Well, months after my brother, Shane read it, I have finally read "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. I know you are all dying to know what I thought so here it is. (Todd did you ever finish it? I know you had started it at one point?) First, overall impression, pretty favorable. I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of some of the awesome studies that people have done about the mind and decision making. I was totally amazed at the capacity some of these psychologists and scientists have to get so detailed and spend years catalogueing what they have found. He was also fantastic at making things interesting and understandable to those of us who are unfamiliar with scientific lingo and the sometimes dryness of reading about a particular study. For a nonfiction book it was so enjoyable to read because he had all of these great stories and studies weaved together to help it move along without pages and pages where you were too bored or unsure of what was being said.
That being said, I had a few problems with the book. On the surface level there was a bit of harsh language in it. Not tons, but enough to shock me (I know, I know that's not hard). I really don't like those words, so that was a big turn off to me. The other thing was, because he did use so many stories and examples from studies, I felt there wasn't a lot of his own material in there. In fact sometimes I felt he was vague and even amibiguous, at times. First he talks about how often our first impressions are right, then he talks about how our first impressions are wrong, because of prejudices, etc. that we are not even aware of. I think what he was trying to get across is how we can fine tune our first impressions so that they are right more than they are wrong, but I didn't feel like he was very clear on how to do that; certainly he was far from specific on that point. I think he brought some great ideas to the table, but I felt like they needed some developing, especially if he is truly hoping to change the way people think.
So, would I recommend this book? Well, probably. I did recommend it to my husband (you will have to look for his review). If you are tolerant of a bit of language, it is a very interesting read. Some of the stories, which are real, are so fascinating. I think I will check out his book "The Tipping Point" and see what I think of that.
3 comments:
Tammy, I did finish it, but I've just been too busy to post about it.
I had a lot of those same feelings while reading the book. Especially about the contradictions he seemed to make about our first impressions being right or wrong. I also have been wanting to read "The Tipping Point" but haven't had time. I think "Blink" is definitely worth reading if only for the stories and for all the things it makes you think about.
So, I also read the book after Todd finished it and enjoyed it. I pretty much agree with everything you said, Tammy. I thought he did a fabulous job of making it interesting and readable. I had no problems speeding right through the book - like I do with other non-fiction. When I got to the end of the book I kind of sat there asking myself exactly the lesson I had learned and wasn't quite sure about it. I agree with the contradictions... it was interesting, but didn't offer much in the way of practical use.
I also want to read "tipping point" Maybe that can be our next book discussion...
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