The Journey of Seeking Truth in the Land of Ice and Fire in Northern Europe, by Michael Booth [English]

. . Original title:? Almost perfect man: the truth of the Nordic miracle

. . Content introduction? . .

1539, in Horace? In the chart drawn by Magnus, it is still a border area with frequent sea monsters. After nearly 500 years of deep sleep, it has become the happiest region on earth, and only heaven can match it.

The "Nordic Mystery" has gradually evolved into one of the most intoxicating myths in the world today. What happened where the aurora shone? Even the nearest neighbors don't know the secret here. According to Europeans with the shortest straight line distance, they actually know more about the Amazon rainforest.

Finally, an Englishman who believes in humor, courage and truth boldly walks into this veiled legendary area, pushes open the window of his mysterious neighbor, demands the truth, finds out the truth, and restores a most faithful interpretation for the phenomenon of "Nordic fever" sweeping the world.

If there are traces behind happiness, it's glad you came.

If you haven't heard of the "Law of Simplification", here are the hints given by the author in Danish before reading this book:

"shoot af (relax)."

"Rolig nu (relax)."

"Stop Li Ge Major (it doesn't really matter)."

"Glem det (forget it)."

. . About the author? . .

Michael. Michael Booth, the observer who is the closest geographically and psychologically to the five Nordic countries, is completely objective. If you have enough curiosity and patience, and put up with this Englishman's many nitpicking and overflowing humor all the way, he will tell you frankly and sincerely that a Nordic country is far closer to reality than expected. Booth has published four nonfiction works: I'm Leaving, nominated by The Irish Times; Eat, Pray, Eat, nominated for 20 12 British Tourism Publications Award; Sacré Cordon Bleu was included in the reading section of BBC Radio 4; Sushi and Beyond won the 20 10 Excellent Food Award and was made into a documentary. Now he lives in Denmark with his wife and children.

. . Wonderful short comment. .

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The Englishman living in Denmark speaks first-rate. The author's exposition of Denmark is vivid and detailed, but he obviously doesn't like Denmark, probably because of interpersonal frustration; In other Nordic countries, the author only made a short visit, and the topics discussed were much more grand, such as Iceland's economic crisis and fairy superstition, Norway's racism and the role of oil tycoons, Finland's split personality and complex history. The author doesn't like Iceland and Norway very much, but he likes Finland and Sweden, especially Sweden, which is the most cautious and respectful. Although he expressed restraint, I guess it may be because Sweden is similar to the British, with developed economy, social fear and political differences.

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It's really interesting. I want to send a copy to my friends who traveled in Europe that year, and suddenly I have a deeper understanding of these countries that used to feel "as if they were all the same"

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Plain and interesting, reading the characteristics and contradictions of the five Nordic countries from the ambiguous * * * body is really a good reader to introduce Nordic culture. Occasionally, there are mistranslations, but the overall translation of the author's British accent is still good, and the title of editor's adult really doesn't matter.

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For the first time, I learned so much about the five Nordic countries, from history, humanities to society. There are many interesting jokes in it. The most impressive thing is that if I see an elephant, Americans will say, if I get ivory, I will be rich. The French will say that the creator can create such amazing animals, while the Finns will say, we want to know what elephants think of us.

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Denmark: The tax of 58-72 thus supports a public sector of hygge, which pursues absolute equality, is obsessed with the national flag and has low expectations, so it has high satisfaction (don't think you are smarter than us).

Iceland: The population is small, around 400,000. Due to the overdraft of fishing quota, it has gone bankrupt, and very few families control monopoly industries such as media banking in Iceland. Influenced by Danish and elf legends.

Norway: Oslo, the capital, holds 70% of the shares of Beihai Oil Plant and has invested heavily in profits. Constitution Day has become an opportunity for racial integration, with high social welfare and gradual lack of motivation for citizen work. It has always existed in neighboring countries as the protagonist of jokes.

Finland: Santa Claus is curious about what he looks like in other people's minds. He likes sauna and doesn't talk much, but he loves sisu directly. Education is developed (the gap between different schools is small: the state allocates funds for education and training for doctoral students, and provides individual counseling for poor students). Women with equality between men and women also received higher education. After independence from Sweden, 1807 was controlled by Russia. After that, * * * capitalists held the red flag and the middle class (white flag) civil war, and then the white flag. Later, Stalin asked Finland for Hanko Port and some islands in order to protect St. Petersburg (Leningrad), but it was rejected, so Finnish 20W soldiers resisted 1200W Soviet Red Army, and the two sides fought in the weather of MINUS 40 degrees for three months. At the end of the fighting, more than 26,000 Finns died and the Soviet Union died12,700. The war revived the Finns.

Sweden: I like that Donald Duck is a negative textbook of Swedish character. He is shy, insecure, rude and isolated. He likes to go to the country and eat crackers. He refused the controversial topic in a low voice. He would rather take the stairs than take the elevator to visit the lobster festival on time, just look at the slippers. Sitting on the hostess's right requires a short toast. Then the guests raised their glasses and looked at each other one by one. When the hostess finishes a sip, other guests can also have a sip. Be careful not to clink glasses. In Scandinavia, clinking glasses with people is the custom of the proletariat. Malmo's Rose Garden (immigrant residence), 1922, implemented a racial protection plan, sterilized some inferior women and young criminals, and at the same time, it appeared as a neutral main force during World War II. In fact, it cooperated with the Nazis and betrayed other Nordic brothers. It chose a kind of pragmatism, threw the child into the nursery soon after giving birth, encouraged the child to live independently, but also shaped a character.

* * * The same characteristics: class equality does not accept the high social welfare brought by gentleman culture and high taxes.

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Elephant joke: A German, a Finn and a Frenchman are in Africa. They saw an elephant. Germany said,' If I kill this elephant and sell the ivory, how much can I earn?' The Frenchman said,' What a beautiful animal! The creation is amazing. The Finn said, "Oh, God, I wonder what this elephant thinks of Finland."

Quote from page 227

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The name of the barber shop is Ganba's straightforward "haircut". A bar is called a bar. Shops selling clothes, shoes and hats boldly attract the attention of passers-by. With a dazzling name, it is nothing more than "clothes, shoes and hats"; The name of this bookstore is Bog Handler, which means "bookseller". A retail store seems to be offended by the shameless self-promotion of the store next door, and only uses "16" as its name; Another store seems to be afraid of being accused of arrogance and only uses stoppen as its name, which means "store" These retailers not only lack marketing skills, they despise and give up all conventional marketing skills. Only one store dares to break away from this five-element constraint and make a bold appearance in Nick Pentax retail store: "Bettina Shoe Store".