2 stars for the first half, 3.5 stars for the second half, compromising with three. The first half was MIND-NUMBINGLY BORING and I could not make myself care about it, but once the crime happened it started getting interesting to me. There was a LOT that could have been edited out even in the more interesting second half, though. ( )

It may be the greatest book ever written, at least that I have read. I haven't read War and Peace or Les Miserables yet so I reserve judgment on the greatest book of all time. Freud considered it the greatest book ever written and Faulkner was rumored to have read it once a year. That is high praise indeed. ( )