First, I want to say I understand why some people didn't like this book - its style takes a lot of getting used to, and it veers wildly from subject to subject, and from "reality" to fantasy, is a tragedy and a farce - a historical novel where the history is filtered by a unreliable, possibly mad, focus character. So I can see why some had no time for it.
However, I loved it - despite, and because, of all that's mentioned above.
I beautifully invokes a unique time, and place; a way of life, and a way of looking at the world that no longer exists.
I found the writing wonderful and enchanting - and would throughly recommend this to anyone looking to read something that is probably quite unlike anything they have ever read before.