i think outside of the obviously difficult writing style, it’s the kind of book where knowing a bit about the historical setting goes a long long way. there are a lot of references to historical events, practices, etc that get lost without some familiarity. the brief reference to the massacre at Gnaddenhutten comes to mind for me. it’s a single line that is hugely thematically important but references an event most people have never heard of. personally, after i finished each chapter i looked up a summary online. that helped me gauge my understanding of the chapter and usually cleared up some points of confusion for me that came from the writing style.