this book was too long. i really tried liking this book but i often found myself struggling to get to the next chapter. the nonstop wandering stream of consciousness was too much, even for me. i didn’t connect to the characters and felt relief when i got to the last page. i found both peter and ivan to be weird and insufferable, especially on how they viewed and treated women (i must admit they grow from that as the story progresses but still). something that didn’t sit right with me throughout the whole story was that even though the three women, sylvia, naomi and margaret, play such integral roles in the brothers’ lives, they were all poorly written and felt one-dimensional. the way chronic pain and illness was handled in this book was atrocious; pissed me off so bad. the only character i did like was alexei, who was a dog. he’s the bestest boy.