Kyrre

Worth getting

Revisado: 01-23-22

A good book for anyone interested in political economics, although the narrator is a bit off (I’ve heard worse, though).

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False advertising

Revisado: 01-07-22

I got this book as I was expecting it to be about - well, the growing threat to humanitarian workers - which is what the title indicates. But it is not, apart from the odd sentence here and there. This is mainly a book where Mr VanRooyen writes how he established academic courses and projects into humanitarian aid (albeit without much explanation of what difference the courses have made or how they are taught). I will be returning this book.

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A must-have memoir

Revisado: 06-07-21

This is a very captivating book from one of the world’s most experienced war surgeons. The book covers his work across several missions, with different humanitarian organizations. The story Nott paints is so vivid that you really feel like you’re there with him.

The book is well suited for anyone interested in learning more about humanitarian fieldwork.

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Worth getting if you’re really in

Revisado: 04-29-20

A very interesting book in terms of all the stories it tells, but the writers may seem a little tendentious at times. There is no apparent red line in the book before the last minute of the last chapter, however, but I am sure you’ll learn something new about Russian emigrés if you pick it up.

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One of the most honest autobiographies you’ll ever see

Revisado: 11-07-19

This book is definitely worth buying. I may have expected a few more crazy stories from watching Elton talk about the book on various late night shows. That said, the ones who made it to the book are quite entertaining. One time he got a phone call telling him that the tram he had bought (he didn’t remember buying a tram) was on its way to London from Australia. There are many joyful moments in this book, but there are quite a few sad ones too. What’s most important is that he seems to be brutally honest throughout the book. Most people who give out autobiographies tend to sugarcoat the past or make excuses for their previous decisions and behavior. Elton doesn’t do that, and that really brings the reader closer to the storyteller.

Choosing Taron Egerton to narrate the book was a brilliant choice. Since he plays Elton in Rocketman, it kind of feels like it’s just a young Elton telling the story, rather than a random narrator. Taron is also magnificent in adopting people’s accents, from Lennon’s Scouse accent to David Furnish’ Canadian accent

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Giod story, not so good narrator

Revisado: 09-27-19

This book gives a lot of insight into the vast differences within Russia. One learns about the very different priorities and mindsets of people from Kaliningrad to Tyumen to Novosibirsk and to Ulan-Ude. Rather than being a typical academic political-science-kind-of-a-book, it offers a quick peek into the life of a handful (seemingly randomly chosen) ordinary Russians in each time zone that they visit. One does get a feeling that they had to rush to finish the book, though, because the last couple of chapters didn’t really have that much information at all.

Still, overall this is a book worth getting. Even though the narrator was “not good, not terrible”.

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A pure masterpiece

Revisado: 05-03-19

A brilliant and extensively detailed book that captures the many way crime in Russia has infected both society, business and politics. This book is about much more than merely one single crime syndicate, as Russian organized crime does not really resemble that of the Sicilian or Japanese mafia. Furthermore, I’d like to hightlight the narrator of this book, who not only has a captivating voice, but who actually pronounces Russian names and words correctly - he calls USSR’s last premier «Garbatsjof» instead of «Gorbachev», and says «Bariis» instead of «Boris» Yeltsin.

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Interesting but way too long

Revisado: 09-16-18

From a political scientists’ point of view, I find it very interesting that the author puts so mich focus into non-political causes and conditions surrounding the revolution. Yet, still, a big minus is that the author includes way, way, way too many unnecessary details - to the extent that I think the book could have been half as long, and still made the same point. There is simply top much “noise” in that respect. At the same time, the author sometimes makes statements that appear to be stated facts, even as they are still very much up for discussion. Whether Lenin received payments from the German government in 1917 is one such example. It is not a bad book. It’s just not... very good either.

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My favorite book so far in 2018: A must-read

Revisado: 06-24-18

Short version of the review:
Brilliant and inspiring book. You should absolutely get it.

Long version of the review:
John F. Kennedy once said that the point of reading biographies was to answer the lingering question: «what were they really like?». While this book does answer this question to a certain extent, it most importantly helps us comprehend what it is like to be forced to flee your own country. Yusra Mardini writes about her upbringing in Syria before the war, and how she has always been very competitive - both in school and in swimming. She goes on to explain what made her realize that she had to flee, she talks about the journey across the sea and the difficulties of traveling through Europe as a refugee. The book also shows how, even as she made new friends in Germany - adapting to a new life (especially for the rest of her family) hasn't always been a walk in the park - but that she's succeeded in making her dream (of participating in the Olympics) come true and that she now hopes to inspire others.

This is an honest and lucidly written account of the life of an ordinary girl who was forced to flee in order to have a future. She reminds everyone that a refugee is still like everyone else - with hopes and dreams, and with the ability to make something of themselves. As a result, I believe Mardini's point is that you should treat everyone like you yourself wish to be treated, no matter whether people have a refugee status or not - and that you should never give up on what you want to achieve.

It does not matter whether you are political or nonpolitical, whether you're on the left or on the right - we all need to try and put ourselves in other people's shoes, and this book goes a long way in helping us do just that. In this particular case, 'putting ourselves in other people's shows' means that we all need to have a better understanding how it is to be forced to flee your own country - and there is no one better to help us do that, than someone who has lived through it.

In short, this book proves that even if you've lost everything you own, as well as people close to you, you can still achieve great things and motivate people both at home and around the world to help themselves and others - and you can inspire them change the world for the better.

In addition, the narrator also deserves credit. Her tone of voice fits well with the story as it goes along. Her pronounciation of names, places and expressions is also excellent.

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Worth your money

Revisado: 05-28-18

Ian Bremmer shows you how greater polarization is creating rifts between societies all over the world. He focuses in particular on the developing world, and the challenges these countries are likely to face in wake of automatization in the work place. In general this is a very well-written book, and it has a good narrator. I can't say I agree with absolutely all his suggested means of rewriting the social contract (such as universal income), but I do agree with overall objective of bridging the gap between the "winners" and "losers" of globalization. If there's one thing I missed in this book, it must have been an assessment of "UsVsThem" within European states - particularly when it comes to separatism. For instance, I believe that Bremmer's main argument could be applied to explaining the most recent surge of support for Scottish and Catalonian separatism.

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