I’m surprised I enjoyed the book as much as I did. I’m not a fan of short stories typically. However, these flowed so smoothly that I was caught up in the narrative and eager to learn where we were going as we moved to the next character. The actuality of the global economy is cleverly revealed.
At first I was looking forward to reading this book. It wasn’t a true “butterfly effect “ story but link the characters into the main storyline well. I think the book was more about anttidisestablishmentarism. At times, I was losing interest with the greed, selfishness and power struggles of the different vignettes. Some were more unique than others. It was a decent story about globalization which we are experiencing at our present time in history, with various political polices dismantling or changing globalization. So I was disenchanted with the book.
I stepped out of my usual reading preferences when requesting this book. It was unlike anything I’ve read before, and I’m glad I gave it a chance. I enjoyed it for the most part. I’m not typically a plan of short stories, but I loved how each chapter’s main character connected to the next, creating a continuous thread throughout the book. It kept me engaged from beginning to end.
I also was intrigued with the concept of the book: using the stories of nine fictional characters to illustrate the globalization, the connectedness of financial affairs. Some characters were better developed than others and some of the connections less contrived than others, but I enjoyed the inventiveness of the authors in explaining the Merry-Go-Round of international finance.
I read the book in one or two sittings as it came late and I wanted to participate in the book discussion. I enjoyed some chapters more than others but overall, it kept my interest. The topics covered were good. I just had a harder time relating to the Japanese characters.
In general it wasn’t a bad read. The individual stories were interesting. I was disappointed that each story wasn’t a success story like Tomoko’s. I thought the writing was mediocre.
At first I was confused at the format of the book. As I continued I enjoyed it. Breaking it up into manageable chunks gave me time to absorb each section.
Admittedly, I wasn’t in the right headspace to read this book right now, just because of how much I’ve been avoiding politics/global issues. But it’s a book that’s so much right up my alley in general that I wanted to read and review, and I’m glad I did. World economics is very much tied in to how we’re doing, and I like that the stories were different but interconnected in their exploration of globalization. Worth checking out, for sure!