55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
brief, informative, comprehensive, practical, November 16, 2000
This review is from: Culture Shock! Netherlands (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)
I have lived in The Netherlands for only four months. I have looked at several sources of information about the country: its culture, customs, language, history, climate, geography, tourist attractions etc.. I found Mr. Janin's brief (167pp) volume to have been very well-done. I believe his 25 years as a U.S. diplomat (but not in The Netherlands) have taught him what an outsider needs, to begin to understand a culture. He combines the personal experience of others--in this case, his Dutch wife, her family and many of their friends and acquaintances--with pofessional writings. He even includes an 18-item english-language reading list. The range of topics covered is broad--geography, climate, history, language, customs, principal attractions, even a "culture-quiz" to help the reader understand what s/he has learned about the culture at the end of the book. The coverage is also balanced: he includes both pluses (egs.respect for others, language ability) and minuses (egs.drug use, immigrants and asylum seekers). He readily recognizes that, however helpful it might be to understanding the society, the Dutch view of themselves--which he capsulizes--is not likely to be objective. I wish he had included information on regional differences in the Dutch language, customs and attitudes. But, that minor quibble aside, I think Mr. Janin's goal in writing this small book ("to help [the reader] become [a] well-briefed foreigner." (p.10)) has been achieved in an admirable fashion. I think it is an informative, easy-to-read--even entertaining--book that is well worth reading.
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3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very basic overview, October 16, 2004
I'm moving to the Netherlands next month. I bought this book as I had one from this series when I moved to Kuala Lumpur - that book was invaluable. This one hasn't the same kind of info I had hoped for. The information presented here is interesting and helpful, but not what I was looking for. I've ordered "The Holland Handbook" in hopes of finding the info I need.
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3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good reference, June 30, 2004
This review is from: Culture Shock! Netherlands (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)
I have a native dutch bf. As I want to know more about the culture in Netherlands, I bought this book. The author didn't have any bias descriptions. What he wrote are more or less the same as the real situations. I think he really did a good job.
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