21 July 2012:
It took a while, but I've finished it.
On 16 May, I blogged about reading four stories from this book. Days ago, I finally finished it. Here's my take on this book:
Part One was boring. Maybe it's me, but the stories in it weren't particularly interesting and engaging. I do acknowledge that Gladwell is a fabulous writer and he beautifully crafts each piece, but I suspect it's the content of the stories that put me off.
Or sometimes, it's because there are too many names and I get confused. And it did take a while for an anal grammar Nazi like me to get used to the American style and spelling used in this book. (I'm glad that most books in Singapore bookstores are published in Britain so it's in British English.)
Part Two was better. I stopped reading this book for a while, which was why this book took me rather long, compared to other books I've read previously. I stopped after finishing Part One, and I was seriously contemplating whether or not to continue reading it. I felt slightly disappointed then, cos I expected Gladwell's works to be stellar, yet I did not feel this way after Part One.
At least Part Two wasn't that bad. I don't really remember the stories now, but I do remember some very valuable messages that Gladwell had came up with after analysing some seemingly unrelated incidents.
Part Three was the best. This was where I went 'aha, that's what I've been waiting for!' It could, again, be coincidence that the stories covered in Part Three was most interesting to me. For all you know, someone might have the opposite opinion of me for the three parts.
I finished Part Three the fastest, and there was no procrastination for it. For the previous two parts, I actually chose to read other things / do other stuff instead of continuing, which was very unlike me for the previous books. I finished Part Three on a weekday night, and I remember feeling rather happy that at least the book didn't exactly disappoint me, and I don't suppose it will to you.
Overall, the book provides great insights from many aspects of life. The best and most ingenious part of the stories is that Gladwell is able to relate seemingly foreign incidents (say teaching and rugby, where USA calls it 'football'
) and come up with very thought-provoking messages.I would recommend this book, but if you ask me for a score I would probably give 7/10 or even 6.5.
What am I reading now? I've been trying to alternate between English and Chinese books so that I can maintain being bilingual, and the next one I'm reading is:
(I couldn't find the exact cover of the version I'm reading now; this was kope-ed from Wikipedia. Nevertheless, it shouldn't be of much difference.)
這本書（其實是四冊）是我上個月在大眾書局的closing-down sale購買的。華文書的部份很多都是一些烹飪書，給那些阿姨們吧我想。我拿了九把刀的「后青春期的詩」之後就像走人啦，幸好我看到金庸的名著。
其實，在這之前，我沒讀過金庸的任何作品。我認識金庸，知道他是個非常有名的作家。但是因為他寫武俠小說的緣故，我從來沒去嘗試讀他的書。現在，我開始嘗試，希望不會被悶壞啦。
昨天在巴士上讀了兩頁。故事的開頭有很多描寫的部份，哇，那我非常需要學學啦。古裝的故事有很多服裝、人物、景色的細節，所以才需要一一描寫出來。金庸其實也沒用到華麗辭藻，不過我也能感受得到他想表達的東西。
TTFN.