The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard by Anatole France
Published 1881 · 202 pages · 71,365 words · about 5 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction
How hard is The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard to read?
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard scores 51 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
- France writes in elegant, literary French that translates into formal English with period charm. The vocabulary is accessible, serving the gentle humor of the elderly scholar's reflections.
- Sentence structure: 52 out of 100
- Sentences are measured and often ironic, building through Bonnard's self-deprecating observations. The prose has the grace of a writer whose comedy is built into the rhythm of sentences.
- Abstraction: 52 out of 100
- The novel explores the consolations of scholarship, the relationship between books and life, and the gentle wisdom of age. These themes are embodied in Bonnard rather than discussed.
- Information density: 50 out of 100
- The world of bibliophiles, Parisian literary life, and the textures of scholarly devotion layer through the novel. France builds his world through accumulated charming detail.
- Narrative indirection: 50 out of 100
- Bonnard narrates directly, but his self-presentation is gently ironic. The reader sees both his wisdom and his limitations, his virtues and his mild vanities.
- Symbolic density: 52 out of 100
- The rare books Bonnard pursues become symbolic of devotion to beauty and knowledge. The young ward he rescues becomes symbolic of life's claims on scholarship.
- Ironic distance: 55 out of 100
- France maintains gentle ironic distance from Bonnard's scholarly eccentricities while celebrating them. The comedy is affectionate, never mocking the life of the mind.
- Resolution withholding: 48 out of 100
- The novel provides warm resolution as Bonnard finds purpose in protecting his ward. France offers the satisfactions of a life well-lived among books.
- Structural complexity: 48 out of 100
- The novel follows Bonnard through his adventures in two parts. The structure is accessible, organized by the episodes of his quixotic quests.
How The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard is regarded
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard 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.