Well, part of the plot is about humanity’s slow and inexorable evolution through the passage of space and time, so the meditative slowness sets the pace quite a

Well, part of the plot is about humanity’s slow and inexorable evolution through the passage of space and time, so the meditative slowness sets the pace quite appropriately. GED (in my humble opinion etc), doesn’t really need some of the fluff. It’s a large book that’s easy to spot on the shelf, and it’s hard to avoid thinking that the publisher (and some readers) like it that way.