What The Dog Saw: And Other Adventures

Malcom Gladwell’s book, What the dog saw, is a collection of selected articles originally posted in the New Yorker. It is divided into three parts, the first part focuses at specific individuals while other two is a more collaborative depiction of the topic in discussion. There are a total of 19 stories. The first few stories regrettably were not a great as I hoped it would be. The criterias I was looking for were appealing stories, followed by a comprehensive analysis in terms of Psychology (given that it is in the Psychology section) and ending in a satisfying conclusion. This was hardly the case for the first few stories. And to be frank the praise (in the back of the book) which was one of the determining factors of my buying this book, is greatly misconstrued. The whole of part one and half of part two (almost half of the book) I read with agony. Don’t get me wrong, I understand what Gladwell is trying to convey, and I give him credit for all the information he has painstakingly collected. But the first half of the topics, in the book, can be of only so much of significance, and no matter how hard he tries to convince us, it just isn’t that interesting! Gladwell too I would say is slightly at fault, as he occasionally contradicts himself or the story is imparts, for instance in the chapter ‘What the Dog Saw’, he talks about the similarities in ways of disciplining a dog and a baby(in terms of body posture and presence). Now when talking about the dogs, I quote he writes, “You don’t ask ‘please stop’. You demand it stop”, but when talking about babies and I quote again, he writes, “Tortora did not say, ‘Let us dance’. She asked ‘Can we dance’.” See, how these two are contradictory, now I as a reader do not have a problem if they are contradictory, but it becomes somewhat of a qualm when he depicts of the two method’s similarity!!
But just when I began to think this book was a complete waste of money, things turned around for the better. For me the chapter ‘Something Borrowed’ (fourth chapter in part two) onwards, the stories became increasingly interesting, and Gladwell’s fluent writing excelled. These chapters are worth so much more than just reading. They should be appreciated as each of these chapters impart a resonating message and make you look at the world differently. These chapters really do my nails of criteria on the head, everyone should read these chapters, as they truly ask the most fundamental questions, and their answers may very well surprise you. For me this book would have received 5 stars if it had excludes the first few boring (others might find them interesting) chapters, but the chapters afterwards more than makes up for it. Gladwell though often seems to make trivial matters seem very dramatic, which at times can get exasperating, but having said that, his fluent writing style, his research and his connection with the readers, into getting us hooked to his way of writing is a remarkable skill to possess.On a practical note, If i were you I would buy this copy, as opposed to the other version out there.