I don't think I finished either. Conceptually interesting but stodgily written (or translated) and well, life became too short. ETA: evidently I did finish it, but while interesting, it relies on the tolerance for dense and extended exposition, which isn't my cup of tea.
Re-reading Black Swan Green after some Christmas 80s music nostalgia wallowing (and if you grew up in the 80s, you should read it). I read somewhere that David Mitchell (not that one) is co-writing the script to the next Matrix movie (yeah, I know).