I read this book for my local book club. Meh. While I can see some merit in the message behind the writing, the narrative itself bored me to tears. The writing was okay, but seemed pompous and condescending...perhaps a reflection of the nature of the protagonist, but still really annoying and obnoxious to read. This absolutely would have been a DNF for me if not for needing to finish it for book club. I will never understand how this won the Man Booker--there are so many better books out there.