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joshgroven's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
zoo wee mama, this dude ❤️ globalization a little too much
danoreading's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed reading the first couple chapters of this, but after a while I just gave up. I did not read the last quarter of the book. The author repeats his thesis *way* too much and it aggravated me. Each chapter seems to say the same thing in a slightly different way. The book was not written as well as some of the other adult nonfiction titles I've read recently and the subject matter, while interesting, was not intriguing enough to sustain my interest.
kmthomas06's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this though it took me forever to read it. A lot of what Friedman is talking about we've seen happen over the decade since he first wrote this book. I was especially intrigued by his discussion of uploading and the power it gives to everyone to become a reporter, a whistleblower etc. In terms of my work, it also provides challenges to preserving the history of the little guy. He mentions MySpace, Second Life and lots of other content creating sites that are no longer with us or have changed drastically. Who archived all that material before the servers were turned off? Primarily an economics based book, I found a lot to think on in terms of my own work as well. Also, in one of the later chapters, I found one of the best descriptions I've ever read for understanding the Muslim world and the many forces at play in it that lead towards acts of terrorism. In the wake of the attacks in France, it was a particularly timely discussion to read and think upon...and it was written in 2007. I think at the end of the day what I found both impressive and depressing what how relevant the book still was. But also hopeful; it is a book that above all has hope that we can figure our the whole flattening of the world thing and make it work.
meglybcoul's review against another edition
2.0
Semi-interesting. Should be viewed as a historical artifact that reflects peoples' thoughts in the early 2000s rather than anything relevant to life today.
neonbuffalo's review against another edition
2.0
Poorly written and repetitive. Combine those two and it makes for arduous reading. I feel as though I read the same book 4 times over.
Dear Jesus,
Please don't allow Thomas Friedman to write version 4.0. If this happens I will consider that a sign of the Apocalypse.
Your BFF,
Noel
I'm so tired from laboriously reading this book that I can't even continue to discuss the awfulness that is this book. For a chapter or maybe even two I thought it was good, and then that chapter got longer and the words looked the same only with different sentence structures... you see how annoying it is when one says the same thing over and over...
If you must, read chapter 2 and you'll get the essence of his perspective.
Dear Jesus,
Please don't allow Thomas Friedman to write version 4.0. If this happens I will consider that a sign of the Apocalypse.
Your BFF,
Noel
I'm so tired from laboriously reading this book that I can't even continue to discuss the awfulness that is this book. For a chapter or maybe even two I thought it was good, and then that chapter got longer and the words looked the same only with different sentence structures... you see how annoying it is when one says the same thing over and over...
If you must, read chapter 2 and you'll get the essence of his perspective.
bengigone's review against another edition
4.0
Friedman’s account of globalization in the 21st century was an interesting read. Being as long as it was, it inspired me to start branching out into genres I’m not normally drawn towards. His final third regarding “unflattening” lost me, and while he had valid points regarding globalization’s effects on terrorism, I found myself struggling through the information. Happy to finish this one!
rjkamaladasa's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as I expected. Same old same old. Learned a few things. Just not enough to give the book a better rating. Found myself skimming over (speed-reading) roughly half of the book.
kristianawithak's review against another edition
4.0
Favorite quote:
In china today, bill gates is brittney spears, in america today, brittney spears is brittney spreas. And that is our problem.
In china today, bill gates is brittney spears, in america today, brittney spears is brittney spreas. And that is our problem.