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5.51k reviews for:
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
Malcolm Gladwell
3.83 AVERAGE
5.51k reviews for:
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
Malcolm Gladwell
3.83 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Painfully mid, intentionally (or even worse — unintentionally) obtuse, surface-level analysis of every situation he presents. An excruciating waste of my time
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Oof. What a fascinating book! It felt like long-form journalism and sounded like a podcast with the addition of audio clips. I learned a lot from it. While I believe there is a lot to learn from Gladwell’s work, it did lean towards victim blaming at times. (Especially in regards to sexual assault and the death of Sandra Bland.) The last line of the book could be interpreted either way. So, I can’t quite give it four stars. If there had been more accountability for people in power, I would have given the book a 4.5. The graphic descriptions of child abuse and assault would keep it from ever having five stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
“Don't look at the stranger and jump to conclusions. Look at the stranger's world.”
Going into this book, I was so excited. The thesis sounded intriguing and the audiobook had excellent production featuring voice recordings, student actors, and excerpts from other books. And, in the beginning, the book was promising.
I liked the historical tidbits we got when he talked about WWII, and I liked that he narrated the book personally. The first two sections of this book were enjoyable, but the last two parts are both dangerous and unscientific. Gladwell did an excellent job when discussing the default to truth theory, and I thought the experiments he referenced to support this theory (ie, The Milgram Obedience Experiment) to be really interesting. That's where my enjoyment ended. His assessments of the Brock Turner and Sandra Bland cases were so simplistic that it appeared as though he was watering down the gravity of the offences. Gladwell attempted to 'explain' some of these behaviours and then deduce the crime to 'miscommunication,' but the problem with this is that it came uncomfortably near to attempting to excuse these crimes.
I think Gladwell had good intentions, but instead of picking case studies that would truly support his theory, he chose those that would garner the greatest attention for him. It almost felt like he was using these victims' suffering and trying to align it with examples that just don't sit right with you if you know more details (that he left out) about the case.
A perfect example of good intentions gone wrong, don’t recommend.
1 ⭐
Going into this book, I was so excited. The thesis sounded intriguing and the audiobook had excellent production featuring voice recordings, student actors, and excerpts from other books. And, in the beginning, the book was promising.
I liked the historical tidbits we got when he talked about WWII, and I liked that he narrated the book personally. The first two sections of this book were enjoyable, but the last two parts are both dangerous and unscientific. Gladwell did an excellent job when discussing the default to truth theory, and I thought the experiments he referenced to support this theory (ie, The Milgram Obedience Experiment) to be really interesting. That's where my enjoyment ended. His assessments of the Brock Turner and Sandra Bland cases were so simplistic that it appeared as though he was watering down the gravity of the offences. Gladwell attempted to 'explain' some of these behaviours and then deduce the crime to 'miscommunication,' but the problem with this is that it came uncomfortably near to attempting to excuse these crimes.
I think Gladwell had good intentions, but instead of picking case studies that would truly support his theory, he chose those that would garner the greatest attention for him. It almost felt like he was using these victims' suffering and trying to align it with examples that just don't sit right with you if you know more details (that he left out) about the case.
A perfect example of good intentions gone wrong, don’t recommend.
1 ⭐
I HIGHLY recommend that if you're going to "read" this book, then you listen to the audiobook version of this book on Audible, because its almost like a long-form podcast. Gladwell includes experts and interviews with other people in the audiobook and he is a generous, level-headed and thoughtful narrator and story-teller. He invites other voices to speak where he is not the expert, and asks all of us to think about how we go about talking to strangers. Although I don't agree with Gladwell's conclusions or descriptions of some of the events (sexual abuse depiction), overall the book is a thoughtful discussion, inviting us to acknowledge that our gut impressions of other people are often flawed and incorrect.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I felt as though this book lacked a focal message. While the information discussed was of high quality, it was difficult to identify what was the authors primary purpose of the book.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced