I like the story, but it took me forever to get through. This book is almost impenetrably esoteric, even on Kindle where I could look up words in place and attempt to translate the numerous French and Latin quotations. I'm honestly not sure that I ever actually finished the paperback version that's been on my shelves for years.

Still, it's a thought-provoking and troubling book about the human search for -- and invention of -- meaning. It was certainly one of my first introductions to the concept of apophenia and fed the fuel of my teenage obsession with conspiracy theories.

When I first encountered this book, I thought the difficulty of the text was an indication of its worth. Now I think it is a good story despite how much work it is to read, and it certainly prefigured and influenced many lesser stories, like The Da Vinci Code. But I don't see myself revisiting it anytime soon.