Well, I finally finished my fifth
book, and I could not have wrapped up this blogging experience with a better
book. Outliers touches upon every major idea that I have mentioned
throughout this blog, and it stays true to Malcolm Gladwell’s fantastic
style. When I read The Killer Angels, one of the primary themes I looked at was the
way that faith, especially in God, can be such a uniting, common element, even
amongst men who kill each other to resolve conflicts. In Outliers,
Gladwell told the story of a girl, Marita, who had to give up her way of life
and shed her cultural identity in order to attend -- and succeed at -- a new
school. She believed that it was the
right thing to do, and the school’s founders do as well. Making that leap of faith into the unknown
can be difficult without the belief that everything will turn out well in the
end.
The next book I read, David and Goliath, was also written by
Gladwell, so finding similarities between the two Gladwell books I read was not
difficult. One of the interesting parts
about reading Outliers after reading David and Goliath was that in the
latter, he commented on something he had written in Outliers, and went a little deeper.
So, when I read Outliers, I
could supplement his arguments with updated evidence and analyses.
In Night, Elie Wiesel was profoundly changed by the places in which he
was forced to grow up. He went from a
devout Jew who placed every triumph in God’s hands to a scarred human too angry
with tragedies to even question the veracity of a God -- let alone his.
In Outliers, one of Gladwell’s
primary arguments is that nobody is “self-made.” We are influenced by the people we grow up
with, the places we grow up in, and the resources and opportunities that come
our way.
And in 1984, Orwell writes about the control that the Party takes to
establish and spread itself. On a
happier note, Gladwell suggests that those who are successful also take control
and seize every grand or small opportunity.
It is partly through being assertive that the powerful and successful
come to be.
As you can tell, Outliers offers a lot of critical
commentary on our definition of what sets some apart from others. To go back to the example I used in the first
paragraph, Marita is a really devoted student.
She works really hard; in fact, at the time she was interviewed, “She
had the hours of a lawyer trying to make partner, or of a medical
resident. All that was missing were the
dark circles under her eyes and a steaming cup of coffee, except that she was
too young for either” (265). Success
isn’t an accident. It stems from hard
work and incredible opportunities.
Gladwell writes on the concluding
page of Outliers that success “is
grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some
earned, some just plain lucky” (285). We
often attribute what seems like a miracle or too good to be true to some higher
authority. However, by analyzing various
causes, we can begin to piece together incredible effects.
Like the other two Gladwell books
I’ve read, Outliers followed a pretty
predictable story arc. On the whole, Gladwell
uses a variety of examples and stories to illustrate larger points, but on a
smaller level, sometimes it is hard to predict where he is going. In the end though, seemingly random
occurrences come together to connect and form a powerful argument.
I had been wanting to read this book
for a few years, and I am so happy I finally got the chance to do so. It was a pleasure to read many different
anecdotes and learn valuable lessons
at the same time. I enjoyed all of the
books that I read, and I appreciate the comments and other analyses I got to
read over the past few weeks. Thanks for
following this blog!
