A flaw in his character

A while back (quite a while back, actually) I followed a book recommendation by Will Duquette and read Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, a magnificent fantasy novel set in a mythical China-that-never-was. Now, via MeFi, I see that the first draft of Bridge of Birds is available online. The Interweb is still the coolest thing, like, ever. After Star Wars, of course.