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An undeniably important piece of literary theory. By breaking up Balzac's "Sarrasine" into lexias of varying length, Barthes reveals the way various narrative features and functions weave together to form a cohesive and symbolically resonant experience for readers (though it is not necessary for a reader to be aware of these workings for them to work). A truly fascinating idea. That said, the manner in which it is written (or perhaps translated) is infuriatingly convoluted and confusing. I had to reread several parts of this text simply to glean a partial understanding or to understand how in the world a sentence could have five semicolons (not an exaggeration). It's an important text and it's worth reading, but don't expect to "get it" on the first or second go.