One thing about Lisp: it's a set of languages within a language. Whether you understand it depends on which of the sublanguages you're reading. `loop` has its

One thing about Lisp: it's a set of languages within a language. Whether you understand it depends on which of the sublanguages you're reading. `loop` has its own special conventions. People write macros. And so on. I recommend giving it a shot solely for the fun of it. It's worth the payoff, even if it takes awhile.