Foucault's Pendulum

I once read a New York Times article that said there is no shame in taking a break from or abandoning books. We are not obligated to books.

I must admit, I am extremely confused about what is happening in Foucault's Pendulum. I breezed through much of the middle on a car ride to Rochester, and I don't think I was paying enough attention, because I feel like I've basically opened to a random page. I am having a lot of difficulty following all of the medieval stories, and I think there are fundamental historical facts that I still don't know. For example, I still don't know what the Rosicrucians are, even though the book probably explained it and they are mentioned nearly every five pages.

One thing that I could do is start the book over from the beginning and try to catch up on what I missed. This, however, seems like a LOT of time that I do not feel like investing.

So I don't think I shall be joining Foucault's Pendulum Club. I am somewhat disappointed, but there are also many other books that I want to read, and I'm ready to move on to them, at least for now.

If someone can explain to me what's happening enough so I can figure out what I missed, I'll continue, but otherwise I'm throwing in the towel.