This book, while being very short, was one of the longest I have read. It is written with what is now such a dated style of speech that it takes more time to get through each paragraph and then sometimes a few seconds is needed to decipher what has just been read.I found half of what was written to be polite waffle and totally unneeded, but as it is such an old book I was content that it is still written in it's original format. For I'm sure I would have complained more if it had of been butchered and modernised so that every lay-man now days could understand it.
The crux of the story though was a good idea, but the first half of the book was so slow I had no desire to continue. However I found that, similar to "The Graveyard Book", I liked the last third of the book when something actually happened, in this case an explanation was given.
I do not profess to be a literary expert or have great knowledge into what makes a 'classic' book, but as a reader who enjoys a good story written well, I don't understand how this book is classified as a 'classic' and held in such regard.
All I can say is I am happy it was a short book.
