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Reviews of: The Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Xenophobe's Guides)by Stefan Zeidenitz
Reviews Partially entertaining and mostly true - or is it the other way around? Just a word of warning straight away - this is not the type of book to help you figure out how to set up or live in Germany such as Living and Working in Germany (Living & Working in Germany). It is rather an entertaining guide to some German cultural peculiarities, which should provide some laughs and a bit of cultural context to the inexplicable moments each foreigner is likely to face when living there. On the whole the author does a relatively good job of capturing some of the main points and characteristics and does not get carried away all too often (although the stuff on pets was a bit of a porky (i.e. all Germans having dogs, cats only kept by communists)). The author also seems to have a lot more of the German 'angst' than all the Germans I have met so far combined but as I said, a relatively well written, witty way of spending a bit of time reflecting on those people around you (if you chose to move there, that is). 2010-02-18 Who says Germans have no sense of humour! This book is extremely funny, it is written by Germans who are just as able to laugh at themselves as we English like to think we are. The only thing I didn't like about this book was it is too short. I had to keep on reading even though I had other things to do. There are other Xenophobic Guides out there but I don't think they match up to the German one. I live with a German and my daughter is German so this review is not a stab at Germans it is a respectful appreciation of a genuinely funny book, buy it and see. It is more funny the more you know about Germans. 2009-12-15 Useful and funny I bought this after moving to the east of France and spending more and more time in Germany. I love the Xenophobe guides - they are exaggerated of course but under the humour there is always a grain of truth. I would recommend this guide as a beginners guide to be taken with a large pinch of salt. 2009-08-07 In ordnung... A very interesting, amusing, and observant insight into German culture. Easy to read - I've passed my copy on to a German friend - along with the companion volume about the English! 2009-07-02 Great book but too short! If only this book were longer. When it arrived I was rather taken aback - just 60 pages? Surely not! What can I learn about the Germans in 60 pages? Quite a lot, as it turns out. This book launches straight in with a very amusing look at the Germans, giving a brief discussion of their history and how the German nation came to be and then detailing many of the quirks and habits of this fascinating nation. The authors give a few ideas how the Germans have been so successful, particularly in terms of literature and music (Goethe, Bach, Kant) but also show some of the angst and problems that the German nature can cause for the people. The authors are both German although I wouldn't know that from their writing which is excellent, funny and seems to understand the Brits very well. They are also very able to poke fun at their own country (although they say this isn't something at which Germans are very adept). With such a short book you can only really get a very brief introduction to German people but it's a very amusing overview and certainly made me think a number of times. We tend to think of the Germans as probably the closest to Brits in terms of personality and nature than other Europeans - this book shows that we might well be wrong in that opinion and it might just help us to understand them more when we visit. 2007-04-15 |
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