I tried reading it a few years ago, and couldn't finish it for pretty much the reasons you listed here. It's a view of a sick, evil mind at work. It's not even logically consistent, which is probably one reason why liberals seem to adore it.
The thing about it is the book not only advocates, but admiringly promotes despicable human behavior, all the dishonorable things in life that moral parents teach their children to avoid doing.
It disgusted me. There is only one other work I have ever read that made me struggle with the value of reading it, even though I forced myself to finish it: “Dreams of My Father”.