Adult Read
Genre: Nonfiction
My Rating: 4 out of 4
Readability: Fascinating
to read about Finland’s society. I couldn't put it down.
Anu Partanen is a
Finnish Journalist who met an American, fell in love and eventually married and
moved to America in 2008. She writes this book as her commentary on the
contrast between life in the United States versus Finland and the other Nordic
countries. However, her focus is usually Finnish.
She covers the topics of
family values, education, healthcare, business, employers and employees,
government, and citizens. A phrase she uses many times during this book is the
phrase “the Nordic theory of love.” Many of the decisions made by society are
based on this theory.
As I read this book, it
made me want to visit Finland even more than I already do. She does talk about characteristics of the
Finnish people that I think may still exist in my family today. It is fun to
think about anyway. She does paint a
picture of how much greater the Finnish way of life is and wonders why Americans
don’t progress forward. But, she also acknowledges that the people she has
met in America, despite their difficulties in life, embrace it fully and are
friendly, welcoming, and positive.
This book was a fun read
for me and I found a lot of connections. I especially enjoyed reading about
Finnish education.
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