I am afraid people might get a little confused by the other reviewer's comments. It basically boils down to this: if you are adequately grounded in the most rigorous european and eastern philosophical systems you will probably understand what Heidegger is doing in this book, but if you aren't you won't. It's not for everybody, but it is for those who want to see how far they can go with 20th century philosophy. The book is hard to read, the concepts are hard to grasp, the work is in my opinion worth it if you're asking the questions in the first place. It is not positivism, which is to say it is not easy, which is not to say that it is unintelligible. Some parts may not work for some people, but you'll never know which parts those will be for you unless you read it. Obviously german philosophy doesn't work for everybody, especially for those in the anglo/american 'tradition', since it requires both intense work and intense discipline to get through it. Philosophy was never supposed to be easy. Don't be fooled by those who fall by the wayside then crawl into their holes preferring candlelight to the sun. It's the best book of philosophy written in the 20th century, which is why it's been the most influential.