When I first began reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, I did not find it at all worthwhile or understandable; however, as I reached the second cover of this book my opinion slightly changed. I do still stand by my views of the first chapters of his book, but I think his explanations and examples did improve as it progressed. I was disappointed with his writing at first because I believe it drones on the unnecessary descriptions of objects and people, and this distracts and disappoints the reader from the true point of what is said. He includes many details to support his thesis, but I found many of them pointless and diverting away from the message he was trying to originally convey.
At first glance of this novel I received in the mail I gained excitement because it seemed like the thesis of the novel is very similar to other books that I enjoy. This feeling was quickly met with deep disappointment as I read the chapter drag through pages of the same confusing text about a “old statue,” and I immediately dreaded the thought of having to finish the rest of the novel for required class assignments. I often wished I could put my hand over Gladwell’s mouth and sternly state, “I got it already, move along” but since this was an impossible request I dreadfully read the first chapters. As I saw the examples reach more interesting heights and loss the “over wording” he is so known for, I did change my opinion of the later chapters.
Gladwell’s thesis, which he strives so desperately to meet with plenty of examples, is that we as humans do several things subconsciously and if we are to learn about these actions than it is possible to take this knowledge of them and use it to our advantage. The main topic of his discussions is thin-slicing; he addresses it in the way of including positives, negatives and the ways we naturally thin-slice. I do think he could have organized his views of the positives, and negatives of thin-slicing better because with his rapid change of tone of thin-slicing he does seem like he is contradicting himself on the entire point of attempting it. For example, he raves about the positives and benefits we can gain from thin-slicing and using it to our advantage, but shortly after stating this he describes the dangers of attempting it and how easily it can be misunderstood and what could result.
It is possible that other statements could have also been better presented if he reordered the examples. I would strongly suggest he doesn’t present the statue example as the one filling the text on the first pages; I think this discourages the reader from enjoying the chapters that follow. Also, I find that it would have been better placed after the example of the red and blue deck of cards. I stand by this judgement call because even though the statue is probably added first to explain a real situation where the viewers experienced a negative reaction to something before they knew it, if the deck of cards example was presented before it then I think we would understand the statue example more clearly and see its true purpose.
Another chapter that desperately needs some work is the “conclusion”, if it can even be called that. I suggest that he should take another look at the main points he has explained throughout the book and then summarize them and his view of thin-slicing in the last paragraph. I believe this would leave the reader with a feeling of a satisfactory conclusion, and would not have this feeling of an open wound that still needs care. I feel as if he rushed the ending, like he was trying to make a deadline or was tired of writing and this makes me question his ethos. I get this feeling because if he was able to rush something as valuable as the conclusion of a novel, than this would explain the lack of care he took to the wording he used in some of his examples. I wished he would have put more thought into the afterword he wrote, yet that leaves me with the same unsatisfied feeling as the conclusion itself.
Overall, I have to say that I would not recommend this novel to a friend, but possibly an enemy? No, I think it would be beneficial if someone whom has interest in this novel to invest their time in the cliff notes version that way they can grasp the concept of thin-slicing in a way that is easy to understand and leaves them wanting to test themselves on the way they do it in their everyday lives.
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