Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
Published 1942 · 58,274 words · about 5 hours at an average pace · Fiction, Literary Fiction, Satire, War Fiction
How hard is Put Out More Flags to read?
Put Out More Flags scores 71 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it very challenging. 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: 70 out of 100
- Waugh employs a sophisticated literary vocabulary, occasionally using less common words (e.g., 'farouche,' 'otiose,' 'sumptuary duty') and numerous specific cultural, historical, and military allusions. While not relying on invented language or extreme archaisms, the density of these references and the precise diction elevate the demands beyond accessible contemporary fiction.
- Sentence structure: 70 out of 100
- The prose features frequent long sentences with multiple clauses, subordination, and parenthetical asides, requiring careful parsing. Although generally well-structured and clear, the sustained length and intricate construction of many sentences place a significant grammatical demand on the reader, exceeding the directness of simpler narratives.
- Abstraction: 75 out of 100
- While grounded in a social narrative, the text frequently delves into abstract philosophical and cultural critiques, particularly through characters like Ambrose Silk, who offers extensive monologues on art, society, and the decline of England. The characters' internal reflections and discussions often move beyond concrete events to explore broader theoretical concepts related to war, human nature, and modernity.
- Information density: 75 out of 100
- The narrative is packed with social observations, intricate character dynamics, and layers of irony and subtext, demanding close attention to fully grasp the author's satirical intent. The constant stream of historical, literary, and bureaucratic references, combined with rapid shifts in perspective, creates a high cognitive load, requiring significant intellectual engagement from the reader.
- Narrative indirection: 70 out of 100
- The novel employs significant narrative indirection through its pervasive use of free indirect discourse and satirical portrayal of characters' self-delusions. Readers must constantly infer the author's critical stance by observing the gap between characters' thoughts (e.g., Lady Seal's self-congratulatory patriotism) and their often absurd or self-serving actions, rather than being told directly. This requires a level of reader engagement similar to The Great Gatsby (65) or Lolita (72), where an unreliable perspective shapes understanding.
- Symbolic density: 70 out of 100
- While not overtly allegorical, the text uses recurring motifs and situations to convey meaning beyond literal events, particularly regarding the war's impact on a decadent society. Malfrey, described as a 'Cleopatra among houses,' symbolizes vulnerable aristocratic England, while the 'Ivory Tower' discussions explicitly debate the role of culture in a collapsing world. The 'Connollies' represent the disruptive intrusion of harsh reality into privileged lives, functioning as a potent symbol of social upheaval.
- Ironic distance: 82 out of 100
- Waugh maintains a high degree of ironic distance, presenting characters' often absurd or hypocritical thoughts and actions with a detached, understated tone. The humor and social critique arise from the stark contrast between what characters say or believe (e.g., Basil's 'work of national importance' as a billeting officer) and the underlying reality, demanding constant reader recalibration. This pervasive, often scathing, irony places it closer to the satirical complexity of The Sellout (85) than to more direct narratives.
- Resolution withholding: 72 out of 100
- The narrative resists definitive closure, particularly regarding the overarching conflict of the war and the ultimate fates of many characters. The excerpt ends with the war's impact still unfolding, characters like Angela Lyne in unresolved personal crises, and Basil's opportunistic schemes continuing without a clear end. This open-endedness, where major plotlines remain in flux and the future is uncertain, is more pronounced than in books like The Great Gatsby (60), leaving many questions unanswered.
- Structural complexity: 55 out of 100
- The novel features a clear chronological progression divided into seasonal chapters, with frequent but well-signposted shifts between multiple character perspectives. While there are embedded flashbacks (e.g., Mary Nichols's story, Cedric's past), the narrative maintains a consistent omniscient voice and avoids experimental forms or disorienting non-linearity. Its structure is more fluid than War and Peace (40) but lacks the formal experimentation of works like Ulysses (98) or Flights (88).
How Put Out More Flags is regarded
Put Out More Flags holds a literary regard score of 61 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.