Struggling with the steady stream of racial slurs. Even if they're period appropriate or whatever, it's jarring for them to be voiced by the omniscient third-person narrator; I guess it feels like they're being lent a credibility or appropriateness that wouldn't be (as?) apparent if they were "only" put in the mouths of characters. I dunno. I think Stephenson is potentially Doing Something with that, and it might be interesting and edifying. In the meantime, though: jarring, and I struggle.