I like C++, I think I know it reasonably well, I've been programming in C++ full time for the last 10 years.
I never managed to warm up to Stroustrup's book. I've tried reading it a couple of times. It feels like a schlep. There are many great books on C++. Koenig and Moo, Josuttis, "Effective C++", they all convey the technical information and at the same time read like page turners. I only read fragments of "Thinking in C++" but I think it's in the same category, it reads great. Some of them will no doubt have new editions, updated for C++11. So, not that there's anything wrong with Stroustrup's book, but it just can't compete. Much as I'm looking forward to reading a book on C++11 the language--there already exists an excellent one on the standard library, which is the new edition of Josuttis--it will not be "The C++ Programming Language", 4th edition.
I think of Stroustrup's book as a reference manual. It is very comprehensive in covering the standard. Fact is that you don't learn to program by reading books any more than you learn to play a sport by reading books.
That is how I've ended up using his book, but what is the appeal of a heavy, printed reference manual? I could only make sense of the idioms and patterns in C++ by reading the Guru of the Week articles at the same time:
I never managed to warm up to Stroustrup's book. I've tried reading it a couple of times. It feels like a schlep. There are many great books on C++. Koenig and Moo, Josuttis, "Effective C++", they all convey the technical information and at the same time read like page turners. I only read fragments of "Thinking in C++" but I think it's in the same category, it reads great. Some of them will no doubt have new editions, updated for C++11. So, not that there's anything wrong with Stroustrup's book, but it just can't compete. Much as I'm looking forward to reading a book on C++11 the language--there already exists an excellent one on the standard library, which is the new edition of Josuttis--it will not be "The C++ Programming Language", 4th edition.