Comment by Induane
5 hours ago
He has said a lot f things I agree with, and also some stuff that seems intellectually and morally bananas; particularly around gender and sexuality. There was a point something shifted and he took, imo, a darker turn. Maybe it was his wife's illness, his own addiction challenges, or perhaps he was a victim of his own success and lost too much humility.
Probably a combination of those plus factors we aren't privy to.
I don't really know how to take the measure of a man and probably I'm not qualified to. I don't think he was evil though. People are complicated and not at all black and white.
Addiction, fame, loss, he was early on the anti-woke stuff, which became a major cultural flashpoint, money.
Believe it or not, he was a pretty good academic at one point.
In the audiobooks of 12 rules (which he narrated himself) there are some patches that are pretty touching and heartfelt.
I saw him in an interview with channel 4 news in the UK where the reporter boorishly tried to trap him constantly, to no avail. But just as you think, 'this is a smart guy', he begins to get incredibly smug and totally insufferable. The guy is a bit of an enigma. Mixed in with the rubbish there are some interesting ideas...