Review: The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life

The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I guess I'm simply not the target audience for this book, but I can't imagine who is. The dust cover says that the author "wants to open Americans' eyes to how much better things can be". It started really well and totally relatable. When on page 153 I read that living in the United States was like living in the past, I laughed out loud. This is exactly how it feels for me! It doesn't take a person from progressive Nordic countries to see anachronisms in the US. But then that book went on and on about the same points in almost the same words. This repetitiveness made me feel quite relieved, when I discovered that the last hundred pages or so are bibliography and notes and the book itself is finally over. It probably takes awhile to instill a new idea into the reader's mind, but there were few ideas new to me there. Besides, I don't see how the target audience, the Americans, would appreciate the effort. As much as the author obviously tried to sugar the pill, many will (and already were, judging by some reviews) be insulted. And even if they are not, even if they would like to implement those ideas, they practically powerless to do so. Besides, even if they could, they wouldn't. The political events of this year showed exactly how much and in what direction people here want to change their country. I wonder what the author thinks of all that happened right after she published her book.

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