The best way I can describe my thoughts on this book is: there is a very long section where a woman explains in painful detail how she met her husband and a man intently listens to her. I was extremely irritated and bored reading it, but I ended up crying at the end of the chapter.
The experience of reading The Pale King was not enjoyable and my eyes were glazed over during most of it, but it is probably his best work. Many have talked about this before, but it is intentionally dull and about the virtues of managing boredom. Despite its unfinished nature, the point of the book is baked into the experience of reading it, which is brilliant.