Prose of this style is common at The New Yorker. And since Gopnik has been writing it there since I was in diapers, I have to think he knows some things about writing that neither you nor I do. Furthermore, given the publication's legendary reputation for fact-checking and extremely high standards in journalistic integrity, I would reconsider your stance of rejecting the article before seeing if there is anything to be learned from it. After all, complicated sentence mechanics can be (1) intentional and considered or (2) accidental, revealing unclear, half-formed thoughts. In this case, I believe it is the former.

Taking into account the proclivities and interests of the Hacker News audience, perhaps you would be interested in reading an excellent, recent profile of Apple's Jony Ive at The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-co...