Saville by David Storey
Published 1976 · 506 pages · 198,429 words · about 14 hours at an average pace · literary fiction, social realism, coming-of-age novel, working-class fiction
How hard is Saville to read?
Saville 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: 60 out of 100
- The text employs a literary vocabulary enriched by frequent regional dialect terms such as 'Nay,' 'Sithee,' and 'mu'n,' which require contextual understanding. It also includes period-specific terminology related to mining and domestic life, like 'colliery,' 'distempered,' and 'mullioned windows,' elevating it above contemporary accessible fiction.
- Sentence structure: 68 out of 100
- Sentences are frequently long and complex, featuring multiple subordinate clauses and extensive descriptive passages that demand sustained reader attention. Paragraphs often span half a page or more, creating a deliberate, flowing narrative that requires careful navigation, though it avoids the extreme hypotaxis of authors like Henry James.
- Abstraction: 48 out of 100
- The narrative is firmly grounded in concrete details of working-class life, family struggles, and the physical environment of a mining village. While it explores deep emotional states and societal themes, these are conveyed through direct observation and character interaction rather than explicit philosophical discourse or abstract symbolism.
- Information density: 52 out of 100
- The text presents a moderate information load, focusing on detailed descriptions of daily routines, character interactions, and specific events within a contained setting. While the prose style and long sentences require careful attention, it does not overwhelm the reader with a rapid succession of complex concepts or multiple, interwoven plotlines.
- Narrative indirection: 30 out of 100
- The narrative is primarily direct, presenting events, dialogue, and character thoughts in a clear, unadorned manner. While readers infer emotional states from descriptions of actions and expressions, the underlying meaning of events or character motivations is rarely obscured or left to deep, complex inference.
- Symbolic density: 70 out of 100
- The text is rich with recurring motifs and objects that carry meaning beyond their literal presence, such as the pit, the air-raid shelter, the sea, the uniform, and the father's inventions. These elements function as symbols of class, aspiration, protection, futility, and the harsh realities of their environment.
- Ironic distance: 60 out of 100
- The narrative maintains a largely objective, observational tone, yet a subtle, often poignant irony pervades the depiction of characters' efforts and aspirations against their limited circumstances. The father's grand projects are frequently undermined by reality, creating an empathetic ironic distance rather than overt satire.
- Resolution withholding: 65 out of 100
- The novel concludes with Colin's trajectory set but unresolved. The larger implications for his future and the ongoing struggles of his family remain open-ended, resisting definitive emotional or thematic closure. The narrative focuses on a phase of life rather than a complete story arc.
- Structural complexity: 35 out of 100
- The narrative follows a largely linear chronology, detailing Colin's childhood experiences through to young adulthood. The point of view is consistently third-person omniscient, shifting focus between characters without disorienting jumps or formal experimentation. Brief flashbacks are clearly integrated to provide background rather than disrupt the timeline.
How Saville is regarded
Saville 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.