Despite its “blue” content, it is still one of my favorite books of all time.
Methinks the “blue” content - more “black and blue” - is necessary for setting the characters up with a past which pushed them far enough that they were willing to push back when pushed again. Most people are unwilling to take certain steps as a rational choice unless they’ve been forced into similar actions under less rational conditions.
For those unwilling to read the entire 800+ pages, I suggest reading the last 100 pages (where the opening scene actually begins) first. The prior 700 pages form the rock-solid backstory gearing up to that scenario. As I just said, those actions by the characters (while engaging) are not understandable until you know what happened to get them past certain normal psychological barriers; the excitement of the final scene may persuade you to read the backstory.