When I read and reviewed the first 12 Rules for Life book, I described it as a sort of self-help book for people who don't like self-help books. Present was the distillation of common sensical (but often unarticulated) ideas, but absent were the trite catch phrases and easy fixes that plague much of the genre. I'm pleased to report that the same can be said of this second volume.
While this is ostensibly a self-help book that distills important psychological ideas into a dozen simple "rules" for living a better, more meaningful, and more productive life, it's much more than that. It's a wide-ranging treatise on psychology, philosophy, theology, and occasionally even politics (though not too much, and always in a fairly balanced treatment). It's true that the rules themselves are somewhat simplistic--some might even say self-evident. And that's a fair statement. The value in such a book as this, though, is less in the list of rules as they can be read in the table of contents, but in the immeasurably rich explanations and analyses that explain--at a remarkably deep level--the sound psychological, philosophical, historical, theological, mythological, and narrative reasons for each of the rules.
The author has an amazing talent for seamlessly combining important ideas from all of these disparate fields in a manner that manages to be accessible to a wide audience without ever speaking down or boring readers who are already familiar with his subjects. It's a rare book indeed that can transition so effortlessly between discussions of cognitive neuroscience to the Bible to Harry Potter and back.
That's true of both this book and its predecessor (to which I also gave a five-star review). However, I have to say in all honesty, this book manages to escape the all too common pitfalls of sequels and indeed might even surpass the original (though I maintain that it's best read less as a sequel and more as a second volume of a single long work). Admittedly, some of the examples revisit subjects already familiar from the previous book (or from Peterson's other writings or lectures), but these few stories are important enough that they bear repeating. More importantly, the new material is invariably fascinating, filled with historical notes, literary analyses, scriptural interpretations, and--my personal favorites--psychological case studies.
With regard to that last category, this book manages to accomplish something remarkable: it is a self-help book that does not insult the psychologically literate reader. Instead, it draws deeply from the psychological literature (particularly the psychoanalysts, though certainly not limited to them alone) and might even inspire some readers to pursue further study of psychology or even a career in clinical practice.
Most importantly, the book differentiates itself from the bulk of its genre by eschewing the easy and the feel-good in favor of the real and the substantial. There are no trite mantras, no happy cliches, no greeting card philosophies. Instead, there are real--often brutal, but equally often hopeful--psychological insights. This is the kind of self-help book that could genuinely help the reader who heeds its advice, precisely because it offers oft-difficult substance rather than simple but ultimately meaningless pronouncements.
At a time when much of the world seems shallowly moored at best--and completely unmoored at worst--this book is a godsend for those looking to lead a more meaningful (and with any luck, happier) existence. I cannot recommend it (and its predecessor, though you can easily read the books in any order) highly enough.
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Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life
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Reviews with images
A thoughtful expansion on his previous book.
I think this book is clearly an expansion upon the ideas established in his previous book 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote To Chaos.As Dr. Peterson has been doing for years, he frames his discussion as balancing the dichotomy of chaos and order. The previous book was focused on the first half of the equation, establishing order when things become too chaotic, while this book attempts to explain the need for a certain amount of chaos to to stave off tyrannical order. Collectively the books try to mark out actionable steps on can take to achieve a proper balance between chaos, a place of creativity and exploration, and order, a place of stability and safety, in ones own life; as too much of either is detrimental in the views of the author.Dr. Peterson re-examines a number of examples from his previous book to demonstrate how once order is established, it can become tyrannical. He also delves deeply into new and interesting illustrations to exemplify drawing oneself out of a life of tyrannical order.As is generally the case for Dr. Peterson, he has not reduced this texts to terms so simple as to drain them of their value. What he speaks to is genuinely complicated and thus the text equally nuanced. Don’t expect to come away from this book with the full understanding of the workings of universe, you may need a careful reread for that. But you might just come away with some well founded ways to improve the way you live your life.I thoroughly enjoyed my first read through of this book and look forward to many future rereads. There always seems to be more to glean from a Jordan Peterson book than one is able to ascertain a first glance. I also look forward to future books expanding further on established ideas or exploring totally new topics. I am never disappointed by a Jordan Peterson book, nor do I ever really seem to be finished reading them.Amazonhttps://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B08NP6881K&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_32RKY2QTTVB0KQTGAMQC
Top reviews from other countries
Amazon Customer
He is truly one of the best intellectuals of our time.
Reviewed in Sweden on October 26, 2023david z
Elocuente, profundo, y aún asi, simple y práctico.
Reviewed in Mexico on April 22, 2021