A weighty tome, but one which I've heard enough good things about to persuade me to tackle it. Just not today.

I can't deny it, this was hard work. There was some brilliant writing in there, but it was way too long. Way too long. I don't know, I've been reading it for so long I may have forgotten some of the good bits, but they were too few and far between. And for the rest, there wasn't enough narrative, and what there was was confusing and disjointed. The footnotes were fun, but sometimes longer than the piece you are reading. But I've read it now. I can move on.