Celestial Harmonies

Oh man. This was a struggle for me.  It literally felt like I was sitting with a stranger for months on end listening to his personal stories, but never once got any closer to knowing who he is as a person or anything substantial about his past even though that is literally all he talked about.  I expected to come out of this experience at least gaining some history on Hungarian nobility, but even that was a bust.  How could I have gotten so little from 841 pages!?

I don't even know what to say.  There seem to be about 5 people on GoodReads who had a good time reading this book, but they (besides one guy who has his own reasons) offer no reasons why except for vague sentences that seem like they don't really know what they're talking about and just want to look like they appreciate a notable book.

What baffles me is that this is a modern work.  It reads like it was written a hundred years ago, despite the "contemporary" style of writing.

Do I recommend this?  Nope, definitely not for someone with my taste in literature.  Do I regret the months I spent reading it with no joy to show for it?  I guess all I can say to that is "Look at my willpower to finish this list".  Peter Esterhazy, you're just another notch in my bookshelf.