I couldn't wait to read this book. I am a huge fan of David Mitchell, his sense of humour and perception on the world. However.......half way through the text now and I am hugely disappointed. Mitchell's grasp of the English language is second to none but the text is littered with expletives which are unnecessary. Why devote two pages or so to the anagram of Cnut? Why go off at a tangent on a diatribe of unrelated comment on a particular aspect of a King's character? One can only summise that it is padding out the text or poor editing. I shall plough on with the book but, come on David, you can do better than this.
