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jimmacsyr's review against another edition
4.0
Very accessible book. I could see the various points unfolding through the narrative. His comparison of radical islam to leninists is blatantly obvious... after reading it. Overall excellent book.
hopecaldwell's review against another edition
4.0
a fascinating read... good to pick up occasionally & read a chapter or so at a time. Or,that's how I'm reading it!
took me a while to finish but an absorbing book with a lot to say about globalization, trade and education in the world today.
took me a while to finish but an absorbing book with a lot to say about globalization, trade and education in the world today.
lokroma's review against another edition
2.0
As always with books where the author is obsessed with his theory, everything is molded to fit it, even things that don't.
mobeanmt's review
2.0
Pretty dry and fact heavy.... I think after almost 24 hours of the audio book my review is a bit tainted. Overall the message is good, just a bit too detailed for car trips.
benlundns's review against another edition
3.0
The points the author makes are valid, but you need to apply some critical thinking to see both sides of the coin. The author is obviously pro-globalization, so he tends to omit some of the less positive consequences of the flattening of the world, although he does mention it briefly in the last chapter.
Due to the bias, I didn't feel that I received enough facts to make an informed choice on my own. In addition, the book is at times difficult to read through, as some chapters seem to be anecdote after anecdote with little data to prove the point. Hence the reason for only 3 stars.
Due to the bias, I didn't feel that I received enough facts to make an informed choice on my own. In addition, the book is at times difficult to read through, as some chapters seem to be anecdote after anecdote with little data to prove the point. Hence the reason for only 3 stars.
pcaron_de's review against another edition
2.0
This book is quite dated now and not as relevant after the 2008 economic meltdown. Though it raised some interesting questions the answers were often unimaginative and flat. The analysis is ethno, US and sometimes Euro-centric and falls into a Huntington-like clash of cultures argument which leaves the reader perplexed. So many times the author falls back on simplistic formulations of Chinese, Indians and Eastern Europeans who "don't want what westerners want but want to control the west."
Friedman seems to accept on faith whatever snippets of wit and wisdom a Gates or a Yang gives uncritically. For example in describing off-shoring he quotes or paraphrases CEO s who claim that not only do they get cheaper labour, they increase productivity. This is a canard that companies have been peddling for years. Does the US education system suck? Yes. Are other countries producing math and science strudents faster? Yes. Europeans have been doing that for half a century but they did not "take over". And now more than 10 years since this books publication the predictions are still in the future. There is a joke popular in Brazil which could be applied to Friedman's hordes from the east theory. Brazil is the country of tomorrow and always will be. Maybe it is the future that is flat; always just out of reach.
This is certainly not what Friedman means by flat. Or maybe in 2015 it is now more accurate.
An interesting read for historians odd the early 21st century. Not more.
Friedman seems to accept on faith whatever snippets of wit and wisdom a Gates or a Yang gives uncritically. For example in describing off-shoring he quotes or paraphrases CEO s who claim that not only do they get cheaper labour, they increase productivity. This is a canard that companies have been peddling for years. Does the US education system suck? Yes. Are other countries producing math and science strudents faster? Yes. Europeans have been doing that for half a century but they did not "take over". And now more than 10 years since this books publication the predictions are still in the future. There is a joke popular in Brazil which could be applied to Friedman's hordes from the east theory. Brazil is the country of tomorrow and always will be. Maybe it is the future that is flat; always just out of reach.
This is certainly not what Friedman means by flat. Or maybe in 2015 it is now more accurate.
An interesting read for historians odd the early 21st century. Not more.
gonzorama's review against another edition
1.0
This is one of those books *everybody* has read - and *everybody* seems to love. I hated it. It had a "golly, gee" tone to it that seemed 5 years too late. Maybe I'm missing something, but it just seemed like a retread of familiar information to me.