Based on it winning the Man Booker prize and based on all the good reviews online I bought it.
Unfortunately I’m not enjoying it too much. I read the Prologue and have started the first chapter, but overall, I think it’s overhyped and overrated.
As an example of a small failure, he’s talking about Ancient Rome, where “you’re either an owner or a slave, a lion or a Jew”. AFAIRecall, the lions were eating the Christians not the Jews. Maybe it’s a minor point, and maybe he made the error on purpose, but to me, a book which wins such a high literary prize ought to get its history right.
Beyond this and a couple other minor issues, I just can’t get into the book because of its style. The author seems to be quite self-important and the prose is quite dense and not that pleasant to go through.
If you’ve read it, what do you think? Should I keep going past the first chapter, does it get better?