The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths

by Clare O'Dea

Paperback, 2016

Status

Checked out
Due 4 Nov 2020

Call number

301

Publication

Schwabe AG, Bergli Books (2016), Edition: Export ed., 258 pages

Language

Original language

English

Description

Clare O'Dea promises to change the way the world thinks about modern Switzerland - and give Swiss readers much to think about too. In ten chapters O'Dea dismantles the most positive myths of modern Switzerland (The Swiss are Rich/Brilliant/Have the Perfect Democracy) with the same sharp journalistic eye she assesses the negative one (The Swiss are Crooked Bankers/Xenophobic/Helped the Nazis). Already excerpted in Switzerland's weekly Die Weltwoche and garnering lavish praise (see below), O'Dea - ten year veteran at Swissinfo, and now Swiss herself - introduces readers to a cast of real Swiss, painting a lively country through many anecdotes. It is a Switzerland of the twenty-first century - a Switzerland of working mothers, banks gone bankrupt, multicultural football teams. It is a book that isn't afraid to address past shame, present national crises and even the Swiss sex life. In fact-based chapters O'Dea presents a Switzerland that will surprise even many Swiss readers. O'Dea speaks five languages, has visited all 26 cantons, and is the mother of three Swiss children, and her deep knowledge of the country is on display page after page. It promises to be the most important book about Switzerland for international readers for the next several years to come.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Clare O'Dea is well poised to write about living in Switzerland, an Irish woman who married a Swiss man who has learned how things work in this country and how, sometimes, democracy isn't fair or just.

She likes living there but acknowledges the flaws and issues with some of the past, neutrality,
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Nazis and sexism are explored and the country sounds like somewhere I wouldn't mind visiting but I'm not sure if I'd like to live there. It surprised me how it was both progressive and regressive.
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LibraryThing member Nickelini
My 2nd edition of The Naked Swiss had a bonus 11th myth. Here's the list:

1. The Swiss Are Swiss
2. The Swiss Are Rich
3. The Swiss Are Xenophobic
4. The Swiss Are Brilliant
5. The Swiss Are Sexist
6. The Swiss Are Neutral
7. The Swiss Helped the Nazis
8. The Swiss Are Boring
9. The Swiss Are Crooked
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Bankers
10. The Swiss Have the World's Best Democracy
11. The Swiss Are European

Clare O'Dea is an Irish woman who has lived in Switzerland for over a decade, and has a Swiss husband and Irish-Swiss kids. She was a journalist for swissinfo.ch, the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. With each of the points she explores, there is the truth behind the myth, and also examples of the exact opposite of what the myth purports.

When I was young and learning about the countries of the world in children's books, Switzerland was one of famous countries of Europe, symbolized by its snow-capped mountains. It belonged to that select club with France and the Eiffel Tower, Holland (not the Netherlands) with wooden shoes and windmills, England with Big Ben and a red double-decker bus, and if the book was exotic, Italy with the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That was all of Europe. But as I got older, Switzerland faded into the background of my mind, in part because it had a reputation for being an expensive place to visit (true). But now that my daughter is living and working there, and I'm getting ready for my 2nd trip in 16 months, it's back to top of mind. And, as The Naked Swiss shows, Switzerland is unlike any other country in the world. Not only is it unique, the things that make it unique are very interesting and cool. And really, all countries could improve by taking some lessons from the Swiss.

Recommended for: Anyone who has a interest in Switzerland beyond what a tourist needs to know for a week in the Alps.
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DDC/MDS

301

Physical description

258 p.; 5.51 inches

ISBN

3905252988 / 9783905252989
Page: 0.1162 seconds