Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Published 1982 · 157,300 words · about 10 hours at an average pace
How hard is Phenomenology of Perception to read?
Phenomenology of Perception scores 82 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it very 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: 88 out of 100
- Dense phenomenological vocabulary, much of it coined or repurposed.
- Sentence structure: 88 out of 100
- Very long, heavily qualified sentences in difficult translation.
- Abstraction: 96 out of 100
- Among the most abstract books in the philosophical canon.
- Information density: 88 out of 100
- Every page carries argument, engagement and objection together.
How Phenomenology of Perception is regarded
Phenomenology of Perception holds a literary regard score of 90 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.