book review - blink

and here is the next rather negative review on a book that i would recommend that you read, but one that i would tell you to read with caution.

the subject of the book (well, the first half of the book anyway) is about the ability to make rapid decisions under pressure (or not under pressure) that will prove to be as good as, if not better, than decisions made under conditions of expert enlightenment. The author, Malcolm Gladwell, coins the concept as ‘thin-slicing’... by this he simply means that you may know the content of the whole by looking at a slice. Not just any slice but a thin one.

I give credit to the author for being able to convince himself of this theory and for the attempt to convince others.

The concept of this slicing is ‘proved’ by looking at a few carefully selected examples where the concept works in the real world. He looks at three environments. (I couldn’t help wondering if his use of limited examples was because the theory only works in 3 places?) He considers the following:

- married couples (perhaps the most complex of all cakes from which to take a thin slice from)
- military decisions (where rapid decisions have always set the average apart from the exceptional)
and
- marketing research (which i didn’t feel was too applicable and mr gladwell spent the last half of the book looking almost exclusively at it).

More than this, I enjoyed 2 specific aspects of the book:
1. The author was quick to acknowledge the limitations of his theory and was realistic in the application of it. He provided explanations as to why the theory would not work in specific environments and under certain conditions. I found these explanations to be beautifully philosophical and I enjoy well constructed philosophy.
2. It was scientific. It was an enlightening stroll into the land of behavioral science with many look out points and rest-stops.

All in all, the general philosophy of the book was a bit too much. It was like trying to fit my extra length king size bed with a single bed sheet: The author was forced to stretch things a bit far.

book review - a teenager's journey

AT LAST! a book i did NOT enjoy reading. I cannot wait to tell you a bit about why i didn’t enjoy it.

“A Teenager’s Journey chronicles the harrowing route to adulthood taken by Richard Pelzer”...

Richard Pelzer grew up in California and had an alchoholic mother who abused him both emotionally and physically. As he recounts his experiences you cannot help but be mortified with the evils that the author was forced to endure. For someone who is not familiar with abuse too much, i found the story to be slightly overwhelming and I could not keep myself from the nagging question: “is this truthful?”

Of course, there is no way of me knowing so I decided to believe eveything i read. As the book continued it became surprising to see that the author did many things to spark his mom’s anger and although these things didn’t justify the abuse, i battled to understand how the author was so easily able to overlook his own flaws while making the reader hate his mother quite zealously.

I always battle with people who are quick to overlook their mistakes and quick to point out the mistakes of others. And so I struggled to read about a troubled kid’s troublemaking and blame.

Maybe I am being too harsh here but I’d like to finish this review with a brief philosophical thought: There can be little peace whilst there is still blame. I am not scared of giving the story-line away because I doubt you will read this book now anyway. The eventual climax of the mere 200 page book came in the form of a letter that he wrote to his deceased mother. The letter contained no forgiveness, only more blame and more justification for his childhood failures. At the end of the book the author called himself ‘free at last’ but to me he still seemed very much in chains (but this is because of what i believe and is thus subjectively critical). Without forgiveness there is no freedom.

And that is perhaps my most negative review ever, and it will be closely followed by another- I just picked up another book that is only worth my while that I might dissuade others from reading it.