"There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters." Honestly I went into this book without even reading the description, just because it's one of those american classics that I thought everyone else had read and I was tired of the fomo. The beginning was a bit of a slog. The writing, of course, is great throughout. While the book itself took a while to grow on me, I do appreciate it for its social commentary and its traumatic absurdities and its unending horrors.

Maybe I just didn't get it, but man I did not enjoy this book.