The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century by R. W. B. Lewis
Published 1955 · 200 pages · 110,000 words · about 7 hours at an average pace · Essays & Criticism, History
How hard is The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century to read?
The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century scores 45 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately 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: 50 out of 100
- Lewis writes in clear mid-century academic prose with theological terms such as Adamic, Fall and typology. It is more accessible than the theory-heavy criticism that came after, and sits near The Great Gatsby in difficulty.
- Sentence structure: 52 out of 100
- His sentences run long and carry qualifications, but they stay orderly and conversational. Quotations from nineteenth-century sources add some heavier periods.
- Abstraction: 62 out of 100
- The book runs on concepts such as innocence, tragedy and tradition. Each is tied to specific authors and texts, which keeps the ideas grounded.
- Information density: 60 out of 100
- Lewis moves among dozens of writers, sermons, reviews and historians within a single chapter. The pace is steady and the exposition clear.
How The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century is regarded
The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century holds a literary regard score of 72 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.