It's hard to rate this book because of the controversy surrounding it. Removing all historical and controversial context to give an objective rating of the text itself is difficult as the context is so vital to the ultimate understanding of the book. I read the book whilst fully aware of the blurred authorial intent, so my reading was always tarred with the knowledge that I was not reading the book that many people had read when it was first published. Therefore, the rating I've given is based on the book taken as though it were fictional, all ties to reality severed. It's an undesirable method of rating, but I'm not willing to open that particular historical jar.