The text is definitely necessary for this subject, just as a racquet is to a game of tennis or a violin to a violinist; the text is the main tool for the course! But we can't expect simply to read, track, and understand a mathematics text. Skim the book, look at the problems. and see what is needed for a good understanding. This decoding process does not happen in one pass; you may need to reread some sections many times. You can learn to make a text work for you, especially if you read it before coming to class and then again, after class. Try rewriting sections of the text, synopsizing it in your own words. And there are many other texts in the library that you can refer to. Frequently rereading a particular passage simply is no help to us, while all we need is another author's language.