I faced the consequences of this first hand. In the Abstract Algebra class we were recommended a very standard book by one of the giants in the field and I suff

I faced the consequences of this first hand. In the Abstract Algebra class we were recommended a very standard book by one of the giants in the field and I suffered the entire semester depending on that one book. I should have switched a little too early. I learnt it the hard way and advise anybody to look for alternative resources or more explanations once you start seeing a lot of text such as "and the rest is left as an exercise for the reader" without much explanation irrespective of the field you are in and regardless of the big name attached to a source. At times an obscure blog is able to explain a difficult concept much more easily.