David and Goliath

David and Goliath is Malcolm’s fourth book I read, and that leaves me with the last (a recent published) book: Talking to Strangers, which I plan to read next year.

What can I say?..., well, what I can conclude is that his books are strangely easy to understand that I always consume them so fast. The structure of his books is simple with short stories, clear cut section to section, just-enough amount of information without choking the readers. The tone is neutral without overtly personal preference and emotion. I always feel as if I was “in Flow,” rolling eyes up to the sky whenever going through an unconventional claim and quickly nodding like an old man in satisfaction when it starts making sense with convincing numbers and stories.

In David and Goliath, again, I found Malcolm’s signature writing style, which I love. Plus, only after reading David and Goliath did I understand the depth in Malcolm’s writing. Somehow it always brings an upswing in my emotion. His words are neutral, and his arguments are based on facts, but his ideas are positive, enlightening, and motivational.

As much as my love for Malcolm’s writing, however, I cannot deny the fact that David and Goliath is not up to my expectation. It is frankly the one with the most number of holes in his arguments. Sometimes I feel like the topic of underdogs, misfits, and unconventional phenomena is like a giant fishing net that its loose mesh allows some critical details to get through.

The story of the battle between David and Goliath, though, is enough to teach us a critical life lesson. It motivates me to look for my unique strengths, the quality of which others don’t have or have little, to gain more control over my course of action.

Another problem in Malcolm’s every book is that a story always involves many unnecessary characters. Each new character comes with a new “long” name with some of which I just struggle to keep track of.