And I didn't have the manual. It got to the point where I was quite lost and felt that I shouldn't have to read a book to figure out what everything does, so I returned it. I actually bought The Witcher 2 because I wanted a challenging game that didn't hold my hand. Only after a few hours did I realize that I didn't have the energy for that anymore.
The first game guide was for TES Oblivion. It wasn't so much the gameplay information which I found most interesting, although I did use it as a reference tool, but it was the little facts about the world which I couldn't get enough of. I read that from cover to cover because it contained quite a bit of personality for a guide.
The Skyrim's guide isn't a patch on Oblivions, in my opinion. Much like the game itself...
That's probably the wisest way to use them. Beat the game once on your own, only "peeking" for help on extremly hard bosses or puzzles, then "overuse" them for creativity in play.
Nowadays there are games with tons of content that is extremely hard, near impossible for one gamer to discover all on his own, unless he's bolted to the game all day long.