I did not enjoy this book. I struggled to finish it. While there were many engaging passages, I found the long - winded ruminations on art, beauty, God etc. just so pretentious and unconvincing. And the characters didn't feel quite real. And the lengthy descriptions of everyday actions seemed irrelevant and pointless. The dialogues - do people actually talk like that? Do young people write emails? It all seemed so unnatural and staged. Very disappointing.