This is an extremely intricate subject.*

Reading Darwin's "On the Origin of the Species" is not bedtime reading, but it is readable and even enjoyable. The sentences are long, in fact the title of this blog is one of the handful of sentences under 10 words in length, but no longer than those of Charles Dicken's or George Eliot's or even some of Mark Twain's. Modern readers are used to short sound bites. Darwin and the other 19th century authors were writing long (in terms of time and space) before short sound bites.

The questions about reading "On the Origin of the Species" aren't whether one should read it (one should) or whether it is too difficult to read (it isn't), but which edition to read. Check out Olivia Judson's Blog for more reasons to read "On the Origin of the Species".

*See The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online ChapterIV, Circumstances favoring Natural Selection, page 101-102.