"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies"

This was a very strange book. I spent over half the book being irritated by the paragraph long sentences, the lack of punctuation and the lack of character. The entire book really only draws two characters with any degree of personality, and one of those not until well into the second half of the book. If I were not accustomed to persevering with books (there must have been something that made a publisher take it on, as my librarian parents used to tell me when I was a child).... Old habits are hard to break, and even in these days of self-publishing, which can lead to some very iffy books, I tend to say "I've started so I'll finish."
In the end I was glad I did persevere, although it was really only the end of the book that I enjoyed. Much of the rest was abstract, almost theoretical and not my cup of tea. It was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature however, which also made me continue to struggle with it. Because of the effort I had to put in it was not a quick read. Would I reread it another time? Probably not, but I can see finally that it did have some literary merit.
Now I may be doing it a disservice. In its original, which I assume was Portuguese, I suspect the long sentences are more easily comprehended as I have come across that trait before. I cannot judge the translation, though, only the impression the book made upon me.