I vividly remember reading and truly understanding this book being a multi-month project.
It is by far Peterson’s best work, and an instant classic. I doubt we’ll ever get anything this good from him again.
This book contained answers to questions I didn’t even know I had. At the time of reading it, I thought I was an atheist “but spiritual like in zen” or whatever. I was pretty much a square materialist that had listened to a lot of Alan Watts. This was the book that unlocked my mind to greater things. The significance of not just the biblical stories, but all mythology, even mythology an sich took on a higher, more valued position in my mind. Mythology was no longer mere machinations of vulgar, primitive man, but a highly compact, yet detailed description of the meaning of events past. Warnings for future generations. Wisdom distilled. Archetypal truth, in line with the world and the human mind within it. It is difficult to explain how profound this change in mindset is.
I found answers to some of my ethical questions during the reading of it as well. In certain parts he presented such a powerful steel-man for nihilism to be battled against that I palpably tasted my old nihilistic inclination again. That terrified me. I was genuinely afraid of returning to the book when I was half way through that section. Multiple times I had to take breaks to write down the things I was learning.
The fact that it took more than 13 years to write is evident in the precision of the writing. There has never been a book that has changed my perspective on the world so profoundly.
Read, but beware for many a dragon guards the treasures within.