This is maybe the fourth or fifth time I've read this, but this was the hardest to get through - I couldn't get into it.

Donaldson does have a power and vision, but in 2023 I found his use of words more pretentious than anything (big props for reading this as an ebook to look things up en route), and neither the plot nor the characters engaged me this time around.

I think what I'm mainly missing is being 14 years old reading this on a Sunday afternoon. Next up, I think, is A Short History of Stupid by Helen Razer and Bernard Keane, as a palette cleanser.