The Thibaults by Roger Martin du Gard
Published 1922 · 1,066 pages · 276,791 words · about 19 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction
How hard is The Thibaults to read?
The Thibaults 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: 68 out of 100
- The text employs a formal and precise vocabulary, featuring words such as "peremptory," "apprise," "miscreant," and "remonstrated." While not archaic or invented, these terms elevate the prose, demanding a slightly more sophisticated lexicon from the reader than typical contemporary fiction.
- Sentence structure: 75 out of 100
- The prose frequently employs long, multi-clausal sentences, often featuring extensive subordination and parenthetical phrases. Complex sentence structures, such as the detailed description of M. Thibault's internal frustrations, demand sustained attention to track the flow of thought and information.
- Abstraction: 70 out of 100
- While rooted in a concrete domestic crisis, the narrative quickly elevates to explore complex psychological and moral abstractions. The characters' internal conflicts, societal judgments on "evil influence" and "purity," and M. Thibault's struggles with pride and ambition drive the underlying meaning.
- Information density: 72 out of 100
- The text packs a significant amount of information into a short space, introducing multiple characters, complex family dynamics, and a detailed sequence of past events. Readers must process specific literary references, moral judgments, and the psychological subtext of M. Thibault's internal monologues, demanding close attention to detail.
- Narrative indirection: 42 out of 100
- The narrative primarily tells readers what happens and what characters say, with direct access to M. Thibault's internal thoughts and motivations, such as his wish for Jacques to be 'run over by a train.' While some character traits, like the Abbé's 'weasel-like face,' require minor inference, the core plot and character reactions are explicitly presented, placing it closer to direct exposition than works like Beloved.
- Symbolic density: 22 out of 100
- The excerpt focuses on literal events and character interactions, with minimal use of symbols or allegory to convey deeper meaning. Objects like the crystal paper-weight or the discovered books serve primarily as plot devices rather than carrying significant symbolic weight beyond their immediate narrative function, similar to the directness of Diary of a Young Girl.
- Ironic distance: 68 out of 100
- A significant gap exists between the characters' stated intentions and their underlying motivations, particularly with M. Thibault, whose performative grief and self-serving thoughts are clearly exposed by the narrator. The Abbé's sanctimonious tone and 'vacuous smile' also create a subtle but palpable sense of authorial critique, akin to the nuanced social commentary in The Great Gatsby.
- Resolution withholding: 72 out of 100
- The excerpt concludes with Jacques still missing and the full consequences of his 'misconduct' unresolved, leaving the reader with an immediate sense of uncertainty and anticipation. The narrative deliberately postpones closure on the central conflict, setting up future developments rather than providing a definitive ending, though not to the extreme degree of works like Waiting for Godot.
- Structural complexity: 32 out of 100
- The narrative follows a largely linear chronology, presenting events in a straightforward sequence with an omniscient point of view. While the Abbé recounts past incidents like the discovery of the books, these are simple flashbacks embedded within the main timeline and do not introduce complex formal experiments or significant shifts in perspective, making the structure easily accessible.
How The Thibaults is regarded
The Thibaults holds a literary regard score of 63 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.