Downgrading
Sep. 5th, 2008 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranThe Flesch-Kincaid Index is a way to measure the "readability" of a given text. It's a number which roughly corresponds with the U.S. Grade Level that would be required to read it. It's calculated by a simple formula, so there is obviously plenty of room for inaccuracy.
Midnight's Children has a Flesch-Kincaid Index of 5.3. This is surprising and I suspect it's inaccurate as far as actual readability goes (the test only takes into account the length of words and sentences, not the amount of foreign words or unexplained concepts).
By contrast, The Inheritance of Loss has a Flesch-Kincaid Index of 8.0. Kafka's The Trial is 8.4. The Fellowship of the Ring is 6.2.
The main reason for Midnight's Children's low rating is the idiosyncratic speech of the narrator. It's a style that allows lots of short sentences (which are often incomplete). It allows the narrator to convey complex concepts in small chunks, without interrupting the flow. And it is surprisingly easy to read.
I'd like to work on making my own writing more readable. My natural writing voice tends toward long sentences, and convoluted phrasing. If I'm going to be dealing with difficult concepts, I'd much rather be able to do it with simple speech. (It has also been observed that almost all best sellers have a readability level no higher than the U.S. seventh grade.)
Currently, I still don't have the knack of writing simply without sounding stilted (at least to me). I guess that will come with practice.
Update: another explanation has come up! The Amazon stats page for Midnight's Children says the stats were computed from "another edition of this book". The number of characters is 156,51616. Amazon also has entry for a stage adaption of Midnight's Children. That entry has stats computed from "the text of this book". The figures are identical, including the number of characters. So it looks like the rating of 5.3 is only applicable to the bits that survived the stage adaption. I presume they didn't have Saleem sit down on stage and proceed the narrate the whole lot!
Midnight's Children has a Flesch-Kincaid Index of 5.3. This is surprising and I suspect it's inaccurate as far as actual readability goes (the test only takes into account the length of words and sentences, not the amount of foreign words or unexplained concepts).
By contrast, The Inheritance of Loss has a Flesch-Kincaid Index of 8.0. Kafka's The Trial is 8.4. The Fellowship of the Ring is 6.2.
The main reason for Midnight's Children's low rating is the idiosyncratic speech of the narrator. It's a style that allows lots of short sentences (which are often incomplete). It allows the narrator to convey complex concepts in small chunks, without interrupting the flow. And it is surprisingly easy to read.
I'd like to work on making my own writing more readable. My natural writing voice tends toward long sentences, and convoluted phrasing. If I'm going to be dealing with difficult concepts, I'd much rather be able to do it with simple speech. (It has also been observed that almost all best sellers have a readability level no higher than the U.S. seventh grade.)
Currently, I still don't have the knack of writing simply without sounding stilted (at least to me). I guess that will come with practice.
Update: another explanation has come up! The Amazon stats page for Midnight's Children says the stats were computed from "another edition of this book". The number of characters is 156,51616. Amazon also has entry for a stage adaption of Midnight's Children. That entry has stats computed from "the text of this book". The figures are identical, including the number of characters. So it looks like the rating of 5.3 is only applicable to the bits that survived the stage adaption. I presume they didn't have Saleem sit down on stage and proceed the narrate the whole lot!
