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The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia

by Michael Booth

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6573735,084 (3.49)28
"Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, growing increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success and, most intriguing of all, what they think of each other. Why are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders really feral? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? In The Almost Nearly Perfect People Michael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, their quirks and foibles, and explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian. - For readers of Bill Bryson, Sarah Lyall, and Euny Hong"--… (more)
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» See also 28 mentions

English (34)  Spanish (1)  All languages (35)
Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)
«Почему «почти» идеальные?» — обиженно переспросил автора шведский собеседник. Мне, отучившемуся в Стокгольме, тоже не сразу пришли в голову какие-то недостатки местной системы. Господину Буту, женатому на датчанке, однако, поднадоели охи-ахи в отношении пре­успевающих в международных рейтингах стран Северной Европы, и в особенности зашагавшее по планете уютненькое датское хюгге. Оставаясь безусловно очарованным скандинавскими реалиями, автор смог-таки показать, что неладно и в датском, и норвежском королевствах (шведам же он всыпал больше всех). Не ставя под вопрос их достижения, он предлагает посмотреть и на изнанку.

В Дании государство всеобщего благоденствия обкладывает народ налогами до 72%. Официально датчане только приветствуют это, однако более 20% трудоспособного населения не работают и живут на щедрые пособия. Остальные не особо надрываются — большинство уходит с работы в четыре-полпятого. Кронпринц и принцесса вообще посвящают исполнению своих официальных обязанностей в среднем около шести часов в год. Более половины покупают товары и услуги на черном рынке (там налогов нет). К частным, а не к содержащимся на налоги врачам обращается все больше народу. По уровню задолженности граждан Дания занимает одно из первых мест в мире. Учащиеся в успеваемости отстают от множества сверстников по миру, а показатели здоровья нации весьма тревожны. Датчане ксенофобы, а пресловутое хюгге трактуется как эскапизм, стремление ко всеобщему компромиссу и навязчивая атмосфера веселости и беззаботности — все признаки мелкобуржуазного самодовольства. Копенгаген против смертной казни, но, угадайте, кто поставляет в США препарат для смертельных инъекций? Странновато выглядит и защитница идеалов мира Швеция, восьмая в мире по продаже вооружений. Впрочем, узнать маленькие грязные секреты родины ABBA, а также Исландии, Финляндии и Норвегии я предоставлю вам самим.

Хотя нет, вот вам про крошечную очаровательную Исландию: несмотря на малое население (местное шоу талантов закрылось уже на третий сезон), там, оказывается, жуткий блат и кумовство. Это к вопросу об эгалитарности. Британский The Economist вообще назвал Скандинавию — «отличным местом, но... только для середнячков. Того, кто незауряден, раздавят, если он не успеет эмигрировать».
  Den85 | Jan 3, 2024 |
Characterizing the people of an entire region of the world is a difficult and most likely politically incorrect task, but Booth manages it with fun & flair, I realize that these generalizations must be taken with a grain of salt but still, I feel as though I know (and like) the Scandinavians a bit better now. ( )
  BBrookes | Dec 5, 2023 |
This isn't a serious political look at the Nordic countries, although it constantly brushes against politics on every page, and it doesn't suffer for that. It was quite fun to read an essentially thickened up travelogue with the aim of figuring out what makes northern Europe stand out from an semi-outsider's perspective, but it would have been a lot more fun if it were significantly shorter. ( )
  pigeoncube | Oct 29, 2023 |
Trying to decide whether to move to Scandinavia or not. This is helpful as an intro to the cultures of the different countries, but it also makes me question whether they are the right option as an American. That's my problem, of course ( )
  squealermusic | Mar 16, 2023 |
No está mal, pero terminó aburriéndome; debo haber leído 3/4 partes del libro, aproximadamente, antes de dejarlo de lado. ( )
  Marlobo | Dec 24, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)
"When Booth is not taking the Scandinavians to task, he is being charmed by them, and when he is not doing that he is generalizing from their history. "

"The indulgence of half-baked theories is a minor offense, though. Booth’s project is essentially observational; it aspires to a comic genre that might be called Euro-exotica."
added by jodi | editThe New Yorker, Nathan Heller (Feb 16, 2015)
 
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Early one dark April morning a few years ago I was sitting in my living room in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, wrapped in a blanket and yearning for spring, when I opened that day's newspaper to discover that my adopted countrymen had been anointed the happiest of their species in something called the Satisfaction with Life Index, compiled by the Department of Psychology at the University of Leicester.
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"Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, growing increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success and, most intriguing of all, what they think of each other. Why are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders really feral? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? In The Almost Nearly Perfect People Michael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, their quirks and foibles, and explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian. - For readers of Bill Bryson, Sarah Lyall, and Euny Hong"--

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What of Nordic-land /
Is it all health, wealth and joy? /
Apparently not.

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