I pushed through for the sake of my book club, but I was not a fan. Don't get me wrong. I can see why some people would love the story. The plot was interesting, but it was just so looooooong. 
 There are scenes (multiple!) where the characters sit around and discuss the Classics, Greek and Latin. I haven't studied enough of the classics to try to draw parallels between them and the novel, and I was too bored to exert the effort. In the end, the scenes just made me feel uneducated because I either couldn't follow them, or couldn't pay attention. And then, in the end, I just found the whole thing depressing, and a little bit disturbing. 
 I don't mean to be harsh. It just really wasn't for me.