Reviews
The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth
elusivity's review against another edition
3.0
3.25 stars
Hilarious, but mostly in the beginning sections, especially about Denmark. Understandable, since that is where the author lived for so many years, with in-laws to deal with, as well.
The other sections got short shrift. What is Iceland about, aside from being bankrupt? What is Norway about, except for being rich from natural resources? What is Sweden about, except for being the target of humorous enmity from its ex-colonial countries, for hairnets, feminized men, and intensely boring?
Still, a look at some countries I've known of for a long while for being all kinds of awesome, yet have so little actual knowledge about. It partly contributed toward my booking a trip to Iceland to see its alien landscape for myself.
Recommended.
Hilarious, but mostly in the beginning sections, especially about Denmark. Understandable, since that is where the author lived for so many years, with in-laws to deal with, as well.
The other sections got short shrift. What is Iceland about, aside from being bankrupt? What is Norway about, except for being rich from natural resources? What is Sweden about, except for being the target of humorous enmity from its ex-colonial countries, for hairnets, feminized men, and intensely boring?
Still, a look at some countries I've known of for a long while for being all kinds of awesome, yet have so little actual knowledge about. It partly contributed toward my booking a trip to Iceland to see its alien landscape for myself.
Recommended.
theliterateporcupine's review against another edition
4.0
This is excellent as an audiobook, but I don't know if I could have gotten through reading it. It can get descriptive and the political and economical parts can get boring. The author's humor throughout the whole thing is the absolute best, though. It's written with honesty, well-researched, and will make you laugh out loud.
Witty, Informative, and Memorable, this is a fantastic nonfiction read.
Witty, Informative, and Memorable, this is a fantastic nonfiction read.
monikaev's review against another edition
4.0
A good book about the nordic countries. Filled with a lot of interesting facts and theories from the author. The book is not as funny as I hoped.
eb00kie's review
2.0
The narrator is by turns startled, amazed and britishly shocked as he recounts his Mr. Bean-like antics in the Nordic countries. If culture be expressed and passed on through stories, as a journalist, Michael Booth strikes a good balance between analysis and anecdotes. The narrator offers a general, simple (perhaps simplistic) bird's-eye view of Nordic cultures, as well as an accessible take on thorny issues from many perspectives.
Alas, this is how I imagine people felt when they learned there was no Santa Claus. I was a blasé sort of kid back then, but now my childhood is complete.
Living in Copenhagen was the happiest and most comfortable I ever remember feeling. I did not enjoy being told that because the centre-right government is moving the emphasis away from equality and the Danes are losing faith in the public system, it will likely transform into France.
If there is one thing that put me off, Sweden is the third country in per capita number of immigrants, consequently, there is a chapter devoted to Swedish feelings and reactions to this issue. The narrator confessed to feeling strongly about this, to the point of leaving the room when such an opponent to immigration appeared on TV. I was very interested to see how it would be addressed and equally dissapointed afterwards. His only conflicting interview, with Swedish Democrat Eric Myrin, was short and drowned out in self-congratulatory pontificating mental monologues as the narrator addressed unemployment, for example, in full Socratic splendor:
The unemployment rate is a very fickle position to take a stand on, because it represents those who don't have a job as a percentage of those who want to get a job; it does not include those who, for example, live off welfare and who don't want to look for a job, which might be one of the explanations for the stable unemployment rate. And that’s one point — give me one random good faith person who read about misleading statistics, who hears a data point and immediately draws a conclusion (“which goes to imply”). Do better.
This is not a rigurous work and I did not expect a rigurous argument, but I would have liked an open approach to conflicting views: levity, not shallowness.
Alas, this is how I imagine people felt when they learned there was no Santa Claus. I was a blasé sort of kid back then, but now my childhood is complete.
Living in Copenhagen was the happiest and most comfortable I ever remember feeling. I did not enjoy being told that because the centre-right government is moving the emphasis away from equality and the Danes are losing faith in the public system, it will likely transform into France.
If there is one thing that put me off, Sweden is the third country in per capita number of immigrants, consequently, there is a chapter devoted to Swedish feelings and reactions to this issue. The narrator confessed to feeling strongly about this, to the point of leaving the room when such an opponent to immigration appeared on TV. I was very interested to see how it would be addressed and equally dissapointed afterwards. His only conflicting interview, with Swedish Democrat Eric Myrin, was short and drowned out in self-congratulatory pontificating mental monologues as the narrator addressed unemployment, for example, in full Socratic splendor:
'...every year we have had unemployment at 10 per cent.’
‘Which would suggest there is a fixed level of unemployment, irrespective of the level of immigration . . .’
There seemed little point in getting bogged down in statistics – Myrin was hardly likely to have a Damascene epiphany
The unemployment rate is a very fickle position to take a stand on, because it represents those who don't have a job as a percentage of those who want to get a job; it does not include those who, for example, live off welfare and who don't want to look for a job, which might be one of the explanations for the stable unemployment rate. And that’s one point — give me one random good faith person who read about misleading statistics, who hears a data point and immediately draws a conclusion (“which goes to imply”). Do better.
This is not a rigurous work and I did not expect a rigurous argument, but I would have liked an open approach to conflicting views: levity, not shallowness.
readercristina's review against another edition
4.0
Fun listen on audio. Narrator is good! I audibly laughed or smiled in public while listening lol. I am interested in Nordic culture (especially Danish), but he also discusses history which helps lay the foundation for observations and speculations. The book does contain anecdotal stories and interviews with some statistics (usually in the form of polls, not necessarily peer-reviewed journal articles), but that didn't bother me. His political views are obvious and appreciated. It's more of a book that gives an overview before I dive into anything deeper.