Highly, highly acclaimed postmodern opus translated from Spanish. Literary critics rave about the size and scope of this novel. It was the absolute
worse book I read all year. Boring, longwinded, extraneous. A real turd. I knew with certainty I had made a mistake by page 200 and I had almost 700 pages to go. Broken into 5 sections that supposedly could stand alone as separate novels, I dare you to read the fourth section and claim that you liked it. Not humanly possible. The densely filled pages and dislike for this book significantly slowed my reading progress in 2009. If you can make it through this book, you can read anything. I regret reading this book, but hope one day I learn to appreciate it. Or not.