There's a really interesting take in here -- that the horror of the monster is actually the horror of loneliness, poverty, and depression, and the associated 'deaths of despair'. The problem is that it means that fair chunks of the book are just really hard to get through, particularly if they remind one of one's own situation (and, as a (former?) Brit, it's hard for them not to). I think one of the appeals of something like Dracula is that it's just so removed from our everyday life that it's a form of escapism. Well, this is pretty much the complete opposite :( . Redeemed to some extent by the relationship between Mask and V, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I didn't think of giving up, multiple times, not because it's badly written but because it's just so grim.