Did it sometimes feel like a slog? Yes. Am I glad I stuck with it and finished reading this? Also yes! Even if this work can't decide if it's a comedy or tragedy, it was great to discover a fantastic ode to the power of drink, delivered by "Celestina", that would have been missed, had I given up.
And props to the whole Leer En Espanol series -- a great way to retrieve dusty language skills from classes taken a very long time ago.