous cells,' 'metastasized,' 'peripheral neuropathy') with philosophical concepts (e.g., 'pathetic fallacy,' 'Pascal's Gambit,' 'stoic materialism') and literary allusions (e.g., 'Prufrock,' 'Auden,' 'Nietzsche'). This extensive and often formal vocabulary, coupled with ironic usage, places it significantly above general literary fiction, comparable to the demands of 'Moby-Dick' or '2666'.

Sentence structure: 78 out of 100

The prose features a high degree of hypotaxis, with many long, multi-clause sentences that often include parenthetical remarks and complex subordinations, demanding sustained attention. While not reaching the extreme lengths of Faulkner or James, Hitchens frequently constructs sentences that weave together intricate arguments and observations, such as his reflections on the 'country of the well' or the 'founding constitution of the Presbyterian Church'.

Abstraction: 82 out of 100

'Mortality' transcends a mere personal narrative of illness, serving as a vehicle for profound philosophical and theological inquiry into death, suffering, faith, and the nature of human existence. Hitchens consistently elevates his personal experience to abstract discussions, debating concepts from Nietzsche's 'whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger' to Pascal's Wager, making the content highly theoretical and reflective, similar to 'Brothers Karamazov' or 'Gravity's Rainbow'.

Information density: 83 out of 100

The text is exceptionally dense, layering personal anecdotes with a wide array of literary, historical, scientific, and philosophical references and arguments within short passages. Readers must process numerous concepts per page, from the Human Genome Project and stem cell research to critiques of religious dogma and allusions to poets like T.S. Eliot and Wilfred Owen, requiring a high level of sustained intellectual engagement, akin to 'War and Peace' or '2666'.

Narrative indirection: 25 out of 100

Christopher Hitchens's prose is characterized by direct, explicit argumentation and personal reflection. While he employs vivid metaphors like the 'country of the well' or 'Tumortown,' he immediately clarifies their meaning, leaving little room for readers to infer his central message. The text is a straightforward first-person account of his experiences and philosophical conclusions.

Symbolic density: 20 out of 100

The book primarily functions as a literal account of the author's illness and his intellectual responses to it, rather than relying on deep symbolic layers. Metaphors such as cancer as an 'alien' or death as the 'eternal Footman' are illustrative devices, not complex symbols requiring extensive interpretation beyond their immediate context. The narrative prioritizes direct exposition over allegorical meaning.

Ironic distance: 75 out of 100

Hitchens explicitly states 'irony is my business,' and this rhetorical mode is pervasive throughout the text. He uses sharp, often biting irony to critique religious platitudes, the 'war on cancer' rhetoric, and even his own past pronouncements, creating a significant gap between the literal statement and his intended critical meaning. Readers must constantly recognize and engage with this ironic lens to fully grasp his arguments, similar to the intellectual engagement required by 'Lolita' or 'The Great Gatsby'.

Resolution withholding: 85 out of 100

The book inherently resists narrative closure, as it chronicles the author's terminal illness and concludes with 'fragmentary jottings' explicitly left unfinished at his death. This structural choice reinforces the unresolved nature of his struggle and philosophical inquiries into mortality, providing a profound sense of ambiguity about the ultimate 'ending.' The lack of a conventional resolution places it high on the scale, akin to the open-endedness of 'Crying of Lot 49' or 'Waiting for Godot' in its resistance to finality.

Structural complexity: 35 out of 100

Mortality maintains a largely linear, first-person narrative, following the chronological progression of Hitchens's illness and reflections. While it incorporates literary allusions and occasional flashbacks, there are no significant shifts in point of view, fragmented timelines, or experimental formal elements that would challenge a reader's ability to follow the narrative. The 'fragmentary jottings' at the end are a minor deviation but do not introduce substantial structural complexity.

How Mortality is regarded

Mortality holds a literary regard score of 58 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

Christopher Hitchens