8ook kev|ew Cut||ers

A[|nkya at||
ko|| No 73

About the content
ln Lhe flrsL parL of Lhe book Cladwell Lells abouL hlgh achlevers and Lhe hlsLorlcal
condlLlons surroundlng Lhelr successes lllusLraLlng how Lhey prove whaL Cladwell
calls Lhe 10000 Pour 8ule LhaL masLery aL anyLhlng llke muslc programmlng sporLs
chess ls dependenL upon 10000 hours of pracLlce roughly Lhree hours a day over
Lhe course of Len years ln hls lllusLraLlons Cladwell shows how Lhese lndlvlduals
were provlded wlLh unlque opporLunlLles Lo log Lhese crlLlcal pracLlce hours
ln 1968 when 8lll CaLes was 13 years old hls school acqulred a compuLer a
Lermlnal on whlch CaLes could program nonsLop for Lhe nexL few years a once ln a
llfeLlme opporLunlLy Lo pracLlce someLhlng LhaL would have unforseen value AL Lhe
age of 16 CaLes learned LhaL a malnframe compuLer was avallable for free ln Lhe
mlddle of Lhe nlghL aL Lhe nearby unlverslLy of WashlngLon unbeknown Lo hls
parenLs Lhe young CaLes snuck ouL each nlghL Lo wrlLe code beLween 2 am Lo 6
am Cood forLune played an crlLlcal role ln 8lll CaLes success by allowlng hlm
slgnlflcanL programmlng pracLlce Llme LhaL very few oLhers hls age had durlng a
crlLlcal [uncLure ln compuLer hlsLory
ln arL ll of CuLllers Cladwell shlfLs hls focus from good forLune and Llmlng Lo Lhe
culLural legacles we lnherlL from our forebears key among Lhe lllusLraLlons ln Lhls
secLlon ls LhaL of agrarlan Chlnese from SouLhern Chlna who for Lhousands of years
englneered bullL and Lolled ln rlce paddles 1he work ls famously gruelllng as well as
surprlslngly complex and Cladwell conLrasLs Chlnese commlLmenL ln Lhls rlgor Lo Lhe
lasslLude of peasanL farmers ln Lurope polnLlng Lo Lhe dlfferences ln Lhe dlfferenL
sysLems LhaL evolved around Lhe Lwo forms of work 1hrough a sLrlng of narraLlve
LhaL also references sLudles of maLhemaLlcal learnlng Cladwell leads us defLly Lo
very nlce explanaLlons for Lhe LruLh lnherenL ln culLural sLereoLypes abouL Aslans ln
academla
About the wr|ter
Malcolm Cladwell ls a very good sLoryLeller and hls ablllLy Lo presenL hls ldeas
wlLhln compelllng narraLlve form ls whaL makes hls work so engaglng and popular
1he oLher half of ls hls ablllLy Lo ask quesLlons puL forward ldeas and make
connecLlons
,y op|n|on about the book
CuLllers ls a book abouL belng successful buL lL's very unusual because lL doesn'L
dlscuss whaL you can do Lo be successful lL lnsLead covers all of Lhe Lhlngs you can'L
change LhaL are responslble for success LssenLlally Cladwell spends Lhe enLlre book
lnvesLlgaLlng Lhe facLors LhaL lnfluence a person's success Pe doesn'L Lalk abouL
needlng Lo be deLermlned or hardworklng or smarL he lnsLead shows examples of
how luck random evenLs and opporLunlLy have comblned Lo make some people
very successful where oLhers are noL
l found ouLllers Lo be aL Llmes very fasclnaLlng and aL Llmes raLher borlng and
repeLlLlve Cladwell wrlLes ln hls slgnaLure sLyle whlch ls usually very lnLeresLlng
fllled wlLh a loL of sLorles and numerous deLalls buL l found LhaL once l already
grasped Lhe baslc ldea ln one of hls sLorles Lhe remalnlng parL ofLen dragged for a
long Llme
Agaln CuLllers would beneflL from realllfe Lakeaways or acLlons LhaL Lhe reader can
Lake Lo apply Lhls Lheory Lo hls or her own llfe Cladwell llkes Lo wrlLe abouL general
Lheorles and ldeas buL l sLlll Lhlnk Lhls book would have become beLLer wlLh more
depLh and shorLer descrlpLlons
Cladwell calls hls book Lhe SLory of Success" and LhaL's a very apL descrlpLlon
because Lhe book ls fllled wlLh sLorles and case sLudles of successful people lnsLead
of menLlonlng Lhelr personallLles Lhough he explalns all of Lhe exLernal facLors LhaL
helped Lhem succeed lL shows how lmporLanL Lhese opporLunlLles and exLernal
slLuaLlons can be 8uL overall CuLllers was a very lnLeresLlng read [usL a llLLle llghL on
Lhe appllcablllLy and acLlonable Lakeaways