Yeah, I can see that. It really took some effort for me to get through the first 100 pages or so. It got good once it got to the war, but I don't understand why Faulks felt compelled to include the love affair. It seemed like he didn;t trust his character enough--like he needed that romance plot to get readers to care about Stephen by the time he got into the trenches, when he really didn't need that at all.