Ok... seriously... what is the best way to go about learning c++?

I've looked at the books list and have even been into a couple of them.
I've read quite a few online tutorials.
So it's not like I'm asking a superficial question...

Where I always end up the bug (and never the windshield) is classes...

I get the general syntax, it's very pascal/c ish... but for some reason I just haven't been able to get my head around OOP code... It's like as soon as I see all these classes inheriting from other classes and being constructed and destructed, the books, manuals, etc. might as well be written in Klingon secret code...

Big question... What exactly is a "class"?
Second question... Why do I need them?