This article was written in the sense of bashing gnome but yet some points seem to be valid. It explains the history of gtk 1 to 4 and the influence of gnome in gtk. I’m not saying gnome is bad here, instead I find this an interesting to read and I’m sharing it.
No, as you observed, it goes in all directions and doesn’t have a real point that can be summarized. This is not a recommendation to read it.