An “Almost Sunday” Book: “Quiet” by Susan Cain

Full title: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking

Quiet Time (Naomi's photos)
Quiet Time (Naomi’s photos)

It’s an “almost Sunday” book not just because the hour is late and it IS almost Sunday, but also because the book is sort of a mix of reading for pleasure and for work. And work belongs in weekday posts…

I listened to this as an audio-book and for once, I’m not going to say that was a wise choice. It’s very difficult to skip paragraphs here and there on an audio-book…

It’s not that the book isn’t interesting. It is an interesting topic, relevant for me both in my personal life and my work as a teacher. The researches quoted and the advice given regarding how to treasure the powers of introverts is great. For example, at our recent ETAI teacher’s conference we heard how much we should be doing group work, as this is the way the job market will expect our students to function. In the book, Cain emphasizes the price of such practices. It seems that companies are moving away from these huge open plan crowded work spaces. Not only is it not suitable for some students’ style of learning (or people’s style of working) we’d be missing out on all the important products that are born of quiet concentrated thinking. And that kind of thinking requires space, time to work alone.

However, the book is too long. There is a lot of emphasis on the world of business. But what really bothered me was that her important points were made too many times with too many examples. “I got it” the first few times!

 

 

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