Tough read but very worthwhile, .... if you stick with it.
938340
This is one dense book.  Machen's work is primarily polemic and concerned with establishing the primacy of Paul's teaching as being essential to a valid Christian profession, life and resultant world view.  It argues against the force of "historical criticism" which seeks to place Paul in a cultural context that limited his resulting views and their validity to modern interpretation.  In a cultural context such as is present in many modern "Christian" circles, Paul's views are diminished in their importance.  But if "the origin" of Paul's views were not culturally condition but the result of a distinct, supernatural revelation, his teachings thus become timeless and normative for all ages.  Paul's views must be accorded a primary place in how all subsequent NT interpretation must be understood.  Machen presents Paul as Jesus' primary interpreter and thus "his religion" is Christianity at its core though not in its entirety.

The major drawback of the book is its density.  The reader must be prepared to plow through some relatively "mind numbing" development which will absolutely reward the effort but which may be daunting to those not accustomed to precise and detailed arguments.

It is a great resource for scholarly study.
3982611
This book is difficult, as I'm sure you've seen said on all of the reviews below.  But it is worth it, completely.  It is a book that gets inside each of its characters, even the dead one, and lets the reader see.  It is not rigidly linear, and it won't help you find your place.  You should read it slowly, rereading passages as necessary.  The text relates things that would have been impossible if said in a traditional narrative.
2254797
I enjoyed this book. It was a tough read for me, but in later chapters I started to get in a groove and couldn't put it down. I'm not a huge animals individual, so when the book went into great detail about a species, I had trouble following; however, I was able to grasp the overall relationship between the animals and the war.
2117066
Took a long time to get through, but well worth it. I read a little every day.  Contains thought-provoking material and exercises to move you along.
4823397
A gripping account.  A difficult read for the emotional. Worth the discomfort.
3925302
Amazing, incredibly challenging, unique piece of writing. Challenging read initially but I found this a rewarding and worthwhile read. It is not for someone looking for an easy read.
2702483
I had a hard time getting into the book at first.  Anna and her grandmother were not the most likable characters.  But, once the book got into the past history of the grandmother the book really picked up and then I started enjoying it.  The book delves into many issues...relationships between all the different characters, different time periods, loss and healing. Stick with it and it will be worth it.
3866438
Difficult to read, the hardships the author went through, but ultimately, she survived and became the person she is today beacuse of it all. Good book.
3606081
So difficult to read going back and forth in time and between the three women but stick with it it's worth it, fascinating and screwy all rolled up in a neat and tidy ending. I recommend it to as a challenging read.
4094018
I found it a bit difficult to stay with it but once I got through it found it the story great. I got it to read before buying as a gift for a friend from South Africa. She loved it. This can be a challenge if you are sensitive to strong violence and some intense tragedy but the story is fascinating and needed to be told.
2143423
I remember when my wife downloaded this book and she read that most people who commented on book stated how getting into this book would be hard.  Well, I agree with them, but it was worth the effort!
456998
References to Greek mythology, obscure vocabulary choices and shifts in time make this one of the most difficult books that I've read since college (a long time ago!). It was a slow and difficult process--especially since I had to lead my book club's discussion of the book.  However, that being said,  once I came to grips with the vocabulary, made order of the time shifts and reviewed my Greek plays, it became easier.  The second half went more quickly than the first.  Lots of good stuff in the book if you can stick it out!
1518586
The introduction's somewhat of a hard read, but after I got past that, I've found myself making time to gather more information from this introspective book.  By the end of the first chapter, I resolved that this was a wise purchase on my part. It's worth picking up.
4577008
As you'll quickly see from my review predecessors, this is a challenging book. That's true, and there's no escaping it. The style is innovative, quirky, and ran crossgrain to many years of reading habits. If it hadn't been recommended so strongly (Jo Walton, who practically owns my speculative fiction reading list nowadays) I might have given up.

Which would have been a great loss. Ultimately this book delivers on its promise, but you need to give it time to rewire your reading habits. In short, you have to put some work in, and if you do ... and if things go well ... you'll get many times the reward. It worked that way for me.

"Above" has ethical complexity. That's a rare dimension nowadays (2012) ... we get a lot of cartoon good and evil, and a lot of complex but ultimately ethically unrooted mindless violence, but not much fiction that gets down and dirty with values complexity, deals with it, and doesn't throw up its hands on value entirely. I liked that. A lot.

The characters are complex too. Rescue triangle plays a major role in the plot, but the author is conscious of how we can get sucked into victim/abuser/rescuer and how the roles can shift in a heartbeat. That's pretty rare.

The worldbuilding is excellent. Of course the references to, among many, the tatterdemalion "Beauty and the Beast" TV series come to mind, as well as some of BorderTown's shared world work, but the book's way more complex than BandTheB -- imagine if the raggedy doctor wasn't such a great guy after all. How do you move on from that and not give up?  Above is less youth-oriented than BorderTown -- in fact there are actual old people with damage and character, but still connected to a street dynamic, and not afraid to deal with real(ish imaginary) people with real mental illnesses that aren't just misunderstandings ... and aren't just dismissable as craziness either. I'm reminded of a scene in a very different but also great book ... the last of the Hunger Games set ... where Peeta must test and discover what is real -- pragmatically.

In short, Above walks a number of very difficult lines. I have great respect for the author, had a great if challenging time reading it, and recommend it highly.
3881299
Riviting  book but hard going to read. Author has a repetitive and pedantic style that requires a break after every ten pages or so. Non-the-less, the insights are fabulous rendering this book a must read regardless of how difficult the journey is going to be.
4942811
Ton of work and a huge commitment, but good stuff and effective if you can stick with it. It's a little hard to navigate and if you follow instructions to the "T", like I do, you will discover some discrepancies. The cleanse phase is nice and I lost 8 lbs. in three days. Helpful and informative book, but hard work.
2746386
Disturbing but the payoff is worth it. I won't lie the content here is really hard to get through in places but this this is real to life and the story is truly worth seeing through:) Bravo