Before giving up on Gene Wolfe, try 'The Fifth Head of Cerberus.' It'll either recontextualize The Book of the New Sun, or you'll know Gene Wolfe is not for you. He's a good writer for the reader who has read everything. The more you take to the books, the more you get from it.

Gene Wolfe’s “The Fifth Head of Cerberus” was on heavy rotation for me for a while. These days it’s mostly Stoic philosophy that gets that sort of repeated attention.