Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
author: Susan Cain
name: Paul
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2012/07/13
date added: 2012/07/13
shelves: non-fiction, new-in-2012
review:
Reading Susan Cain‘s book about introversion left me feeling very polarized. In a lot of ways, the breadth of research involved is impressive, and the sincerity with which she chronicles the research into what introversion is and what makes introverts that way illuminates her passion for the topic. Then again, the book suffers a bit under the weight of its presentation.
Cain makes regular effort to highlight that, despite her own admitted introversion, being an extrovert isn’t bad, per se. The problem I found with this is that despite her lip service to one characteristic not being preferable to the other, the book comes across as kind of a manifesto in favor of toning it down or, at the very least, elevating those who aren’t as comfortable being the squeaky wheel. I don’t know that it was possible for this to not be a factor since part of the thesis of the book is that culture (at least American culture), in Cain’s view, values extroversion more than reserved sensitivity. But, despite being pretty introverted myself, I found myself disengaged by the “us vs. them” subtext.
Which is not to say Ms. Cain’s findings and arguments are not enlightening and persuasive. Her descriptions of research surrounding the science of introversion, the correlation between introversion, shyness, sensitivity and empathy are engaging, perhaps not revelatory but certainly worth noting. Though at times the book seems to be aimed at introverts as a kind of legitimizing, empowering tome, I think the best audience for the book are people, especially extroverts, who have introverted people in their homes or workplaces who could use some eye-opening as to what makes the more reserved in their midst tick and how to best accommodate them and draw out their strengths.
What frustrated me the most about Quiet though is that Ms. Cain peppers her findings with specific examples of people, using them to illustrate her points. Illustration is fine, and I don’t even mind the regular use of case studies, but Cain dwells on these anecdotes as if they were supposed to be universally applicable, all while reminding readers regularly that no generalization is really accurate. This where the book feels padded, similarly to a book I read earlier in the year, A Single Roll of the Dice by Trita Parsi, in which a lot of the details (or, here, personal examples) feel contrived to increase word count to flesh out what might otherwise be a solid 100-page scholarly discussion, leaving something like 170 pages that feel burdened by personal asides and digressions.
To make matters worse, there is a weird structural flaw in the way the information and research is presented such that in the first half of the book Cain persistently references future chapters, saying “…which I will discuss more, later, in chapter X.” Then in the latter half of the book, she regularly cites previous topics, like, “…as you recall from chapter Y.” It occurred to me that a better overall arrangement of the material would have avoided the cross-referencing, allowing concepts to flow into each other more seamlessly. As it is, it feels disjointed and spread around, often losing the point and making something that should be clarified feel muddy.
Quiet is an interesting read and a decent book, helped along by some somewhat hidden but very useful/insightful pieces of practical advice. It isn’t without its flaws, unfortunately, making it somewhat less of a tour de force than it may have had the potential to be, but for those interested in the subject matter in particular, it’s worth checking out.