Jason's Reading (books by Malcolm Gladwell)

I enjoyed the way that this book told an interesting story while also raising a tricky moral dilemma. Although the main story takes a more violent route than the Bomber Mafia had envisioned, the book ends on a hopeful note; it’s encouraging to know that technological advances are used to reduce civilian casualties in war. Next step: let’s just not go to war at all because, as Gladwell notes, “all war is absurd.”

This book was full of interesting stories and valuable insights – that humans naturally assume others are truthful (and that’s a good thing), for example, or that divining how someone feels/thinks without knowing them well is nearly impossible. However, the book did not feel particularly cohesive to me; it wasn’t always clear what point Gladwell was trying to make, and some of the stories didn’t really seem to fit. I enjoyed reading Talking to Strangers, but it didn’t contain much of the practical advice for interacting with others that I’d hoped for.