"The German Way" is quite an interesting little book. Having lived in Germany and traveled in Austria, and, to a lesser extent, Switzerland, there were numerous items of information in this book that were unknown to me. For example, although I have visited almost every province in Austria from the shore of the Bodensee in the west to Vienna in the east, I did not know that Austria was eighty-five percent Catholic.

I was vaguely aware that Germans use eating implements differently than Americans do. I have occasionally eaten a sandwich with a knife and fork in a "Gasthaus". However, I did not realize the extent to which handling table implements is a differentiator between Germans and Americans. For example, my wife pointed out to me in discussing this part of the book that one of our German friends, who has lived in the U.S. for seven or eight years, uses a modified German style of handling silverware.

It was also surprising to read that only fifteen percent of the movies Germans watch are from Germany. This may explain why many of the German movies available to be rented in the U.S., even from specialty houses, are usually older ones.

It was a total surprise to me that the local office of vital statistics has to review the names given to babies in Germany to ensure that the name must not endanger the child and that it reflects the child's sex. The latter rule, maybe the first, would have made short shrift of "A Boy Named Sue".

One point about the German language that Hyde Flippo appears to oversimplify somewhat is the idea that "Hoch Deutsch" originated from the way the language was spoken in the northern part of Germany. A recent article in a German language magazine I read stated that German, Austria, and Switzerland each has its own "Hoch Deutsch".

One shortcoming I found in this book is that some of the information seems a little dated. For example, although Europeans have been transitioning to the euro for several years, marks and schillings are discussed as though they will be used indefinitely when, in fact, they have already gone out of circulation. Another example relates to a discussion of the Austrian Freedom Party of Jorg Haider being unable to form a coalition with another party at the national level. Well, unfortunately, the "Freiheit Partei Oesterreich" did form such a coalition some time ago. It led to international sanctions against Austria.

On the whole, I found this book interesting and acquired some new insights about the German-speaking world from it. Business people or tourists planning to go to Germany, Austria, or Switzerland could well benefit from reading this book.

39 of 41 found the following review helpful:


Shallow and brief, but better than nothing  Mar 09, 2000
I suppose that someone who knew absolutely NOTHING about German culture would find this book interesting and useful. But, if you already know a little bit and want to learn more (like me) you will likely be disappointed. Others have pointed out that each topic is covered briefly, and in my opinion, that's usually EXTREMELY briefly. I find the alphabetical organization of topics unhelpful, and would prefer to have similar subjects located together. I often had to guess several times to see which word the author would use to alphabetize a given topic. If you're looking for more than a quick-and-dirty introduction to German culture, skip this book and read "Culture Shock! Germany" instead.

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Useful, entertaining--but not completely reliable.  Mar 02, 2004 By Celia A. Sgroi
This is an informative little book written in a very readable style, in which a "foreigner" can learn quite a bit about German behavior, attitudes and customs. Not surprisingly, the less you already know about life in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the more useful it is.

One thing I don't much like is that the 77 brief articles are listed in alphabetical order by title, instead of by subjects or themes. Shouldn't "At the table" (6) and "Dining" (21) be grouped together instead of appearing 25 pages apart? And why not put something like "Greetings and common courtesies" (36) at the beginning of the book?

Another problem is that some of the information has become dated. The introduction of the Euro has pretty much killed the discussion on currency, for example, and the abolition of customs and passport controls among the EU countries has advanced considerably since the book was published. The same is true for things like store opening hours and rules about having sales and giving discounts. These things are inevitable, of course, but they do affect the usefulness of the book.

Nevertheless, this is an entertaining way to learn more about the people who live in the German-speaking countries of Europe, and it even boasts some humor. My favorite line is: "On a sweltering train the window remains closed because Germans seem to think that a draft will kill you quicker than heat prostration." How true!!

12 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Highly Recommended!  Jan 29, 1999 By raphael_schwerdt@hp.com
This is an excellent book. We plan to recommend it to our international employees in Germany, and those considering a move to Germany.

The optimum, however, especially if you are interested in brand-new, current information, is to use the outstanding companion Website (sorry, URL not allowed here, but simple to guess) in parallel with the book. I think the right combination of printed and electronic media is the future, and that has already become a reality here.

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