Back when Gravity's Rainbow was first published I had a loose connection with some "intellectuals". Now one of these guys was indeed extremely intelligent but the others struck me as pretenders. They went on and on about how wonderful the book was but there were never any specifics, no questions, no real discussion. Just praise.

So I got a copy and, like you, it started well but soon became what I call bad writing. If I need to slog then I'm done. I did that with some required texts but life, to me, is too short to slog.

I've heard people have that same complaint about Beloved, by Morrison. But that book made good sense to me even though I read it twice in a row to really clarify it.

So, my lame conclusion is that we all read and understand differently. Good luck with the book!!