> I got to the problem questions and couldn't believe what Axler was asking was even related to the material I had read through. I think this is a common first

> I got to the problem questions and couldn't believe what Axler was asking was even related to the material I had read through. I think this is a common first experience when first hitting pure mathematics. Mathematics often feels like very rote applications of rules drilled into one's mind, and then you hit a pure mathematics textbook and the questions become a step change in difficulty where you're expected to derive novel insights on your own that the text doesn't hold your hand in showing. A single problem can easily occupy days of your time before the "aha!" moment, but as you say, once you get the "aha!" you realize your understanding is quite profound as opposed to a shallower understanding of just how to apply a given set of rules.