The Almost Nearly Perfect People (2014)
Michael Booth

   Why talk about this book ?

   Well, living in Denmark for a few years brings a fair share of questions about the danes and their culture, which this book answers way better than any historical recollection of dates, names of monarchs and wars.

   It does it way better than language teachers trying their best to explain to their class the uniqueness of the danish system.

   And to some extend also better than the danes themselves, since taking a step back and think about one-self in retrospect is no easy task.

   Intelligently, this semi "travelogue narrative" reminiscent of some Bill Bryson book, semi fact-based "light sociology" really avoids clichés (this is not a tour guide, nor would you find this book in a souvenir shop) and is not glossing over the darker aspects of it's subjects.

   Michael Booth goes to speak to many different people, and therefore offers a variety of points of views, often complementary points of view which really helps to paint a complete picture, all in nuances.

   Obviously, this book speaks about the Nordic Countries™ and not only Denmark, but the principle is the same, and I would recommend this book to everyone trying to understand this part of the World - especially our friends living in Denmark. Maybe also danes themselves to understand what stands out for most of us foreigners ?

   Given that this book is filled with about a billion interesting things per chapter, and is covering 5 different countries, I definitely can't write here about most of the things I would like to. But here's an attempt :

   Amongst many other things in the Danish chapters, you can learn about the culture of trust between neighbors and between citizens and institutions, how it manifests and where it came from.

   You can learn about the Janteloven - the law dictating tacit norms in Denmark (to put it simply : you should not think you are better than anybody else) and to what extend this "law" is still applied unconsciously in Danish society.

   You can learn about the very common use of the Black Market in Denmark, even though they have the highest tax rates in the World.

   You can read what people really mean when they talk about the "danish happiness". A whole chapter is dedicated to this question in fact, but one of the key elements can be found in the Janteloven : if your expectations aren't high, you won't be disappointed. Booth (and his interviewees) also suggests that danes could very well be in general denial about their unhappiness. He refers to "(...) their denial of what it costs to be Danish - the literal cost, via their taxes and the cost of goods in their shops but also the spiritual costs in terms of their relative lack of ambition and dynamism, the denial of those sometimes necessary conflicts, and the loss of freedom of expression and individualism denied them by Jante Law and hygge." He then refers to the danes' denial of their bad public health, the growing economic and geographic divisions in the country, their real impact on the environment, etc.  

   There is in the book a slightly different viewpoint on the concept of hygge than commonly found in tourist books or in common knowledge (as a synonym for "coziness"). It is described there as a tool for social control, establishing as a norm not-to-disturb the coziness of the moments to be enjoyed. It is another expression of the Janteloven.

   This principle of non-disruption of others can also be seen in what the danes call "konfliktsky", literally "conflict shy", a danish attitude towards conflicts which is to avoid them at all cost. This ties in pretty well with their research for consensus, notably in the political arena but also in lower-tier social situations.

   One of the other interesting concepts explored in this book is the concept of folkelig. The folkelig is the common culture that every Dane has, and has to have if they are real Danes. It takes it's origin, for Booth, in the history of Denmark and it's territorial losses over the centuries : the Danes had to find common denominators to rely on, to find things in common that makes them Them. This concept can still be seen in the culture today everywhere, from the "same procedure as last year" black and white comic film everybody watches on New Year, to Julefrokost (Christmas lunches) traditions, and the love and waiving of their flag for every occasion.

    And all this is only a very small part of the insights on Denmark only. As said previously, the book is PACKED with thoughts, concepts and incisive descriptions of all the other nordic countries - Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.

   For real, you should give it a go, it is a great read. Very funny as well.