I struggled with it as well, and the experience was made worse by the echo chamber of people around me insisting it was the greatest secret to being successful in software architecture. Who knows if they actually read it.

What helped was to watch a youtube series run by a book club where they actively discussed and took notes together on it. It cut through a lot of the dry writing and got to the point of what the author tries to say. I didn't come out of it feeling more confident, but if I think of something relevant I vaguely remember from the book, I know I can pull it out as a reference at any time.

What book club series did you watch?