This book is an opus and should actually be shelved in my current reading. The truth is, however, I'll probably still be reading it when I'm eighty years old. From a craft standpoint, this is an amazing novel. The detailed descriptions, the empathy the author creates for his character, and the story are all very well done. It's a very serious book, though, with virtually no comic relief. I read it and stop when it's heaviness gets too much and put it down for a few years and then start again. At the rate I'm going, I'll be eighty when I'm finished and that's a long ways off. That's the reason for the three stars. It really could have been five.