Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

by Susan Cain

This readable and insightful book combines scientific research, historical analysis, and personal anecdotes to make a strong case for recognizing, accepting, and nurturing the quieter, or introverted, personalities among us. Cain cites, among dozens of others, Jerome Kagan's studies on temperament, which show how introverted and extroverted traits are biologically rooted in sensitivity to stimuli, and Anders Ericsson's research on expertise and deliberate practice, which emphasizes the importance of sustained, focused, and — most importantly, for this purpose — isolated effort in achieving mastery in any field. Cain highlights this work to counter the myth that extroverted traits like charisma and social dominance are essential for success. She argues that introverts are not anti-social at all, but differently social, and shows how both introverts and extroverts seek out and are supported by different external conditions (in her metaphor, introverts, like orchids, thrive under specific, supportive conditions but falter in the wrong environments). She also points to historical figures such as Rosa Parks and Mahatma Gandhi as examples of introverts who changed the world, emphasizing the power of quiet strength.

I liked this book's clear, firm messaging. Building off the psychological and sociological studies, Cain has advice for work leaders, parents, and teachers. She advises organizations to rethink open-plan offices and team brainstorming sessions, as these often stifle introverts' creativity. She stresses the importance of creating spaces where independent and solo thinking is valued, citing, for example, Steve Wozniak's hours of isolated work in making the home PC. Parents are encouraged to respect their introverted children’s natural tendencies, avoiding over-scheduling and teaching them that their quieter ways are a strength rather than a flaw. For educators, Cain emphasizes the need to avoid bias toward extroverted students in classrooms. I myself have definitely been guilty of advising children to "talk more in class" without trying to reframe any biases. Why see the quiet kid as shy, someone who needs to break out of their comfort zone? Yes, they need to engage in the world, but why not first value their wisdom in analyzing a situation, being reflective, not just leaping in? This is an essential shift in outlook for anyone who wants to nurture confidence in young children. Overall, this book is an inspiring call to embrace the full spectrum of human temperaments, offering practical strategies to empower introverts and build more inclusive environments in homes, schools, and workplaces. 

 four stars

On Beauty

by Zadie Smith
2005

In the college town of Wellington, Massachusetts, two academic families, the Belseys and the Kippses, are ideological and personal opposites whose lives become deeply intertwined. Howard Belsey is a politically liberal professor of art at Wellington College, a white Englishman married to an African-American woman. Their three children — Jerome, Zora, and Levi — grapple with their own identities and conflicts in the face of their parents' tumultuous marriage. Howard, an atheist and iconoclast, has not published recently, and brings chaos to his marriage with infidelity and his outlook which rejects the important or sacred; he seems not at home in the world.  In contrast, Monty Kipps, a British-Caribbean art historian, is conservative, confident, larger than life, popular, and successful.  When the oldest son, Jerome Belsey, becomes romantically involved with Monty's daughter, Victoria, an awkward entanglement of personal, political, and professional conflicts is set in motion. As the story unfolds, and minor characters flit in and out of the families' orbit, the characters confront themes of race, privilege, identity, and fidelity while struggling to reconcile their ideals with the messy realities of life.

The novel draws heavily on its academic setting, portraying the complexities of campus politics, ideological divisions, and personal hypocrisies. It's densely layered yet is a smooth, alluring read, has a mordant wit, and the prose style is beautiful.  It won the Orange Prize, was nominated for the Booker, and ended up on countless Best of the Year lists.  Smith acknowledges an explicit comparison to E.M. Forster's Howard's End in both its plot and its concern with human relationships, but I haven't read that novel, so perhaps I'm missing something.  I very much enjoyed reading it, and I think Smith is an excellent communicator of complex subjects.  I liked especially the critiques of intellectualism's failings regarding the hard realities of the world, and the nuanced depiction of race, especially Kiki's experiences as a non-academic black woman in a white man's academic world.  I was put off, somewhat, by the overstuffed narrative, with its many subplots and secondary characters vying for attention.  I am also the type of reader who seeks some form of closure to be fully satisfied, and this novel, essentially a slice of life, albeit a complex one, begins in media res and ends with all possibilities open.  In sum, this is a masterfully-written work that I enjoyed reading, but upon completing it, I felt a bit let down, as if I'd had a whirlwind dance with someone I can now no longer find.

four stars

Nod

by Adrian Barnes

2012

One day, without explanation, everyone on Earth loses the ability to sleep. Everyone, that is, except a select few, perhaps one in a thousand, who still can recharge their bodies and minds. Paul, a writer of books on etymology, is one such lucky soul. Tanya, his girlfriend, is not. In a maximum of four weeks, the Awakened will die, their bodies and brains taxed to the maximum. But before that happens, civilization will collapse and millions of people who start to get very desperate, erratic, and insane. Paul finds that his latest, unpublished work, Nod, has fallen into the hands of a charismatic nutcase who leads a band of followers, and he tries to navigate a tricky line between placating the horde who see him as a prophet and saying the wrong thing and being martyred by madmen. And then there's the tricky problem of the children he wants to save...

This is a wonderfully eerie apocalyptic nightmare scenario. It's such a simple idea, but so open to horrible possibilities. A world of brainless zombies is one thing; a world of cunning, crazed, sleep-deprived iconoclasts, jealous and suspicious of your ability to sleep, is something rather more frightening. At least you know where you stand with zombies. The book is a quick read, with a taut, heavy atmosphere of dread, and depictions of real cruelty, leavened slightly by Paul's expounding on interesting old words and ruminations about what life, in the regular old world, was really about. Barnes isn't interested in "hard science fiction" ideas about what in reality cause such a doomsday scenario or why some might be unaffected; this is more in the way of speculative apocalyptic horror with an faintly optimistic outlook. Sadly, Barnes died of a rare cancer right after publishing this book, so we'll never know what other gems he might have written. 

four stars

The Ministry of Time

by Kaliane Bradley

2024

In a near-future London, the protagonist (who is never named) takes on a government job about which she is told nothing. It turns out that the UK has discovered the secret of time travel (from the past to the future only), and our protagonist is hired to be a "bridge" to the present for her charge, a man from the Navy presumed dead in 1847. This is real-life Commander Graham Gore, who perished in the infamous Franklin expedition. Along with the other bridges and time-displaced persons she teaches her expat about such soul-shaking Spotify, the looser morals of the age, and the end of the British Empire. Gore takes it all calmly, considering, and soon he and the bridge (called "little cat" as a pet name by Gore) find themselves falling in love. But there are a lot of secrets that Little Cat is yet to discover about the Ministry; clearly, the government has an ulterior motive in using time travel, and soon she and Gore are in grave danger.

I enjoyed how the novel explores the consequences of defying history, and I loved the characters from diverse eras, especially the spunky 17th century farm girl and the quiet, guilt-ridden homosexual from 1916. Key themes include colonialism (the author is of Cambodian descent, and her characters have diverse backgrounds and perspectives), climate change, generational trauma, and complex identities, all handled with a mix of historical realism and humor. All good so far. However, I personally am not into romance novels at all, and this is easily a romance novel as much as a science fiction or speculative novel. I found this subplot frankly boring. Then, too, I am never patient with characters who don't see the obvious; when, for example, Little Cat hears about an obviously futuristic weapon in the Ministry, she dismisses it utterly as a mistake, despite the fact that, well, she just learned that time travel is possible, right? I felt as though the book never really got itself fully together; I liked how Gore adapted to the present, but the secrets and subplots that followed felt rushed and unsatisfying to me. The book was overlong, tedious in its pacing in some parts, and rushed in others. Alternating chapters which tell what happened to Gore in the past are not particularly interesting and have no bearing on how he acts or thinks in the present. And, as a minor gripe, the author relies way too much on metaphors, some rather silly. A good editor probably could have made this book more readable, but as it is, I was disappointed and often put it down out of boredom.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

by Tom Stoppard

1966

What happens to minor characters when they're not on stage in a drama? Well, for the hapless Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of "Hamlet," they're stuck in a theatrical limbo, an empty stage on which they wonder what their purpose is. Sure of nothing, not even their names, with only fragments of memory as to their task of delivering Hamlet to England, they encounter the play's dramatists, who give them only cryptic answers, and only every now and then the main characters of "Hamlet," who sweep past them, engrossed in their own roles.

It's a little bit "Waiting For Godot," a little bit "Six Characters in Search of an Author," and a little bit "No Exit." Ros. and Guild. have, for the preponderance of the play, only themselves to talk to, annoy, console, and baffle in turn, and in this case it does turn out that hell is other people. But this play is brilliant in its own right, with its meta-textural humor, surrealism, and frank contemplation of death. I'll tell you one thing, though. Death is not being on a boat. Possibly, however, at times it is not-being on a boat. 

five stars

The High Window

by Raymond Chandler

1942

In the third Philip Marlowe book, a bilious, dipsomaniac widow hires the sleuth to track down a very rare and valuable coin, which she believes has been stolen by her estranged daughter-in-law. He soon finds out that the job includes being accosted by the woman's ineffectual son, who still loves his wife, and by her timorous, neurotic secretary, for their own reasons. There's even another detective on the case, a cheerful but clumsy fellow, and two murders later Marlowe is checking in with the criminal classes to see what they have to say. He gets along with them better than he does the widow.

This is an astonishing feat of writing. These books aren't whodunits in the traditional sense; they aren't even noir, really. Marlowe is a genre unto itself, with original and self-assured writing that constructs a labyrinthine plot, but isn't really about the plot at all. A man confesses to a murder he didn't commit; later he'll recant and the murder will go cold and unsolved. Marlowe helps a lady in distress as far as he can. He also maybe helps another fellow get away with murder. Maybe the victim deserved it. Who's to say? Not Marlowe. "The white moonlight was cold and clear, like the justice we dream of but don't find." 

five stars

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

by Christopher McDougall

The author, a sportswriter who runs but finds himself constantly injured, goes to several sports doctors to find the reason why. They tell him the same thing: after a certain age and at a certain weight, running is bad for your body, period. Unsatisfied with this bad news, he seeks answers in other areas, eventually stumbling upon a Mexican desert tribe called the Tarahumara, who run hundreds of miles a week as a daily routine, even into late middle age, and seem to never get injured. This discovery leads to McDougall hearing of a mysterious American called Caballo Blanco who lives among these people and has adopted their ways and diet. Once an article about this man is published, it sparks a new interest in the largely hidden and unknown Tarahumara in several of ultra-marathoning's top figures. Eventually, a race is set up between the bravest of American athletes and the top Tarahumara runners, a race filled with drama and surprises, which no one except the participants and the few townsfolk near the race area ever see.

The story is indeed dramatic, but the lily is gilded by the author's style. It is written in a very sensationalist tone: everything is the best, the most nutritious superfood, the most dangerous remote location, the highest town, the most capable humans, the toughest. McDougall is definitely not a just-the-facts type of writer. Every meeting has to be earth shaking, every character has to be larger than life. However, the book has everything, and it has it in copious detail. There is a cast of extremely quirky characters, there is serious medical data on the benefits of running barefoot, there’s criticism of the Nike sneaker industry for deliberately perpetuating bad running, there is the personal journey and breakthrough that the author goes through (along with practical step-by-step plan which the reader can copy to improve his or her running), there is the trove of historical tidbits and fascinating anecdotes about the limits of human endurance, and of course there’s the stars of the show, the Tarahumara themselves and their fascinating way of life and how it makes them such amazing athletes. Plus some American super-athletes. And a lot of data about the benefits of a vegetarian diet. Even evolutionary biology. Quite a lot. And thus we come to the raison d'etre of the book: according to the evidence McDougall cites, humans are evolutionarily created to run. We have the right ligaments, buttocks, and feet to run, and if we don't run, we are destroying ourselves with heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It's a tall order. But McDougall seems to have interviewed everyone remotely connected with the race, or runs great distances, or the science of running, or the running tribes, and the book is both marvelously entertaining and informative from beginning to end. It gets a little corny and quasi mystical near the end when the race reaches a climax, but chalk that up to a runner's high. I don’t have the knowledge to debate the veracity or debunk or support some of the wilder claims, and the author is prone to depict detailed visuals and conversations for which he was not present. That said, taken at its face value it is a superb book. 

five stars