haha, I'm reading it now - finally after many years - and I can absolutely relate to the feeling you describe. I decided that I won't be hard on myself for not understanding it all at the first read. Still quite enjoying it so far (1/3rd read). Additionally I also decided that I don't have to finish it unless I feel like ( specially considering it's 800pages).
You just read and re-read it over and over and still find something interesting