You are not alone and I did read it for the first time this year.
I also started reading count Zero and it’s much easier to follow.
Like others said it’s somewhat supposed to be disorienting in terms of world but also the phrase structure is confusing at times. I remember that in many dialogues it was hard to keep track of who said what.
It’s a pretty good book tho. At some point in the beginning I googled and got a reddit post with people in the comments summarizing the first few chapters (that I had already read) and it was good to consolidate. You can also google some of the terms at some point. By the end it’s definitely much easier to follow