A Pathetic Life... and Death

I was reading The Understudy by David Nicholls at I was surprised by how pathetic the main character was. I mean, whoever writes about an actor whose recent acting includes stuff like 'dead body 1' in a TV show! Also it is as if Fate is out to get our hero (?) all the time. Overall it is a mildly funny but frustrating book (frustrating because you can't reach in and hit the hero when he makes dumb decisions).

I am currently reading How the Dead Live by Will Self, and it is one of the most difficult books I've tried to read (other than Ulysses, which I gave up half way - the patience required for reading that is beyond me). I have just read the prologue and it is really confusing, also the imagery is not very pretty.