- Paperback: 660 pages
- Publisher: Picador USA; Upd Exp edition (1 July 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312425074
- ISBN-13: 978-0312425074
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.1 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 618,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I had heard quite a bit of good about this book and its author, but I was disappointed.
The overall message I tend to agree with, but - boy! - does he flog the idea! The examples are often pertinent and his arguments persuasive (US tax forms completed in India?) but the book suffers from the author's verbosity.
One or two examples would be fine, but any more than that becomes overkill. Arguments tend to be made in five different forms, and if a sixth can be made too, then the author goes for it.
It started well but then got difficult. I reached half-way and called it a day.
A pity - I'd have finished the book had Thomas Friedman or his editor cut out the overkill. A half or less would have been fine.
The overall message I tend to agree with, but - boy! - does he flog the idea! The examples are often pertinent and his arguments persuasive (US tax forms completed in India?) but the book suffers from the author's verbosity.
One or two examples would be fine, but any more than that becomes overkill. Arguments tend to be made in five different forms, and if a sixth can be made too, then the author goes for it.
It started well but then got difficult. I reached half-way and called it a day.
A pity - I'd have finished the book had Thomas Friedman or his editor cut out the overkill. A half or less would have been fine.
13 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Why make so much noice about a dud! If you read the first 10 pages, you have read the book! The message of the book is interesting, but everyone except dummies have understood it after the page 10. So why waste so much paper to writte nothing more?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
213 reviews
68 of 76 people found the following review helpful
This book will make you think about today's most important topic
12 Sep 2007
Format:Paperback
No doubt, Friedman will get you thinking.
You may end up thinking Friedman has really informed you on what this grand notion of "globalization" is all about. His book has reached millions, including leaders in business government and education, many who now feel fully informed on the subject.
But, just stop to consider his "base assumptions," the 10 so-called flatteners. Most aren't new at all and some fundamental flatteners such as containerized shipping aren't mentioned at all (see The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger). (nevermind the consequences when the end of cheap eneregy flattens the global logistics routes)
So, go ahead and read this book, but when you are finished, and especially if you are awed, I'd suggest you consider reading Aronica and Ramdoo's critical analysis of Friedman's book. It just could make you "think again," even about those so-called 10 flatteners.
The World Is Flat?: A Critical Analysis of New York Times Bestseller by Thomas Friedman
Aronica and Ramdoo will also point you to the true thought leaders on globalization, and summarize their take on Friedman's book: Stiglitz (Nobel Prize in economics), Baghwati(Columbia Professor), Prestowitz (Presidential Trade Advisor), Lemer (UCLA Professor), Ghemawat (Harvard Professor), Roach (Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley), Palast (Investigative Reporter, UK)and others.
So, thank Friedman for an entertaining read, and using his status as a celebrity pundit for making us all aware of the great reorganization the world is going through. But, please don't stop there, for there is far more to the unfolding story of globalization, and all of us are being affected.
You may end up thinking Friedman has really informed you on what this grand notion of "globalization" is all about. His book has reached millions, including leaders in business government and education, many who now feel fully informed on the subject.
But, just stop to consider his "base assumptions," the 10 so-called flatteners. Most aren't new at all and some fundamental flatteners such as containerized shipping aren't mentioned at all (see The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger). (nevermind the consequences when the end of cheap eneregy flattens the global logistics routes)
So, go ahead and read this book, but when you are finished, and especially if you are awed, I'd suggest you consider reading Aronica and Ramdoo's critical analysis of Friedman's book. It just could make you "think again," even about those so-called 10 flatteners.
The World Is Flat?: A Critical Analysis of New York Times Bestseller by Thomas Friedman
Aronica and Ramdoo will also point you to the true thought leaders on globalization, and summarize their take on Friedman's book: Stiglitz (Nobel Prize in economics), Baghwati(Columbia Professor), Prestowitz (Presidential Trade Advisor), Lemer (UCLA Professor), Ghemawat (Harvard Professor), Roach (Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley), Palast (Investigative Reporter, UK)and others.
So, thank Friedman for an entertaining read, and using his status as a celebrity pundit for making us all aware of the great reorganization the world is going through. But, please don't stop there, for there is far more to the unfolding story of globalization, and all of us are being affected.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Long winded, very very long winded
21 Oct 2008
Format:Paperback
I am surprised by how many reviewers described this book as "well written." I found it extremely wordy. The content to word ratio here is extremely low. The ideas in this book could have (and should have) been expressed in 150 pages or less. Instead Friedman drones on for close to 600 pages. The extreme length would have been justified if the book had gone into detail about certain topics or provided more rigorous analysis of different points of view. Instead its 600 pages of high level fluff. Does anyone really need a 600 page tome to tell them we are doing a lot of business with India? Is making a point concisely a lost art? Was Friedman paid by the word? Can I find an Indian gentleman to write me an executive summary of this leviathan?
31 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Rounding Out Your Right-Brain in a Flattening World
3 Mar 2008
Format:Paperback
Our world has come a long way, not just since the proverbial "beginning of time," but in the last 20, 10, 5 and even 3 years since this book was first published. In "The World is Flat," Thomas Friedman very consciensiously and enthusiastically paints a picture of the detailed landscape of the current world through the eyes of business, technology, cultural and social development. I have traditionally found the topics of globalization, outsourcing and economics dry and rather boring, but the author brings them to life and makes them relevant to each of our lives in a way that is truly captivating. There are countless examples of this in the book, from the impact of the usage of the personal computer to a creative lemonade salesman at a baseball game to Big Macs vs. pizza.
This book filled me with ideas, thoughts and concepts that I had never before imagined and I came away excited about the possibilities that exist in my own hands. I was really struck by the conversation about the urgent value for Americans to exercise their right brain: to do what you love, to invent, create, relate, express, empathize. The point Friedman emphasizes is: "Now that foreigners can do left-brain work cheaper, we in the U.S. must do right-brain work better." This idea made me think of two other authors, Ariel & Shya Kane, who have had a huge effect on how I relate to my life and approach my personal well-being, and whose books also introduced concepts that also completely blew my mind.
The Kanes' technology of Instantaneous Transformation, the phenomenon that occurs when you are truly present and directly engaged in your life and causes problems, stress, worry & fear to dissolve, is another contributor to the flattening of the world. They address the gap between the things that we do, learn and know and what it means to truly 'be': certainly a skill unique to each person in the world. If you enjoy "The World is Flat," check out the Kanes' books, Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment and How To Create a Magical Relationship. I HIGHLY recommend them all!
This book filled me with ideas, thoughts and concepts that I had never before imagined and I came away excited about the possibilities that exist in my own hands. I was really struck by the conversation about the urgent value for Americans to exercise their right brain: to do what you love, to invent, create, relate, express, empathize. The point Friedman emphasizes is: "Now that foreigners can do left-brain work cheaper, we in the U.S. must do right-brain work better." This idea made me think of two other authors, Ariel & Shya Kane, who have had a huge effect on how I relate to my life and approach my personal well-being, and whose books also introduced concepts that also completely blew my mind.
The Kanes' technology of Instantaneous Transformation, the phenomenon that occurs when you are truly present and directly engaged in your life and causes problems, stress, worry & fear to dissolve, is another contributor to the flattening of the world. They address the gap between the things that we do, learn and know and what it means to truly 'be': certainly a skill unique to each person in the world. If you enjoy "The World is Flat," check out the Kanes' books, Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment and How To Create a Magical Relationship. I HIGHLY recommend them all!
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