Quiet

 

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (2013 Penguin eBook 352p)

 

For the last month or two I’ve been trying out the experience of reading several books at once in a vain attempt to get through my ever-growing TBR pile. I think the experiment has been a dismal failure as I became bogged down in three books at once and only now have just finished one of them. So that will probably colour the following review – I don’t think I was sufficiently focused on this book, so take this review with a pinch of salt.

I had Quiet on my Amazon wish list for about a decade and only got hold of a copy when the Kindle version went on sale – yes, I’m cheap. Back in 2012-2013 this book was a best-seller and much talked about for a brief while.

I consider myself something of an Introvert and when I’ve taken the tedious tests I usually come up as some combination of letters that usually start with a capital I. I think it's part of the Introvert experience to feel like an oppressed minority and a perennial outsider.

In this work author Susan Cain does an admirable job of making the Introverts among us feel empowered - as if they wield a super-power that can be used to achieve mighty things.

The early parts of the book are probably the best. We read about how the whole Extrovert vs Introvert thing came about, the history of personality concepts and how society has repeatedly adopted one faulty model after another and indoctrinated us all into the latest psychological fads.

There are very real measurable physiological differences between those dubbed as ‘sensitive’ and the rest of the population and initially at least its very interesting to read about the research into this area.

However, as this book continued on, I feel it became a repetitive slog of ‘meet this quirky scientist and find out how his or her study confirms what we already know…or contradicts it but can be twisted to confirm our ideas’

Soon the text pivots into some form of self-help manual and Cain starts handing out tips to parents of children who may be Introverts and have bad experiences at school. There are examples of great successful business people who claim to be introverts and case studies of corporate failures which could have been averted if only the lowly Introverts had been consulted. An on it goes.

I agree with the general thrust of this book but felt it became dull and pretty much told the reader (it’s very much squarely aimed at the Introvert) what they wanted to hear.

Needless to say, Cain has gone on to write an even more self-help oriented sequel.

Interesting and a bit of an ego boost for some of us but ultimately felt a little hollow to this particular Introvert.