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12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
by Jordan B. Peterson
What a mind splatter of a book! I feel the author’s remains drizzled all over me. His grey matter drips on my blue suit, staining the red tie.
Sorry for the gross image I just painted in your cogs; this reading experience was like no other I have had before.
12 Rules of Life offers readers 12 prescribed learning outcomes. I can only remember the name of two or three without referencing the text. To me, this means this book was complex and also lacking in clarity.
At the 25% mark of the book, I felt it was too much of the author’s thoughts that was not evidenced based. At this point, I felt like I was experiencing a rant.
This could easily have been an article. I have read many books that have earned this descriptor, but what I think is different from this book and the others I have read is that some of the ramblings are insightful. For example, I liked reading random passages about parenthood. I liked learning how to be a better man from this book. When he linked raising a child and manhood to the rule about keeping a kid off a skateboard, I almost burst. There is a lot of meat in this book, it is about life after all. I feel like there is a lot of value here IF AND ONLY IF a reader accepts the organization and ranty style of the book. Otherwise, a reader may become frustrated and chuck the book out a window.
Then I refer to the title, which I think is the whole thesis of the book: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Life isn’t chronological. Heck, life isn’t even logical. We want it to be logical, but as Peterson points out: we don’t even understand ourselves, so how can we understand LIFE? I think that is one justification for Peterson’s robust mind dumping that comes through all over the pages.
I did find myself frustrated by the rant style of this book at first—I was like what the heck is this dude writing about? My defenses started to surface “oh no, am I reading a book that isn’t going to make sense?” “Is this author not going to achieve the purpose he has promised me, which is a lot of rules he edited from a Quora post he made years ago?”Still, after my hesitation, I went along like a good little reader and gave this book a chance.
After I gave it a chance, I started to become comfortable with the author’s approach. I realized that at about the 30% mark, I was ready to be steered in any direction. I was expecting the uncertain. Reading this book has morphed my perception of how a book ought to be and instead invites me to accept both the author’s ideas and claims.
I also realize I don’t like uncertainty, and because this book is so uncertain, it easily flustered me. I want things chronological, nice and orderly. That’s what I expected picking up this book, that was my own bias.
As a Christian, I really appreciated Biblical citations. I loved Petson’s mentioning's of Jesus Christ. Mentioning of God, spirituality, and Jesus was also not expected, another uncertain thing that earned points for me. I really felt the author did a great job linking his faith to life, using Christ as a model. As a Christian though, his insights into the faith were not new IDEAS to me, but rather reinforcing beliefs I already have. There is a difference. This book does lack in the novel category. It does not deliver much new meat to the table.
I don’t think remembering the rules is the key to take away from this book. I think the key take away is very dependent on the reader, because this book is such a splatter. It becomes difficult for me to communicate what I think READERS main takeaways for them would be. What I took away was this:
-Stop taking care of a pet more than yourself. Due to my graduate program, I have not been eating well at all. I am not making it a priority to eat healthy food, because I am constantly reading scholarly articles. This book made me realize I need to start eating better and try to get back into an exercise routine.
-Manly independence—this section was good. I liked his directness about how a man should act. I appreciate his wisdom here.
-How to approach books in a different way (altering my frame as a reader)
-Revealing my own biases in me as a reader through the author’s style (note: this does not relate to the books ideas, but the author’s rant like style).
I truly think there is a something in this book for everyone. If you are not a Christ follower, you may need to sidestep some of the author’s citations and claims to get through this book.
Despite what seems to be a glowing review written above, I realize I did not extrapolate a lot of ideas to apply to my life from this book. I think this book needs a revision for clarity, but I could be wrong! This makes the ranty style of the book a double-edged sword: it made me question my own reading expectations and adjust my frame of mind; it also influences what a reader can extrapolate from this book due to a lack of clarity. When ideas become interfered, it is difficult for readers to understand what the author is sharing. Difficulty in understanding lowers the value of a book. Decrease in value=decrease in star rating.
Though I appreciate the author’s approach, this book is not titled 12 Rants For Life. It does deliver 12 rules in a murky way that demands a reread. I don’t want to reread a book to fully grasp its concepts.
Although this is not article worthy, because Peterson’s rants do have some fruit in them and his approach is interesting, the purpose of writing a non-fiction book is to communicate ideas clearly. For the love of clarity, this book earns 3/5 stars from me.
3/5.
Sorry for the gross image I just painted in your cogs; this reading experience was like no other I have had before.
12 Rules of Life offers readers 12 prescribed learning outcomes. I can only remember the name of two or three without referencing the text. To me, this means this book was complex and also lacking in clarity.
At the 25% mark of the book, I felt it was too much of the author’s thoughts that was not evidenced based. At this point, I felt like I was experiencing a rant.
This could easily have been an article. I have read many books that have earned this descriptor, but what I think is different from this book and the others I have read is that some of the ramblings are insightful. For example, I liked reading random passages about parenthood. I liked learning how to be a better man from this book. When he linked raising a child and manhood to the rule about keeping a kid off a skateboard, I almost burst. There is a lot of meat in this book, it is about life after all. I feel like there is a lot of value here IF AND ONLY IF a reader accepts the organization and ranty style of the book. Otherwise, a reader may become frustrated and chuck the book out a window.
Then I refer to the title, which I think is the whole thesis of the book: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Life isn’t chronological. Heck, life isn’t even logical. We want it to be logical, but as Peterson points out: we don’t even understand ourselves, so how can we understand LIFE? I think that is one justification for Peterson’s robust mind dumping that comes through all over the pages.
I did find myself frustrated by the rant style of this book at first—I was like what the heck is this dude writing about? My defenses started to surface “oh no, am I reading a book that isn’t going to make sense?” “Is this author not going to achieve the purpose he has promised me, which is a lot of rules he edited from a Quora post he made years ago?”Still, after my hesitation, I went along like a good little reader and gave this book a chance.
After I gave it a chance, I started to become comfortable with the author’s approach. I realized that at about the 30% mark, I was ready to be steered in any direction. I was expecting the uncertain. Reading this book has morphed my perception of how a book ought to be and instead invites me to accept both the author’s ideas and claims.
I also realize I don’t like uncertainty, and because this book is so uncertain, it easily flustered me. I want things chronological, nice and orderly. That’s what I expected picking up this book, that was my own bias.
As a Christian, I really appreciated Biblical citations. I loved Petson’s mentioning's of Jesus Christ. Mentioning of God, spirituality, and Jesus was also not expected, another uncertain thing that earned points for me. I really felt the author did a great job linking his faith to life, using Christ as a model. As a Christian though, his insights into the faith were not new IDEAS to me, but rather reinforcing beliefs I already have. There is a difference. This book does lack in the novel category. It does not deliver much new meat to the table.
I don’t think remembering the rules is the key to take away from this book. I think the key take away is very dependent on the reader, because this book is such a splatter. It becomes difficult for me to communicate what I think READERS main takeaways for them would be. What I took away was this:
-Stop taking care of a pet more than yourself. Due to my graduate program, I have not been eating well at all. I am not making it a priority to eat healthy food, because I am constantly reading scholarly articles. This book made me realize I need to start eating better and try to get back into an exercise routine.
-Manly independence—this section was good. I liked his directness about how a man should act. I appreciate his wisdom here.
-How to approach books in a different way (altering my frame as a reader)
-Revealing my own biases in me as a reader through the author’s style (note: this does not relate to the books ideas, but the author’s rant like style).
I truly think there is a something in this book for everyone. If you are not a Christ follower, you may need to sidestep some of the author’s citations and claims to get through this book.
Despite what seems to be a glowing review written above, I realize I did not extrapolate a lot of ideas to apply to my life from this book. I think this book needs a revision for clarity, but I could be wrong! This makes the ranty style of the book a double-edged sword: it made me question my own reading expectations and adjust my frame of mind; it also influences what a reader can extrapolate from this book due to a lack of clarity. When ideas become interfered, it is difficult for readers to understand what the author is sharing. Difficulty in understanding lowers the value of a book. Decrease in value=decrease in star rating.
Though I appreciate the author’s approach, this book is not titled 12 Rants For Life. It does deliver 12 rules in a murky way that demands a reread. I don’t want to reread a book to fully grasp its concepts.
Although this is not article worthy, because Peterson’s rants do have some fruit in them and his approach is interesting, the purpose of writing a non-fiction book is to communicate ideas clearly. For the love of clarity, this book earns 3/5 stars from me.
3/5.