Take a photo of a barcode or cover
1.64k reviews for:
David Y Goliat: Desvalidos, Inadaptados Y El Arte de Luchar Contra Gigantes / David and Goliath
Malcolm Gladwell
3.82 AVERAGE
1.64k reviews for:
David Y Goliat: Desvalidos, Inadaptados Y El Arte de Luchar Contra Gigantes / David and Goliath
Malcolm Gladwell
3.82 AVERAGE
I am a fan of Gladwell, but this one didn't hold my interest. It repeated the same material over and over.
I know Gladwell relies on anecdotal evidence too much to be considered an intellectual or a scholar, but I like the way he tells stories and draws parallels from very different types of events to get us to think a little bit about human behavior and what it means. I like this book more than Outliers, and I may even like it more than Blink.
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Very intriguing book to think more about life situations and hidden advantages. Lots of ideas and concepts that will make you pause and consider. Very controversial and interesting.
In David and Goliath, Gladwell's thesis is that what might seem to be disadvantages might actually be the key to success. David's small size would be a disadvantage in hand to hand combat with Goliath but he was approaching the contest as a fleet-footed slinger, not an infantryman. Chapter after chapter, Gladwell lays out stories of underdogs who triumphed - the rise of the Redwood City basketball team in the National Junior Basketball competition because their coach Vivek Ranadive had never played basketball before and devised a strategy that relied on resilience and tenacity more than skill; why being a Big Fish in a Small Pond (e.g. going to a good state school) might lead to better longer term outcomes than being a Small Fish in a Big Pond (e.g. going to an Ivy League University); stories of dyslexic individuals who nonetheless found career success; of marginalised communities refusing to bow to the state (the Huguenots in Vichy France refusing to give up the Jews they were sheltering; the Catholics in Northern Island).
I've found that Gladwell's books are best enjoyed when you take them not as a rigorous exposition of a thesis, but as a collection of engagingly told tales around a particular theme. David and Goliath is no exception. Interrogate his thesis and you'll spend most of the book finding issues with Gladwell's examples (what about the dyslexics who don't thrive in their careers?). But Gladwell is a skilled storyteller and if you treat this as a collection of inspiring stories of individuals and communities around the world, you can spend a few pleasant hours with this book.
I've found that Gladwell's books are best enjoyed when you take them not as a rigorous exposition of a thesis, but as a collection of engagingly told tales around a particular theme. David and Goliath is no exception. Interrogate his thesis and you'll spend most of the book finding issues with Gladwell's examples (what about the dyslexics who don't thrive in their careers?). But Gladwell is a skilled storyteller and if you treat this as a collection of inspiring stories of individuals and communities around the world, you can spend a few pleasant hours with this book.
I think I've liked other books of his more . Thought-provoking as always but I felt as though the arguments were less in-depth as they have been before. Always a joy to read, though.
*I have just finished this book for a second time, and I feel compelled to add to my review since it has taught me even more on a second read.
I listened to this book on audio recently with my husband, who wanted to hear it. We had just given up on Thinking, Fast & Slow, and what I realized was that Gladwell only compels me with his use of narrative. It was powerfully impactful for me to realize that, because it really informs the way I do a lot of my nonfiction reading and writing. Additionally, I am thinking much more about conveying nonfiction information in a beautiful and lasting way lately because of teaching journalism, and I think narrative is the answer to how to do that. So, thank you, Malcolm Gladwell, for delivering me to that epiphany!
This has got to be my favorite Malcolm Gladwell book that I've read. In terms of the writing, it has the intelligent readability I've come to expect from Gladwell, plus the benefit of having every single chapter's story be really interesting and relevant to me. I enjoyed immensely Gladwell's description of reading as a "precise, rigorous" activity as he wrote about dyslexia, and also his discussion of legitimacy in the context of the way teachers run classrooms. This was wonderful, often because I could hear the author's predilections coming through and they are aligned with mine. 5/5!
I listened to this book on audio recently with my husband, who wanted to hear it. We had just given up on Thinking, Fast & Slow, and what I realized was that Gladwell only compels me with his use of narrative. It was powerfully impactful for me to realize that, because it really informs the way I do a lot of my nonfiction reading and writing. Additionally, I am thinking much more about conveying nonfiction information in a beautiful and lasting way lately because of teaching journalism, and I think narrative is the answer to how to do that. So, thank you, Malcolm Gladwell, for delivering me to that epiphany!
This has got to be my favorite Malcolm Gladwell book that I've read. In terms of the writing, it has the intelligent readability I've come to expect from Gladwell, plus the benefit of having every single chapter's story be really interesting and relevant to me. I enjoyed immensely Gladwell's description of reading as a "precise, rigorous" activity as he wrote about dyslexia, and also his discussion of legitimacy in the context of the way teachers run classrooms. This was wonderful, often because I could hear the author's predilections coming through and they are aligned with mine. 5/5!
Typical Gladwell - making the obvious "unobvious" and the counterintuitive "tuitive." This one, however, doesn't seem as coherent, well-put-together, or as well-argued-toward-a-single-point as his other books. Still a lot of to be interested in here...