12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
Genre: Non-Fiction, Self-help
3.3 Stars
Disclaimer: I am not the target audience
for the book. I’ve read it because it was sent to me by the review club. I’ve
never been a fan of self-help books, and my opinion remains unchanged.
***
12 Rules for Life offers just what it claims in the
title and much more. The author is a professor of psychology and a clinical
psychologist. He mentions how the idea of writing the book (by compiling his
answers on Quora) came when a literary agent suggested it.
The book is more than 400 pages long with 200+
footnotes and not to mention a bundle of references at the end. The author
deals with each rule in detail. There are frequent references to Bible,
religion, and at times, other religions.
He also talks about animals, evolution, human nature
(obviously!), and situations from his life. I liked the dry humor in bits and
pieces, though the overall tone (that’s exclusive to self-help books) bored me
quite a bit.
The rules I liked were the ones that deal with friends
and kids. He uses his personal and professional experiences to explain, and
that made them interesting. My personal opinions aside, I liked how he put
across his ideas for these.
The other two that caught my attention were about
listening, being precise in speech (irony, I know), and not bothering kids when
they are skateboarding.
I did skim through some reviews on Goodreads when I
received the book and saw that a few readers were triggered. Halfway through
the book, I could see why. If only he emphasized more on it without leaning on
Bible and the Testaments! It’s almost as if the first half and second half of
the book don’t match.
Maybe the book could have been made into three
books-
one to talk about the rules for life in a precise manner,
one to compare religion and life at large,
and the last book to analyze communism, socialism,
and of course, trigger some of the crowd.
Wouldn’t that have been a treat to read? Each book
could be picked up by the respective target audience.
I got pretty bored of the first half and would have
DNF’d the book if it wasn’t a mandatory read. The second half is almost
redeeming. But still, I’d rather read the next half directly without going
through all of the previous stuff.
Two quotes I loved from the book-
“Don’t hide baby monsters under the
carpet.”
“Because too agreeable people bend over
backwards for other people, they do not stand up properly for themselves.”
He goes on to say how this attitude makes them
resent others and the world at large for not understanding them and their
sacrifices. Makes sense to me, more so because I’ve seen such people in real
life. They drain your energy real quick!
To sum up, I enjoyed the book better than what I
expected when I started it. The book did give me a few points to think about,
so that’s something for sure. The rating went from 2 to 3.3 stars for the same
reason.
People frowning and smirking at my review (rant) are
likely to enjoy the book a lot more. Don’t listen to me to make your decision
(as you would have already summarized). Go ahead and give it a shot. You might
love it. Who knows!
I received a review copy from Indic Academy and Indic
Book Club. This review is posted as a part of the Thousand Reviewers
Club.
***
P.S: Can Penguin please use a larger print next time to save readers’ eyes?
It'll be better if you use some other simple font. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteSure, Mr. Satendra. :) Reader-friendliness matters for a blog.
DeleteInteresting. Let me try and preview the book.
ReplyDeleteA to Z Participant. Offering FREE ONLINE Course in Industrial Engineering based on blog - Industrial Engineering Knowledge Center. Start browsing today Industrial Engineering Knowledge Center IE Online Course.
ZF Friedrichshafen Case Study - Lesson of the course ZF Friedrichshafen - Industrial Engineering Activities and Jobs - Value Engineering - Supply Chain Cost Reduction Strategy
Sure, sir. :)
Delete