I always thought I was too dumb to understand the Gang of Four book. I thought everyone else must be so much smarter than me, because everyone praised this book. I really had trouble getting a clear picture in my head of the ideas, concepts and how it all fits together, due to the, as you say, excessive abstraction.

I guess it was mostly due to my inexperience in software design in general. I haven't tried to read it again since then, but I'm sure by now I'd at least understand some of the words in there :) So I wouldn't recommend it for beginners, but I think even experienced developers could still learn something new.