Someone by Alice McDermott

How hard is Someone to read?

Someone scores 68 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: 48 out of 100

The novel employs a rich, descriptive vocabulary with words like 'balustrade,' 'hypotaxis,' 'commingling,' 'vestibule,' 'breviary,' 'cassock,' 'aplomb,' and 'keening.' While these terms are literary, they are generally accessible within context, not reaching the specialized jargon or invented language of higher-scoring anchors like *Gravity's Rainbow* or *Finnegans Wake*.

Sentence structure: 58 out of 100

McDermott frequently uses long, flowing sentences with multiple clauses and parenthetical asides, such as the detailed descriptions of Mrs. Fagin's visitors or Marie's internal monologues. However, these complex structures are often balanced by direct, declarative sentences and clear narrative progression, making them more navigable than the extreme hypotaxis of Henry James or Faulkner's lengthy sentences.

Abstraction: 62 out of 100

While grounded in concrete, everyday experiences of a working-class Irish-Catholic community, the narrative frequently delves into philosophical reflections on life, death, love, and memory. Marie's internal musings on faith, the nature of suffering, and the meaning of human connection elevate the text beyond simple social observation, though it remains tethered to personal experience rather than pure theoretical discourse.

Information density: 55 out of 100

The text is rich with sensory details, character observations, and interwoven anecdotes that build a dense tapestry of community life and personal history. The narrative shifts between past and present, and characters' stories are often revealed through layered gossip and recollection, requiring sustained attention to fully grasp the nuances of relationships and events. However, the pacing allows for absorption, unlike the rapid-fire allusions of *Ulysses*.

Narrative indirection: 60 out of 100

The narrative relies heavily on the reader inferring meaning, particularly through the dual perspective of Marie as a naive child and a reflective adult. Events like Pegeen's 'clumsiness' or Dora Ryan's 'mean trick' are initially presented through a child's limited understanding, requiring the reader to infer the deeper, often tragic, realities that the adult narrator later subtly reveals or reinterprets.

Symbolic density: 80 out of 100

The text is rich with recurring motifs and objects imbued with significant symbolic weight, notably the pervasive theme of eyes, vision, and blindness, which reflects Marie's perception and understanding of life's truths. Other symbols, such as falling, hands, clothing, and the soda bread recipe, consistently carry meaning beyond their literal presence, requiring the reader to actively interpret their thematic resonance.

Ironic distance: 68 out of 100

A consistent, gentle ironic distance is maintained, primarily through the adult narrator's retrospective view of her younger self's naiveté and the societal norms of her time. The irony is more nuanced and less overtly satirical than 'Lolita' or 'The Sellout', aligning closer to the sympathetic critique found in 'The Great Gatsby'.

Resolution withholding: 78 out of 100

The narrative consistently withholds definitive explanations and clear resolutions for significant events and character motivations, leaving much to the reader's interpretation. The precise reasons for Gabe's lost vocation, the full truth of Dora Ryan's marriage, and the ultimate outcome of Marie's eye surgery are left ambiguous, reflecting the narrator's acceptance of life's inherent uncertainties.

Structural complexity: 82 out of 100

The narrative exhibits significant structural complexity through its constant, often seamless, shifts between Marie's childhood, young adulthood, and elderly present, frequently within the same paragraph or chapter. This non-linear chronology, combined with the adult narrator's retrospective interpretations of past events and the interweaving of multiple character stories, demands active reader engagement to construct a coherent timeline.

How Someone is regarded

Someone holds a literary regard score of 51 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

Alice McDermott