Rising by R.C. Hutchinson
Published 1976 · 370 pages · 92,500 words · about 10 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction
How hard is Rising to read?
Rising scores 53 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: 55 out of 100
- Hutchinson writes in thoughtful, measured prose that captures the weight of historical change on individual lives. The vocabulary is accessible but precise in its attention to character and circumstance.
- Sentence structure: 52 out of 100
- Sentences are carefully constructed, building through accumulation of psychological and social detail. The syntax is readable but demands attention to the patterns of family and history.
- Abstraction: 55 out of 100
- The novel explores family, resilience, and how individuals are shaped by historical forces beyond their control. These themes emerge from the saga rather than from explicit statement.
- Information density: 58 out of 100
- The generational saga covers significant historical ground, with each section building its portrait of family and era. The density is in the accumulation across time.
- Narrative indirection: 52 out of 100
- The novel follows multiple generations, requiring readers to track characters across decades. The connections between eras and the larger patterns must be assembled from the parts.
- Symbolic density: 55 out of 100
- The family itself becomes symbolic of human persistence against historical upheaval. Rising suggests both the weight characters must carry and their capacity for renewal.
- Ironic distance: 52 out of 100
- Hutchinson maintains measured distance from his characters, seeing both their struggles and their limitations. The irony is gentle, acknowledging human fallibility without cynicism.
- Resolution withholding: 50 out of 100
- The saga reaches its conclusion but the questions about family, history, and survival remain open. Resolution is personal rather than historical.
- Structural complexity: 50 out of 100
- The generational structure requires readers to follow a family across historical periods. The organization is clear but the scope creates complexity.
How Rising is regarded
Rising holds a literary regard score of 48 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.