DAVID AND GOLIATH
Malcolm Gladwell
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 978-0-316-20436-21
Sociology / Motivational
305 pages
$29.00 hardcover with jacket
I’ve never read a book by Malcolm Gladwell. This is my first. And as a pastor, I have to confess that I requested
the book for review under the misguided notion that I was going to get a deeper
insight into the story of David and Goliath.
Some new information that I might have been missing. I thought it was a book on the Bible.
However, having agreed to review it (and it really is an
interesting jacket cover, with a hole coming out of the paper showing where a
stone had been hurled through it) I gave it a go. And it took awhile to put my finger on the
source of my disappointment.
Then it came to me.
This book has absolutely nothing to do with the Bible. The very first “illustration,” and the
namesake of the book, is an attempt at demythologizing of the story of David
and Goliath. Not that I consider the historical
account of David and Goliath a myth. But
Gladwell obviously feels that the readers of Scripture have been
misunderstanding the whole story from the get go.
Delving into the historical intricacies of Middle Eastern
battle tactics, and drawing some rather unique conclusions as to the medical condition
of Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell would have us believe that David was the
absolutely best individual to go up against Goliath. That courage, and faith in the God of Israel
had nothing to do with the outcome.
As far as the author is concerned, our issues (like that of
Goliath, apparently) are rooted in the whole idea of perspective. We are looking at things in our lives in a
wrong manner, and responding to those things in our lives based upon our wrong
perspective. If we would only recognize
that black is white, and white is purple . . . that good is bad, and bad is
better . . . we would be able to come to a more correct perspective, and make
better decisions, and we would all be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise.
Coming back to the story of David and Goliath, Malcolm
Gladwell would probably tell me that my Sunday School teachers had it wrong all
along. Thank you for the
disillusionment, Mr. Gladwell. But, I
think I’ll stick to the Bible. If it
were not such a mighty demonstration of the power of God acting on behalf of
his chosen people, the story of David and Goliath would never have made it into
print. And your book would have to find
another jumping off point.
2 stars for a smart looking, albeit extremely dangerous book
