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The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins
A transporting, good-humored, and revealing account of Greece’s dire troubles, reported from the mountain villages, idyllic islands, and hardscrabble streets that define the country today
In recent years, small Greece, often associated with ancient philosophers and marble ruins, whitewashed villages and cerulean seas, has been at the center of a debt crisis that has sown economic and social ruin, spurred panic in international markets, and tested Europe’s decades-old project of forging a closer union.
In The Full Catastrophe , James Angelos makes sense of contrasting images of Greece, a nation both romanticized for its classical past and castigated for its dysfunctional present. With vivid character-driven narratives and engaging reporting that offers an immersive sense of place, he brings to life some of the causes of the country’s financial collapse, and examines the changes, some hopeful and others deeply worrisome, emerging in its aftermath. A small rebellion against tax authorities breaks out on a normally serene Aegean island. A mayor from a bucolic, northern Greek village is gunned down by the municipal treasurer. An aging, leftist hero of the Second World War fights to win compensation from Germany for the wartime occupation. A once marginal group of neo-Nazis rises to political prominence out of a ramshackle Athens neighborhood.
The Full Catastrophe goes beyond the transient coverage in the daily headlines to deliver an enduring and absorbing portrait of modern Greece.
In recent years, small Greece, often associated with ancient philosophers and marble ruins, whitewashed villages and cerulean seas, has been at the center of a debt crisis that has sown economic and social ruin, spurred panic in international markets, and tested Europe’s decades-old project of forging a closer union.
In The Full Catastrophe , James Angelos makes sense of contrasting images of Greece, a nation both romanticized for its classical past and castigated for its dysfunctional present. With vivid character-driven narratives and engaging reporting that offers an immersive sense of place, he brings to life some of the causes of the country’s financial collapse, and examines the changes, some hopeful and others deeply worrisome, emerging in its aftermath. A small rebellion against tax authorities breaks out on a normally serene Aegean island. A mayor from a bucolic, northern Greek village is gunned down by the municipal treasurer. An aging, leftist hero of the Second World War fights to win compensation from Germany for the wartime occupation. A once marginal group of neo-Nazis rises to political prominence out of a ramshackle Athens neighborhood.
The Full Catastrophe goes beyond the transient coverage in the daily headlines to deliver an enduring and absorbing portrait of modern Greece.
294 pages, Hardcover
First published June 2, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
March 14, 2016
I read a few articles about the debacle with Greece and the EU a few years back, and they left me feeling confused and still without any real picture of what was going on. By contrast I found this book a surprisingly quick and straightforward narrative. The author is Greek-American and so writes this with something of an outsider perspective. occasionally I do feel this results in a kind of "oh those silly Greeks" head-shaking going on in the text, but I think it's generally done with good intentions, and indeed there were a few good chuckles to be had as Angelos describes the hypocrisy of some of the country's bureaucracies and key individuals in high positions, while also portraying a number of eccentric characters, each with their own weird anecdotes to share.
For the most part the book maintains an open-minded,unbiased position, as quick to poke holes in the heroes of the left as those of the right. The last couple of chapters though deal with the rise of fascism and the Golden Dawn party in Greece, and tend to be a bit more grim than the rest of it. Some pretty heavy speeches are translated and indeed I thought I was reading some contemporary mirror of Third Reich rhetoric. I didn't know whether to be amused or appalled that black metal band Naer Mataron (erroneously identified as death metal, but it's not as though most of the readers will know or care about the difference) is mentioned in the text. I'm not exactly a fan of theirs but I didn't realise how deep the political fascist connections went. The party even tries in recent years to cozy up to the Orthodox church in order to get votes. Yuck....
There's plenty of historical context given, sometimes going back further than one might expect. Any student of history knows that no situation is created in a vacuum, but it seems that Hellas today is the result of many conflicting winds pulling in opposite directions over a period of a hundred years or more. It's all quite interesting and, although Angelos doesn't offer any solutions (now there's a surprise), like him, I hope for the best for all hellenes, in the broadest sense of the term and not the misappropriation of certain grandstanding thugs hollering about blood and honour.
No biliography or notes though, which seems strange. A number of quotes are given and just not attributed to anything. Certainly the author moved about widely and talked to a great number of people, but some exerpted speeches and written statements seem to be from secondary sources that are just not given anywhere in the text. As I'm only reading this stuff casually it would be a lie to say this really bothers me, but it does seem strange in this time where anyone writing a work of nonfiction seems almost over-eager to cite anythign and everything.
For the most part the book maintains an open-minded,unbiased position, as quick to poke holes in the heroes of the left as those of the right. The last couple of chapters though deal with the rise of fascism and the Golden Dawn party in Greece, and tend to be a bit more grim than the rest of it. Some pretty heavy speeches are translated and indeed I thought I was reading some contemporary mirror of Third Reich rhetoric. I didn't know whether to be amused or appalled that black metal band Naer Mataron (erroneously identified as death metal, but it's not as though most of the readers will know or care about the difference) is mentioned in the text. I'm not exactly a fan of theirs but I didn't realise how deep the political fascist connections went. The party even tries in recent years to cozy up to the Orthodox church in order to get votes. Yuck....
There's plenty of historical context given, sometimes going back further than one might expect. Any student of history knows that no situation is created in a vacuum, but it seems that Hellas today is the result of many conflicting winds pulling in opposite directions over a period of a hundred years or more. It's all quite interesting and, although Angelos doesn't offer any solutions (now there's a surprise), like him, I hope for the best for all hellenes, in the broadest sense of the term and not the misappropriation of certain grandstanding thugs hollering about blood and honour.
No biliography or notes though, which seems strange. A number of quotes are given and just not attributed to anything. Certainly the author moved about widely and talked to a great number of people, but some exerpted speeches and written statements seem to be from secondary sources that are just not given anywhere in the text. As I'm only reading this stuff casually it would be a lie to say this really bothers me, but it does seem strange in this time where anyone writing a work of nonfiction seems almost over-eager to cite anythign and everything.
April 19, 2015
I came to The Full Catastrophe thinking that Greece is being unrealistic and a bit childish about dealing with its financial problems. After reading the book, I see Greece as a country of rampant corruption, fraud, and racism.
I fully expected James Angelos, as an American reporter who spent his boyhood summers in Greece at his grandmother's house, to be fair, but mostly sympathetic. And I think he was as sympathetic as the facts allowed him to be.
In interview after interview, observation after observation, Angelos heard people defending their corruption, blaming immigrants for their countries ills, blaming the Turks, the Albanians, and especially the Germans for oppressing the Greeks. They pride themselves on avoiding paying taxes since the government is corrupt anyway, but they expect to retire early and draw a pension and draw benefits when they are unemployed. Civil servants are guaranteed their jobs for life and Angelos describes a notorious case in which two men convicted of murder and sentenced to long prison terms, continue to draw their civil service salaries. This did not seem to strike anyone as being wrong since their families had to be supported somehow.
Meanwhile, the politicians, particularly the Syriza Party now in power, seems to especially benefit from stirring up old hatreds of Nazi atrocities and demands for reparations. But they are better than the Golden Dawn Neo Nazi Party (the irony escapes them) that advocates ridding the country of foreigners, by force preferably.
It's hard to see a solution to the financial mess that is Greece, and The Full Catastrophe paints a pretty clear picture of the attitudes that stand in the way.
I fully expected James Angelos, as an American reporter who spent his boyhood summers in Greece at his grandmother's house, to be fair, but mostly sympathetic. And I think he was as sympathetic as the facts allowed him to be.
In interview after interview, observation after observation, Angelos heard people defending their corruption, blaming immigrants for their countries ills, blaming the Turks, the Albanians, and especially the Germans for oppressing the Greeks. They pride themselves on avoiding paying taxes since the government is corrupt anyway, but they expect to retire early and draw a pension and draw benefits when they are unemployed. Civil servants are guaranteed their jobs for life and Angelos describes a notorious case in which two men convicted of murder and sentenced to long prison terms, continue to draw their civil service salaries. This did not seem to strike anyone as being wrong since their families had to be supported somehow.
Meanwhile, the politicians, particularly the Syriza Party now in power, seems to especially benefit from stirring up old hatreds of Nazi atrocities and demands for reparations. But they are better than the Golden Dawn Neo Nazi Party (the irony escapes them) that advocates ridding the country of foreigners, by force preferably.
It's hard to see a solution to the financial mess that is Greece, and The Full Catastrophe paints a pretty clear picture of the attitudes that stand in the way.
September 14, 2015
This book is about Greece in 2015. It is not a book for the ages, and it is not a full analysis of the current financial crisis, since the banks are largely missing. The book is about deeply embedded problems in this beautiful and ancient land, particularly with the dysfunctional Greek government. I tend to like titles that are not misleading, and I particularly approve of this one: The Full Catastrophe is borrowed from the wonderful film Zorba the Greek.
Forget that myth about Greece being the cradle of democracy. That was 2500 years ago, and even if they like to tout their history, it has no bearing on the current crisis. I do believe that the Western world has more concern about Greece than, say, Bosnia or Ukraine because so many people have vacationed there and have read the Greek classics and studied the antiquities in art class. How can we let Greece die?
James Angelos, a free-lance journalist, is especially suited to investigate this topic. As a Greek-American living on Long Island, he grew up with the language of his immigrant parents. For his investigation he was able to move and talk easily with many Greeks. To add a piquant detail: he now lives in Germany. Complete credentials indeed.
He recounts in exquisite and depressing detail many of the kinds of fraud that one hears about in the news.
One ophthalmologist charged plenty for the diagnosis of “blindness,” which would bring lifetime government support for the “sufferer.” The ophthalmologist admitted to no responsibility because, after all, the prefect had to sign off on the claim. The prefect also admitted no responsibility because, after all, the ophthalmologist was the only one who could make the diagnosis. The custom of not taking personal responsibility is nicely illustrated. It’s a rampant problem.
Tax evasion is a national pastime. The little guys feel justified because the government fails to go after the fat cats. Any politician who has had a change of heart and tried to improve tax collection has had to deal with Greece’s colluding bureaucracy. An auditor would suddenly have to become honest, and that seems rarely to happen.
For example, a list of Greeks with undeclared Swiss bank accounts was passed on by Christine LaGarde (of the IMF) to the finance minister in 2010 (Giorgos Papaconstantinou). The information somehow disappeared for many months, and when it was recovered, the finance minister had deleted his own relatives. An investigative journalist, Vaxevanis, published the names. A court eventually found Papaconstantinou guilty of document tampering; he got a one-year suspended sentence. He claimed he was being scapegoated for the nation’s ills, but the journalist was quickly taken to court for violating a personal data protections law. Although he was acquitted, the list has gone largely uninvestigated.
There are other stories in Angelos’ journey through modern Greece.
• The World War II hero Glezos, a leftist, persists in believing that Germany should be making war reparations to Greece. He can stir passions. Unfortunately he often lies.
• The Defense Minister Tsochatzopoulos lived in luxury while buying tons of unnecessary armaments. Bribery and money laundering underlay every purchase.
• The Civil Service is a lifetime guarantee of employment. People hire their relatives, never mind the skill level. The bureaucracy desperately needs to be trimmed, but those people would then be added to the numbers of unemployed.
• Immigrants come to Greece from Somalia and Afghanistan because Greece is the first European country they can reach. It’s not because they want to stop there. Greece’s government cannot deal with the paperwork to examine their asylum cases, so they just remain. Their presence has fueled the anti-immigrant neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.
The current plight of Greece and the EU is fascinating and frightening. I can’t help but read every word I can find on the subject. Greece seems possibly emblematic of many countries which try to find their footing after being under the subjugation of larger powers for many years. In Greece’s case, that was the Ottoman Empire, which was finally turned out about 100 years ago. Ever since then Greece has been roiled by competing political elements and has never mounted a successful government. It was patriotic not to pay taxes to the sultan; some claim that attitude underlies current evasion.
Is the EU, led by Germany, at fault for its strangling policies toward the beleaguered country? Or is Greece itself to blame, with its failure to reform itself? Angelos did not try to answer that question, nor did he interview Europeans on the subject. If you are curious about the home-grown sources of Greece’s problems, this book will tell you a lot. Solutions, it has none. That puts him in company with just about everyone.
As an aside, I read a splendid New York Times article arguing that Greece’s lenders should share mightily in the blame:
Why Greece's Lenders Need to Suffer
Forget that myth about Greece being the cradle of democracy. That was 2500 years ago, and even if they like to tout their history, it has no bearing on the current crisis. I do believe that the Western world has more concern about Greece than, say, Bosnia or Ukraine because so many people have vacationed there and have read the Greek classics and studied the antiquities in art class. How can we let Greece die?
James Angelos, a free-lance journalist, is especially suited to investigate this topic. As a Greek-American living on Long Island, he grew up with the language of his immigrant parents. For his investigation he was able to move and talk easily with many Greeks. To add a piquant detail: he now lives in Germany. Complete credentials indeed.
He recounts in exquisite and depressing detail many of the kinds of fraud that one hears about in the news.
One ophthalmologist charged plenty for the diagnosis of “blindness,” which would bring lifetime government support for the “sufferer.” The ophthalmologist admitted to no responsibility because, after all, the prefect had to sign off on the claim. The prefect also admitted no responsibility because, after all, the ophthalmologist was the only one who could make the diagnosis. The custom of not taking personal responsibility is nicely illustrated. It’s a rampant problem.
Tax evasion is a national pastime. The little guys feel justified because the government fails to go after the fat cats. Any politician who has had a change of heart and tried to improve tax collection has had to deal with Greece’s colluding bureaucracy. An auditor would suddenly have to become honest, and that seems rarely to happen.
For example, a list of Greeks with undeclared Swiss bank accounts was passed on by Christine LaGarde (of the IMF) to the finance minister in 2010 (Giorgos Papaconstantinou). The information somehow disappeared for many months, and when it was recovered, the finance minister had deleted his own relatives. An investigative journalist, Vaxevanis, published the names. A court eventually found Papaconstantinou guilty of document tampering; he got a one-year suspended sentence. He claimed he was being scapegoated for the nation’s ills, but the journalist was quickly taken to court for violating a personal data protections law. Although he was acquitted, the list has gone largely uninvestigated.
There are other stories in Angelos’ journey through modern Greece.
• The World War II hero Glezos, a leftist, persists in believing that Germany should be making war reparations to Greece. He can stir passions. Unfortunately he often lies.
• The Defense Minister Tsochatzopoulos lived in luxury while buying tons of unnecessary armaments. Bribery and money laundering underlay every purchase.
• The Civil Service is a lifetime guarantee of employment. People hire their relatives, never mind the skill level. The bureaucracy desperately needs to be trimmed, but those people would then be added to the numbers of unemployed.
• Immigrants come to Greece from Somalia and Afghanistan because Greece is the first European country they can reach. It’s not because they want to stop there. Greece’s government cannot deal with the paperwork to examine their asylum cases, so they just remain. Their presence has fueled the anti-immigrant neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.
The current plight of Greece and the EU is fascinating and frightening. I can’t help but read every word I can find on the subject. Greece seems possibly emblematic of many countries which try to find their footing after being under the subjugation of larger powers for many years. In Greece’s case, that was the Ottoman Empire, which was finally turned out about 100 years ago. Ever since then Greece has been roiled by competing political elements and has never mounted a successful government. It was patriotic not to pay taxes to the sultan; some claim that attitude underlies current evasion.
Is the EU, led by Germany, at fault for its strangling policies toward the beleaguered country? Or is Greece itself to blame, with its failure to reform itself? Angelos did not try to answer that question, nor did he interview Europeans on the subject. If you are curious about the home-grown sources of Greece’s problems, this book will tell you a lot. Solutions, it has none. That puts him in company with just about everyone.
As an aside, I read a splendid New York Times article arguing that Greece’s lenders should share mightily in the blame:
Why Greece's Lenders Need to Suffer
April 4, 2021
James Angelos did excellent reporting here, and I feel that he was uniquely positioned to write this book. Being Greek-American and knowing the language and culture, he was able to travel to Greece and be an objective observer and reporter of the issues at hand.
December 4, 2017
This book also goes by the sub title of 'Travel Among the New Greek Ruins'. Angelos is a journalist and his ability to research and ask the right questions shows.
Despite his background he is often baffled by the Greeks he meets.
The book covers the financial mismanagement, corruption, inefficiency within Greek society. He tries to explain the historical links that underpin Greek attitudes to other Europeans and asylum seekers.
In all he paints a picture of a nation and its people under extreme stress...financial, political and societal.
Despite his background he is often baffled by the Greeks he meets.
The book covers the financial mismanagement, corruption, inefficiency within Greek society. He tries to explain the historical links that underpin Greek attitudes to other Europeans and asylum seekers.
In all he paints a picture of a nation and its people under extreme stress...financial, political and societal.
December 3, 2015
This is a very well laid out account of the current dilemma in Greece. The author meticulously puts information together through interview, observation and research so that the reader has a clear picture of the truth. Angelos delves into the history behind the events as a means for bringing greater understanding for how Greece’s sad state really is something that has been slowly progressing over the last 30 years. And as someone who started going to Greece during the birth of this Greek mess, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I love when Angelos converses with the Greeks and simply lets the story be told from their words and his questions. There are conversations with Greeks who have emigrated to Germany to make a living. One mother says: “We are looking after the future of our children, and unfortunately, there is none for them in Greece.” This is especially poignant because working in Germany was how the people of Greece survived only one generations back, and what did it get them? Their children prospered and now their grandchildren are once again impoverished. And one old man in the book verifies it by saying, “With borrowed money, we were all rich. So we didn’t work. That’s how we destroyed the country.” Angelos goes where he needs to go and interviews whomever will talk to him. The fact that he is of Greek descent probably helps him. But for the reader it is pure brilliance!
I also love how he unmasks the infuriating corruption of government agencies.
“Yes!” I said it aloud as I read about a spoils system that continues to swell the government workforce and one need not to have experienced it (though I have, more times than I care to remember) to read his words and feel annoyance. “The problem with Greece’s public sector . . . was not as much size as composition. The pubic workforce swelled with unskilled clerks and midlevel managers hired without much if any regard for their qualifications, and put into positions created for the benefit of the workers rather than that of the citizens they technically served.”
Perhaps the best aspect of this book, however, is that Angelos shows a varied Greek population with their varied perceptions and opinions of what has been happening to Greece, but he still remains a reporter of facts and doesn't seem to interject his opinion. I have to say I really enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it whole-heartedly.
I love when Angelos converses with the Greeks and simply lets the story be told from their words and his questions. There are conversations with Greeks who have emigrated to Germany to make a living. One mother says: “We are looking after the future of our children, and unfortunately, there is none for them in Greece.” This is especially poignant because working in Germany was how the people of Greece survived only one generations back, and what did it get them? Their children prospered and now their grandchildren are once again impoverished. And one old man in the book verifies it by saying, “With borrowed money, we were all rich. So we didn’t work. That’s how we destroyed the country.” Angelos goes where he needs to go and interviews whomever will talk to him. The fact that he is of Greek descent probably helps him. But for the reader it is pure brilliance!
I also love how he unmasks the infuriating corruption of government agencies.
“Yes!” I said it aloud as I read about a spoils system that continues to swell the government workforce and one need not to have experienced it (though I have, more times than I care to remember) to read his words and feel annoyance. “The problem with Greece’s public sector . . . was not as much size as composition. The pubic workforce swelled with unskilled clerks and midlevel managers hired without much if any regard for their qualifications, and put into positions created for the benefit of the workers rather than that of the citizens they technically served.”
Perhaps the best aspect of this book, however, is that Angelos shows a varied Greek population with their varied perceptions and opinions of what has been happening to Greece, but he still remains a reporter of facts and doesn't seem to interject his opinion. I have to say I really enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it whole-heartedly.
April 24, 2021
There is a fun story full of some irony as to how I found this book. Released in Estonian some time in 2016, this book was originally sold for around 22 Euros. Around 2018, I started to visit bookstores very frequently, and some time in 2019, I stumbled across a heavy discount. The bookstore in question has two floors, one reserved for new releases, while the other is dedicated for older and cheaper ones. Once I stumbled across this one, I was immediately drawn in and began to inspect the contents of this book. Upon noticing that this is about the debt crisis in Greece, I noticed the heavy discount: nearly 90% off. I couldn't help but chuckle at the idea that a book dedicated to such a topic is being sold at such a low price. With that being said, this turned out to be a pretty great book, definitely worth the price.
Right from the start, James Angelos, a Greek-born journalist living in Berlin, addresses the biggest misconception we have about Greece. Our perception of Greece might best be understood as a place of memory, as we continue to associate it with both its importance to modern civilization. Think of all those philosophers - Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, among many others -, whose writings and thought influenced medicine, politics, literature, mathematics, theatre, and so many other sciences; think of the amazing architecture and its rich mythology; its history includes Philip of Macedon and the most well-known Alexander in history; its influence on modern theatre, including comedy and tragedy, not to mention the Olympic games; and finally, its image as the cradle of democracy, which it is still strongly associated with.
Our notion is so strongly affected by this that most of our pop culture fascination looks firmly to ancient Greece. Madeline Miller's Song of Achilleus and Circe, the video game God of War and its sequels, where you kill the entire Greek pantheon, the film Troy and Alexander, not to mention Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and an Assassin Creed: Odyssey. In other words, the list goes on, and so does our interest.
And, as it would appear, this isn't something new. Angelos lists several instances where Greece's historical importance has influenced decision-making. Firstly, after Greece became independent in 1821, several intellectuals helped draw nationwide support towards helping build the birthplace of democracy back to its former glory. Percy Shelley declared that we are all Greeks, and dedicating his last poem for a nation he tried to help rebuild, only to be shocked by what he saw in Greece. Later, allegedly, he wished to never be reminded of what he had wrote, for what he saw was so far from what he had imagined. Later, Valery d'Estaing, the President of France from 1974 until 1981, fought valiantly for Greece to be accepted into European Economic Community. Some decades later, he confessed to having been blind to many of the problems facing Greece during that time, and also stated that he was heavily influenced by the country's historical importance. Finally, it has been stated that Angela Merkel chose to stop Grexit, while completely ignoring Brexit, yet again, for historical importance. And let's not get started on the many loans given due to, you guessed it, historical significance.
So, by establishing that, Angelos begins to focus broadly on the infamous debt crisis, corruption, immigration and many more problems that plague modern day Greece. While this book is a fairly critical look at how dysfunctional many aspects of life truly are, Angelos tries to be as open-minded and sympathetic as possible. He stays quite neutral throughout the book, and always tries to interview as many people as he can, this includes those on the left, right, center, and all those in-between all of them.
The first part of the book was very humorous, and some moments were even laugh-out-loud funny. For example, while looking into some cases where people are pretending to have an illness in order to collect beneficiaries, it turned out that an unusually large percentage of people are said to be blind, leading the author to name it the city of the blind. In another instance, a report states that some 8500 people are over the age of 100, meaning that Greece is ahead of the curve by an unprecedented margin. While there were also humorous instances of politicians being corrupt and lying to their voters, it quickly became less hilarious and rather sad.
As with corruption, it turns out that politicians are more prone to support their own voters, while turning a blind eye to those who really need help the most. These include small businesses, people with actual health problems, and generally those who struggle to pay their bills (i.e. those who pretend to be blind simply to receive monetary help). Also, as it turns out, not paying one's bills is almost a national activity. Angelos explains that once Greece began to receive large sums of monetary relief from other European countries, the people started to quickly draw parallels with history once the debt collectors started to give orders to the government. This immediately reminded them of their troubled history with Germany, and most importantly, Turkey, and as an act of protest, they refused to pay their bills. And, to make matters worse, Greece is incredibly behind other European nations where bill collecting is more organized.
Angelos helps us better understand many of the problems with extensive historical context. Germany committed heinous crimes during their occupation, which left Greece in a state of turmoil after the war was over, and is still a very sensitive topic today. Angela Merkel is described as a national socialist by some people in Greece, and in some chapters, Angelos describes several unwelcoming sights that greeted German politicians. Another problem is related to modern relations between Greece and Turkey, largely due to areas that both countries claim to be theirs, and, yet again, history. There are several other examples such as this, but the point is that this book will help give a reasonable understanding of the hardships Greece faces today.
Lastly, about a third of this book deals with the issue of immigration. This is unquestionably the hardest topic for the author to tackle, and he attempts to give voice to both sides of the issue and handles it quite well. As with many societies, there is a familiar mentality, as in us vs. them, and both sides make very important points. Considering that Greece is tackling a very serious debt, not to mention widespread corruption and distrust in the government, it is easy to understand why a lot of people are hesitant regarding this topic. Not to mention the fact that this would cause a lot of problems among people. The final chapter paints a fairly grim pictures of the debate around immigration, and despite the author's hope for a better future, it seems the road towards it will be a long one.
Right from the start, James Angelos, a Greek-born journalist living in Berlin, addresses the biggest misconception we have about Greece. Our perception of Greece might best be understood as a place of memory, as we continue to associate it with both its importance to modern civilization. Think of all those philosophers - Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, among many others -, whose writings and thought influenced medicine, politics, literature, mathematics, theatre, and so many other sciences; think of the amazing architecture and its rich mythology; its history includes Philip of Macedon and the most well-known Alexander in history; its influence on modern theatre, including comedy and tragedy, not to mention the Olympic games; and finally, its image as the cradle of democracy, which it is still strongly associated with.
Our notion is so strongly affected by this that most of our pop culture fascination looks firmly to ancient Greece. Madeline Miller's Song of Achilleus and Circe, the video game God of War and its sequels, where you kill the entire Greek pantheon, the film Troy and Alexander, not to mention Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and an Assassin Creed: Odyssey. In other words, the list goes on, and so does our interest.
And, as it would appear, this isn't something new. Angelos lists several instances where Greece's historical importance has influenced decision-making. Firstly, after Greece became independent in 1821, several intellectuals helped draw nationwide support towards helping build the birthplace of democracy back to its former glory. Percy Shelley declared that we are all Greeks, and dedicating his last poem for a nation he tried to help rebuild, only to be shocked by what he saw in Greece. Later, allegedly, he wished to never be reminded of what he had wrote, for what he saw was so far from what he had imagined. Later, Valery d'Estaing, the President of France from 1974 until 1981, fought valiantly for Greece to be accepted into European Economic Community. Some decades later, he confessed to having been blind to many of the problems facing Greece during that time, and also stated that he was heavily influenced by the country's historical importance. Finally, it has been stated that Angela Merkel chose to stop Grexit, while completely ignoring Brexit, yet again, for historical importance. And let's not get started on the many loans given due to, you guessed it, historical significance.
So, by establishing that, Angelos begins to focus broadly on the infamous debt crisis, corruption, immigration and many more problems that plague modern day Greece. While this book is a fairly critical look at how dysfunctional many aspects of life truly are, Angelos tries to be as open-minded and sympathetic as possible. He stays quite neutral throughout the book, and always tries to interview as many people as he can, this includes those on the left, right, center, and all those in-between all of them.
The first part of the book was very humorous, and some moments were even laugh-out-loud funny. For example, while looking into some cases where people are pretending to have an illness in order to collect beneficiaries, it turned out that an unusually large percentage of people are said to be blind, leading the author to name it the city of the blind. In another instance, a report states that some 8500 people are over the age of 100, meaning that Greece is ahead of the curve by an unprecedented margin. While there were also humorous instances of politicians being corrupt and lying to their voters, it quickly became less hilarious and rather sad.
As with corruption, it turns out that politicians are more prone to support their own voters, while turning a blind eye to those who really need help the most. These include small businesses, people with actual health problems, and generally those who struggle to pay their bills (i.e. those who pretend to be blind simply to receive monetary help). Also, as it turns out, not paying one's bills is almost a national activity. Angelos explains that once Greece began to receive large sums of monetary relief from other European countries, the people started to quickly draw parallels with history once the debt collectors started to give orders to the government. This immediately reminded them of their troubled history with Germany, and most importantly, Turkey, and as an act of protest, they refused to pay their bills. And, to make matters worse, Greece is incredibly behind other European nations where bill collecting is more organized.
Angelos helps us better understand many of the problems with extensive historical context. Germany committed heinous crimes during their occupation, which left Greece in a state of turmoil after the war was over, and is still a very sensitive topic today. Angela Merkel is described as a national socialist by some people in Greece, and in some chapters, Angelos describes several unwelcoming sights that greeted German politicians. Another problem is related to modern relations between Greece and Turkey, largely due to areas that both countries claim to be theirs, and, yet again, history. There are several other examples such as this, but the point is that this book will help give a reasonable understanding of the hardships Greece faces today.
Lastly, about a third of this book deals with the issue of immigration. This is unquestionably the hardest topic for the author to tackle, and he attempts to give voice to both sides of the issue and handles it quite well. As with many societies, there is a familiar mentality, as in us vs. them, and both sides make very important points. Considering that Greece is tackling a very serious debt, not to mention widespread corruption and distrust in the government, it is easy to understand why a lot of people are hesitant regarding this topic. Not to mention the fact that this would cause a lot of problems among people. The final chapter paints a fairly grim pictures of the debate around immigration, and despite the author's hope for a better future, it seems the road towards it will be a long one.
March 18, 2015
The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins by James Angelos travels Greece seeking the answers to the questions of why Greece is in financial ruin. James Angelos, a Greek American free-lance journalist went to Greece and interviewed many Greeks and tells their stories with the background of Greek history and mythology. Some are dramatic, some very puzzling, some frustrating. But because of his background, he is able to explain why so many people on the island of Zakynthos claiming benefits for the blind when they are not. Who are Okaying the benefits? What is the small envelope in government, how does it influence what gets done?
What did the long history of Turkish rule over Greece do to the present day feelings and attitude of the Greeks towards their government, not towards their government but their country? What was the Greek's experience with Germany during WWII and why that is not forgiven? Who do the Greeks blame for their financial mess? How are immigrants thought of?
Those are just a few of the many questions that the author explored and answered. This book was not textbook like but much more personal with the interviews. It was fascinating reading and I feel I have a much greater understanding of the why of the situation.
I have learned so very much from this book. I could not have learned it as a tourist. I would have had to know Greek, to be much more familiar with the culture and I would have probably needed to be Greek to get the real stories.
I selected this book from Amazon Vine but receiving it free did not influence my review in any way.
What did the long history of Turkish rule over Greece do to the present day feelings and attitude of the Greeks towards their government, not towards their government but their country? What was the Greek's experience with Germany during WWII and why that is not forgiven? Who do the Greeks blame for their financial mess? How are immigrants thought of?
Those are just a few of the many questions that the author explored and answered. This book was not textbook like but much more personal with the interviews. It was fascinating reading and I feel I have a much greater understanding of the why of the situation.
I have learned so very much from this book. I could not have learned it as a tourist. I would have had to know Greek, to be much more familiar with the culture and I would have probably needed to be Greek to get the real stories.
I selected this book from Amazon Vine but receiving it free did not influence my review in any way.
July 26, 2015
For the most part this is a breezy recounting of the woes that face present day Greece from the perspective of numerous Greeks with varying degrees of importance. Unfortunately, I had read a review that seemed to imply the book would provide me with a deeper understanding of the debt crisis from a Greek perspective. But the book has a broader aim and at the same time feels smaller. Among other topics, it covers widespread corruption, reparation demands, anti-semitism, the church/state relationship, immigration and a growing right-wing movement. I found a lot of the insight illuminating and even entertaining at times. But more often than not I felt like I was hanging out with people on the fringes the issues when I wanted to be in the center. And while the immigration issue is very troubling and the recent growth of the "fascist" party Golden Dawn (but still more of a sideshow) does comment on Greek society to a point, the extent of the coverage and the placement as the final fourth of the book seemed overlarge and misplaced. But if you know what this book covers and that is something you would like to read then I would definitely recommend it because Angelos has written a clear, anecdotal-based book about several slices of modern Greek life.
August 3, 2015
Spot on. Angelos captures the fundamental differences in perspective that make the whole situation so difficult to understand for those not familiar with Greek culture. How can an elderly woman who has been fraudulently claiming disability payments for the blind genuinely see herself as a victim when those payments stop? To understand that is to understand how Greece is fundamentally not Germany.
August 5, 2015
This is a very good book which gives you a good understanding of the social, economic, and cultural factors behind the financial crisis.
Greece is going to be a long time coming back, and with so many young people and professionals leaving, it will probably be a stunted economy for years to come.
Greece is going to be a long time coming back, and with so many young people and professionals leaving, it will probably be a stunted economy for years to come.
April 27, 2024
A Pretty Weak Book
This book consists, basically, of three parts. The first deals with the dysfunction, corruption and lack of civil society in Greece. The second is the issue of immigration. The third with a large number of the author’s observations regarding other issues intertwined in between the above two.
With respect to the first, dysfunction, corruption and the lack of a civil society, the author travels various parts of Greece and attempts to show, through vignette-like stories, how this is the case. IN general, most of the stories the author tells are pretty entertaining and amusing. However, considering the fact they are only vignettes, they only present a small part of the picture. It is difficult to determine if these individual stories represent the whole of Greek society. For a more through, and academic, examination of these issues in Greek institutions this reviewer highly recommends reading either Michael Mitsopoulos’ “Greece: From Exit to Recovery?” or “Understanding the Crisis in Greece: From Boom to Bust”. As there is a significant overlap between these two books this reviewer recommends purchasing one or the other, not both. They do a very good job at pointing out the dysfunction and corruption in Greek institutions, in quite a bit of detail, as well as presenting some reforms that would go far in tacking these problems The examination of these issues is much more thorough and academic in these two books than “The Full Catastrophe".
The author, James Angelos, implies that it is this dysfunction, corruption and lack of civil society that had caused the 2008-9 economic collapse. Undoubtedly, it had played a part. This is not the same thing as saying however, as the author does, that it was the major cause. The major (and immediate) cause was the outflow of capital from Greece, caused by the financial crisis, into safe haven nations such as Germany, England and Switzerland. This collapse in liquidity brought about, in turn, the collapse in both the money supply and banking system. This was the immediate and most important cause of the crisis.
With respect to the issue of immigration, the author disparages both the state’s and Greek society’s attitudes and reaction to the immigration crisis of the post-2021 period. According to him, Greece should have welcomed with open arms the hundreds of thousands of immigrants that were coming to Greece. Now how Greece was to do this considering the impact of the financial crisis, that caused unemployment in Greece to reach over a third of the workforce and public coffers becoming empty, as even the author himself admits, is simply beyond comprehension. A country’s first priority needs to be its own citizens. This is something the author simply does not comprehend. Instead he attacks Greek society for its coldness, callousness and “racism” for pages on end. Remarkable. Plus the author forgets to mention the fact that Turkey makes very extensive efforts to use the pretense of “protecting” Muslims in Greece and Bulgaria to justify interference in those nations’ national affairs. Apparently, he considers this issue to also be trivial. As a knowledgeable journalist he should know better.
Lastly Mr. Angelos makes many components, unrelated to the first two issues mentioned above (i.e., dysfunction et al and immigration), that are hard to comprehend in terms of logic. For example, he puts forth the hypothesis that a major reason that Greeks have a disdain for paying taxes is that they associate tax payments with the Ottoman occupation. This is despite the fact that Mr. Angelos himself points that the Greek civil service and Greece’s government authorities are very dysfunctional, corrupt and, as a result, are viewed very negatively by the public. He even points out that in the EU, Greeks view their state institutions more negatively than the people of any other nation. Yet he goes on to attribute the hatred of taxes to anti-Turkish racism.
Another example of Mr. Angelos’ mocking of Greek attitudes is toward the “separation” of church and state. He derides Greece for not having separation despite the fact that 98% of its population is of the Greek Orthodox faith. Of course the fact that many other parts of the world also lack this separation (i.e. Islamic world, Israel, Italy, etc.) goes unnoticed by the author.
In short, a book with some interesting and entertaining micro stories on dysfunction and corruption in Greece but not enough to show, as the author implies, that this was the main cause of the “catastrophe” he writes about. Plus weak on the issue of immigration and having many irrational tangent points. Two stars.
This book consists, basically, of three parts. The first deals with the dysfunction, corruption and lack of civil society in Greece. The second is the issue of immigration. The third with a large number of the author’s observations regarding other issues intertwined in between the above two.
With respect to the first, dysfunction, corruption and the lack of a civil society, the author travels various parts of Greece and attempts to show, through vignette-like stories, how this is the case. IN general, most of the stories the author tells are pretty entertaining and amusing. However, considering the fact they are only vignettes, they only present a small part of the picture. It is difficult to determine if these individual stories represent the whole of Greek society. For a more through, and academic, examination of these issues in Greek institutions this reviewer highly recommends reading either Michael Mitsopoulos’ “Greece: From Exit to Recovery?” or “Understanding the Crisis in Greece: From Boom to Bust”. As there is a significant overlap between these two books this reviewer recommends purchasing one or the other, not both. They do a very good job at pointing out the dysfunction and corruption in Greek institutions, in quite a bit of detail, as well as presenting some reforms that would go far in tacking these problems The examination of these issues is much more thorough and academic in these two books than “The Full Catastrophe".
The author, James Angelos, implies that it is this dysfunction, corruption and lack of civil society that had caused the 2008-9 economic collapse. Undoubtedly, it had played a part. This is not the same thing as saying however, as the author does, that it was the major cause. The major (and immediate) cause was the outflow of capital from Greece, caused by the financial crisis, into safe haven nations such as Germany, England and Switzerland. This collapse in liquidity brought about, in turn, the collapse in both the money supply and banking system. This was the immediate and most important cause of the crisis.
With respect to the issue of immigration, the author disparages both the state’s and Greek society’s attitudes and reaction to the immigration crisis of the post-2021 period. According to him, Greece should have welcomed with open arms the hundreds of thousands of immigrants that were coming to Greece. Now how Greece was to do this considering the impact of the financial crisis, that caused unemployment in Greece to reach over a third of the workforce and public coffers becoming empty, as even the author himself admits, is simply beyond comprehension. A country’s first priority needs to be its own citizens. This is something the author simply does not comprehend. Instead he attacks Greek society for its coldness, callousness and “racism” for pages on end. Remarkable. Plus the author forgets to mention the fact that Turkey makes very extensive efforts to use the pretense of “protecting” Muslims in Greece and Bulgaria to justify interference in those nations’ national affairs. Apparently, he considers this issue to also be trivial. As a knowledgeable journalist he should know better.
Lastly Mr. Angelos makes many components, unrelated to the first two issues mentioned above (i.e., dysfunction et al and immigration), that are hard to comprehend in terms of logic. For example, he puts forth the hypothesis that a major reason that Greeks have a disdain for paying taxes is that they associate tax payments with the Ottoman occupation. This is despite the fact that Mr. Angelos himself points that the Greek civil service and Greece’s government authorities are very dysfunctional, corrupt and, as a result, are viewed very negatively by the public. He even points out that in the EU, Greeks view their state institutions more negatively than the people of any other nation. Yet he goes on to attribute the hatred of taxes to anti-Turkish racism.
Another example of Mr. Angelos’ mocking of Greek attitudes is toward the “separation” of church and state. He derides Greece for not having separation despite the fact that 98% of its population is of the Greek Orthodox faith. Of course the fact that many other parts of the world also lack this separation (i.e. Islamic world, Israel, Italy, etc.) goes unnoticed by the author.
In short, a book with some interesting and entertaining micro stories on dysfunction and corruption in Greece but not enough to show, as the author implies, that this was the main cause of the “catastrophe” he writes about. Plus weak on the issue of immigration and having many irrational tangent points. Two stars.
January 23, 2019
Everything that happened to the Greeks represent everything wrong within the EU. Throughout the book, I can see nothing but trouble, beginning with Greece’s uneasy relationship with ‘the Troika��, that is European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund, who plunged Greece into a harsh regime of austerity in order to receive bailouts, although, in fair, Greeks also had their hands in their own calamity, for corruption seeps through many aspects of its society. The Greeks are also troubled with migrants, for they are the gateway into europe. This thing caused the rise of the Neo-Nazi party, the Golden Dawn, which made more confusion in term of historic relation between Greece and Germany. Reading this book, I really want to sympathise with the Greeks, but there are many things explained that simply stops me doing that.
August 18, 2018
Although I found it hard to gauge just how objective Angelos was able to be, I found this interesting and informative. If you'd like a deeper dive into how the Junta came to be, Greece's feelings on Germany, Golden Dawn, and/or how the refugee crisis has unfolded in Greece, this is worth a read. If you're interested in a tight focus on the recent financial crisis, it's probably not the right fit.
February 8, 2018
Interesting background on the Greek financial crisis and the social situation that fostered that crisis
March 31, 2015
America may be emerging from the Great Recession, but the effects of the economic shockwaves were far worse in several countries. For a variety of reasons, the shockwaves hit Greece as hard as anyone. With "The Full Catastrophe," author James Angelos travels across Greece to bear witness to those effects. "The Full Catastrophe" offers a sad, but often comic, picture of a country confronting its own shortcomings.
Angelos focuses much of his book on the Greek paradox - modern-day Greeks have built their very idea of "Greek-ness" on their legacy as the heirs of the founders of Western Civilization, but they do very little to bring credit to that legacy. Instead, for many modern Greeks, the idea of the good life is not exploring philosophy and pondering mathematical and scientific issues, but instead consists of receiving a stable pension that allows you to sit in a cafe sipping your favorite beverage and complaining about non-Greeks. The Greek political class has created a Byzantine system of pensions and benefits that have made Greece into a Tea Party nightmare - the country is so dependent on government handouts that on one island, approximately one in four islanders is legally blind. To be sure, the Greeks provide a generous pension for the blind, which may explain why several blind islanders still have their driver's licenses.
Angelos explores the systemic corruption in Greece and it is clear that the corruption is so great, it's almost wrong to single out any person for blame. In the blind islander example, who do you blame? The doctor who certifies blindness? The politician who approves the pension? The islander who bribes the doctor and the politician? Angelos interviews several Greeks who play different roles in society, and it's clear that pride is a major stumbling block for reform - reading a Greek defend his or her role in the corrupt system is like listening to Fonzie try to apologize on 'Happy Days' - they just can't admit they did anything wrong.
The corruption goes beyond pensions. Americans may dislike paying taxes, but in Greece it's painful to the soul. Tax fraud is rampant and efforts to reform the system are charmingly ineffective. The Greeks are told by the EU to step up audits to improve tax collections, so the Greeks send out hundreds of auditors who, indeed, find unpaid taxes. So what do the auditors do? They create the "40-40-20 rule," where for every $100 of unpaid taxes they find, $20 goes to the state, $40 stays with the taxpayer, and $40 goes to the auditor. Everyone's happy, right?
Well, not the Germans and the rest of the EU, who have bailed Greece out. Angelos writes about the German-Greek hatred, which has obvious roots dating back to Greek independence (a German monarch became ruler of Greece) and of course World War II, when the Germans unleashed hell on the Hellenes. But today, the Germans are upset because they are cutting huge checks to bail out Greece, only to hear tales of Greeks working ten-hour weeks and generally wasting German money. And so it is that in Greece today, Angela Merkel is the second coming of Hitler and the Greeks are demanding WWII reparations from Germany.
That isn't to say that all Greeks hate non-Greeks. Indeed, the political and wealthy classes of Greece (well, they are really one singular class) prefer to keep most of their money in Paris and in Swiss banks.
But the rank and file of Greece has receded into an isolationist, "Greece for Greeks" camp where the foreigners are to blame. While the Germans are waging economic war against the country, the rest of the EU is turning Greece into "the basement of Europe" where all the immigrants fleeing war-torn Africa or the Middle East are allegedly dumped. "Greece for Greeks" has become so pervasive in northeastern Greece, which shares a short border with Turkey across a narrow river, that a neo-Nazi party recently seized political power. Due to its proximity to the Middle East and its shared border with Turkey, northeastern Greece faces an illegal immigration problem that many Arizonans could likely relate to. The question is, how do you respond to the crisis? An older Greek priest says that compassion must rule the day, but a younger priest and the neo-Nazi party disagree.
While Angelos writes that he hopes that his deep love for Greece comes through the pages of "The Full Catastrophe," it's hard to find room for optimism in his tale. The more natural reaction is a mix of frustration and disappointment, the same sentiments the Romantics felt when 19th-century Greece regained its independence but, rather than rebuilding classical Athens, descended into petty arguments and corruption.
In Angelos's defense - it's Greece, and who doesn't love the idea of Greece? That is worthy of optimism.
Angelos focuses much of his book on the Greek paradox - modern-day Greeks have built their very idea of "Greek-ness" on their legacy as the heirs of the founders of Western Civilization, but they do very little to bring credit to that legacy. Instead, for many modern Greeks, the idea of the good life is not exploring philosophy and pondering mathematical and scientific issues, but instead consists of receiving a stable pension that allows you to sit in a cafe sipping your favorite beverage and complaining about non-Greeks. The Greek political class has created a Byzantine system of pensions and benefits that have made Greece into a Tea Party nightmare - the country is so dependent on government handouts that on one island, approximately one in four islanders is legally blind. To be sure, the Greeks provide a generous pension for the blind, which may explain why several blind islanders still have their driver's licenses.
Angelos explores the systemic corruption in Greece and it is clear that the corruption is so great, it's almost wrong to single out any person for blame. In the blind islander example, who do you blame? The doctor who certifies blindness? The politician who approves the pension? The islander who bribes the doctor and the politician? Angelos interviews several Greeks who play different roles in society, and it's clear that pride is a major stumbling block for reform - reading a Greek defend his or her role in the corrupt system is like listening to Fonzie try to apologize on 'Happy Days' - they just can't admit they did anything wrong.
The corruption goes beyond pensions. Americans may dislike paying taxes, but in Greece it's painful to the soul. Tax fraud is rampant and efforts to reform the system are charmingly ineffective. The Greeks are told by the EU to step up audits to improve tax collections, so the Greeks send out hundreds of auditors who, indeed, find unpaid taxes. So what do the auditors do? They create the "40-40-20 rule," where for every $100 of unpaid taxes they find, $20 goes to the state, $40 stays with the taxpayer, and $40 goes to the auditor. Everyone's happy, right?
Well, not the Germans and the rest of the EU, who have bailed Greece out. Angelos writes about the German-Greek hatred, which has obvious roots dating back to Greek independence (a German monarch became ruler of Greece) and of course World War II, when the Germans unleashed hell on the Hellenes. But today, the Germans are upset because they are cutting huge checks to bail out Greece, only to hear tales of Greeks working ten-hour weeks and generally wasting German money. And so it is that in Greece today, Angela Merkel is the second coming of Hitler and the Greeks are demanding WWII reparations from Germany.
That isn't to say that all Greeks hate non-Greeks. Indeed, the political and wealthy classes of Greece (well, they are really one singular class) prefer to keep most of their money in Paris and in Swiss banks.
But the rank and file of Greece has receded into an isolationist, "Greece for Greeks" camp where the foreigners are to blame. While the Germans are waging economic war against the country, the rest of the EU is turning Greece into "the basement of Europe" where all the immigrants fleeing war-torn Africa or the Middle East are allegedly dumped. "Greece for Greeks" has become so pervasive in northeastern Greece, which shares a short border with Turkey across a narrow river, that a neo-Nazi party recently seized political power. Due to its proximity to the Middle East and its shared border with Turkey, northeastern Greece faces an illegal immigration problem that many Arizonans could likely relate to. The question is, how do you respond to the crisis? An older Greek priest says that compassion must rule the day, but a younger priest and the neo-Nazi party disagree.
While Angelos writes that he hopes that his deep love for Greece comes through the pages of "The Full Catastrophe," it's hard to find room for optimism in his tale. The more natural reaction is a mix of frustration and disappointment, the same sentiments the Romantics felt when 19th-century Greece regained its independence but, rather than rebuilding classical Athens, descended into petty arguments and corruption.
In Angelos's defense - it's Greece, and who doesn't love the idea of Greece? That is worthy of optimism.
December 21, 2015
Whatever is wrong with Greece? The economic crisis seems to go on and on. Recently we thought Greece was definitely going to leave the Eurozone, but now it turns out they’re not, at least not yet. Why can’t Greece get its act together? Or is it really their fault?
This is a good journalistic introduction to the recent economic crisis in Greece by someone who knows the country and the language. Angelos goes to Greece and relates a series of stories about his encounters with the Greeks. The stories he tells are quite interesting and Angelos is a good writer. It’s like going to Greece and asking a bunch of questions of Greeks.
We don’t get any analysis or conclusions, or attempts to answer the “big questions” about Greece. I don’t mind this style, and I’m used to it by now; it’s the same basic formula that I ran into in Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, which (on a completely different topic) just tells a bunch of stories and gives a tour of what’s happening these days in the world of public shaming. But still, I wish that the big questions could have been asked, even if not answered.
So here’s my personal thoughts. I think that Greece isn’t going to make it without some sort of revolution or something. The country is just horribly, horribly corrupt, and it’s by now a way of life. I reflect on how similar, in some ways, Greece is to the United States, only Greece seems to be a bit further down the road to complete collapse — to “the full catastrophe.” Maybe if the United States elected Trump as President we would approximate the craziness there.
The corruption is so bad that the honest people probably have a hard time explaining themselves. Just how corrupt? The first chapter discusses the blindness scandal; people collect “blindness” benefits even though they’re not really blind. One person thinks they may actually qualify for the benefit, but they can’t apply because they can’t afford to pay the doctor to certify him as blind. But of course when people try to clean up this sort of thing, there are objections, because what about the big capitalists that are also “eating” (benefitting from government benefits), and in much bigger and more damaging way.
It’s almost impossible to lose your civil service job. You can totally and completely screw up. Angelos devotes an entire chapter to one especially egregious case. A civil servant commits murder, is arrested, convicted, and goes to jail. But, he does not lose his job, although there is quite a bit of discussion in government circles.
Greece is beset by refugees because it is often the first European country that refugees from Syria or Afghanistan reach, and Angelos tells some heartbreaking stories of refugees trying to survive in Greece, or get through Greece to the other side. Greece can hardly afford to give the immigrants much more than a cursory welcome. On the other hand, Greece also has to contend with some neo-Nazis, the “Golden Dawn” movement, which wants to drive the refugees out, and Angelos ferrets out some evidence that in some cases the police are actively involved in supporting Golden Dawn.
Somehow, the country staggers forward. Someone, somewhere, must be doing their job. In some places it’s probably possible to be honest, and one of Angelos’ more hopeful stories is of just such a person. He is the mayor of the town of Thessaloniki, who is trying to wind his way through the idiotic nationalism and influx of refugees, to find a way to promote tourism from their next-door neighbors in Turkey. Since the Greeks and Turks have been hostile to each other, fighting over unoccupied rocks in the Aegean and so forth, his efforts are not always warmly received, even though obviously Greece could use some of that Turkish money. But nevertheless he makes progress.
The collapse of a country, or a civilization, is a hard thing to predict or even to watch. The Roman Empire in the west took over two centuries to fall even after the catastrophic civil wars got underway in the third century. Nevertheless, when I look at the realities of debt, peak oil, and resource depletion generally, I think — this can’t last. It may take a long time to fall, but it will collapse. Greece is what the early stages of collapse look like. Europe, and Greece, needs to be thinking about the Greek catastrophe in terms of resource depletion and limits to growth, and when you do this, you see that what is going on in Greece just can’t last.
This is a good journalistic introduction to the recent economic crisis in Greece by someone who knows the country and the language. Angelos goes to Greece and relates a series of stories about his encounters with the Greeks. The stories he tells are quite interesting and Angelos is a good writer. It’s like going to Greece and asking a bunch of questions of Greeks.
We don’t get any analysis or conclusions, or attempts to answer the “big questions” about Greece. I don’t mind this style, and I’m used to it by now; it’s the same basic formula that I ran into in Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, which (on a completely different topic) just tells a bunch of stories and gives a tour of what’s happening these days in the world of public shaming. But still, I wish that the big questions could have been asked, even if not answered.
So here’s my personal thoughts. I think that Greece isn’t going to make it without some sort of revolution or something. The country is just horribly, horribly corrupt, and it’s by now a way of life. I reflect on how similar, in some ways, Greece is to the United States, only Greece seems to be a bit further down the road to complete collapse — to “the full catastrophe.” Maybe if the United States elected Trump as President we would approximate the craziness there.
The corruption is so bad that the honest people probably have a hard time explaining themselves. Just how corrupt? The first chapter discusses the blindness scandal; people collect “blindness” benefits even though they’re not really blind. One person thinks they may actually qualify for the benefit, but they can’t apply because they can’t afford to pay the doctor to certify him as blind. But of course when people try to clean up this sort of thing, there are objections, because what about the big capitalists that are also “eating” (benefitting from government benefits), and in much bigger and more damaging way.
It’s almost impossible to lose your civil service job. You can totally and completely screw up. Angelos devotes an entire chapter to one especially egregious case. A civil servant commits murder, is arrested, convicted, and goes to jail. But, he does not lose his job, although there is quite a bit of discussion in government circles.
Greece is beset by refugees because it is often the first European country that refugees from Syria or Afghanistan reach, and Angelos tells some heartbreaking stories of refugees trying to survive in Greece, or get through Greece to the other side. Greece can hardly afford to give the immigrants much more than a cursory welcome. On the other hand, Greece also has to contend with some neo-Nazis, the “Golden Dawn” movement, which wants to drive the refugees out, and Angelos ferrets out some evidence that in some cases the police are actively involved in supporting Golden Dawn.
Somehow, the country staggers forward. Someone, somewhere, must be doing their job. In some places it’s probably possible to be honest, and one of Angelos’ more hopeful stories is of just such a person. He is the mayor of the town of Thessaloniki, who is trying to wind his way through the idiotic nationalism and influx of refugees, to find a way to promote tourism from their next-door neighbors in Turkey. Since the Greeks and Turks have been hostile to each other, fighting over unoccupied rocks in the Aegean and so forth, his efforts are not always warmly received, even though obviously Greece could use some of that Turkish money. But nevertheless he makes progress.
The collapse of a country, or a civilization, is a hard thing to predict or even to watch. The Roman Empire in the west took over two centuries to fall even after the catastrophic civil wars got underway in the third century. Nevertheless, when I look at the realities of debt, peak oil, and resource depletion generally, I think — this can’t last. It may take a long time to fall, but it will collapse. Greece is what the early stages of collapse look like. Europe, and Greece, needs to be thinking about the Greek catastrophe in terms of resource depletion and limits to growth, and when you do this, you see that what is going on in Greece just can’t last.
July 19, 2015
This journalistic account of the author's travels through post-crisis Greece is an eye-opener, and does a good job of blending personal level interviews with the big picture of the current state of Greece. The introduction, by itself, is worth the price of the book, being an excellent long-read summary of how the current Greek crisis developed and how it is playing out. The succeeding seven chapters connect individual stories to this big picture, providing a close up look at the widespread corruption of Greek state and society, the immigration crisis, and the rise of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. If there's a weak spot it is that Angelos did not spend enough time with Syriza party officials, though their major role in the Greek crisis took center stage immediately following the publication of the book.
Angelos, the son of Greek immigrants to America, is willing to be a sympathetic ear to the Greeks, but the facts of the case, so to speak, usually leave him, and the reader, shaking their heads in dismay. It is clear that Greece never should have been allowed to enter the Euro, but for two facts: one, European sentimentality about Greece as the birthplace of European civilization (though Germany, it should be noted, was always skeptical), and secondly, the outright fabrication and fraud of the Greek government to make their economy appear to meet the requirements of Euro membership.
Once in the Euro, the Greek government found much joy in taking the money that European banks were only to happy to lend it and, in local parlance, eating it. Corrupt government officials throughout the land became rich, but they also spread the money around. Greece has a high percentage of its workforce on the state books, thanks to a Constitution that makes it almost impossible to fire government workers, and a tradition of winning politicians giving jobs to supporters. The result is way more bureaucrats than are needed, many of whom are in fact incompetent. With the influx of Euros, the government massively increased their salaries and pensions, which became impossible to sustain once the crisis hit and the creditor nations took a look at the books.
When the easy loans stopped, the government was hamstrung by rampant tax evasion. Sure, tax evasion is an issue everywhere, but Greece takes it to an Olympic level. When the government tried to collect missing tax revenue, it ran into the corruption issue. Auditors, when they found money owed, relied on a 40-40-20 formula: 40% of the amount owed the citizen was allowed to keep, 40% of the amount owed went to the auditor, and 20% went to the government.
Germany, that paragon of responsible virtue, reacted with unsympathetic rage to the financial predicament Greece quickly found itself in. Angelos finds evidence to support the view that Germany intended to punish Greece with terms as harsh as possible in exchange for its assistance.
Angelos, the son of Greek immigrants to America, is willing to be a sympathetic ear to the Greeks, but the facts of the case, so to speak, usually leave him, and the reader, shaking their heads in dismay. It is clear that Greece never should have been allowed to enter the Euro, but for two facts: one, European sentimentality about Greece as the birthplace of European civilization (though Germany, it should be noted, was always skeptical), and secondly, the outright fabrication and fraud of the Greek government to make their economy appear to meet the requirements of Euro membership.
Once in the Euro, the Greek government found much joy in taking the money that European banks were only to happy to lend it and, in local parlance, eating it. Corrupt government officials throughout the land became rich, but they also spread the money around. Greece has a high percentage of its workforce on the state books, thanks to a Constitution that makes it almost impossible to fire government workers, and a tradition of winning politicians giving jobs to supporters. The result is way more bureaucrats than are needed, many of whom are in fact incompetent. With the influx of Euros, the government massively increased their salaries and pensions, which became impossible to sustain once the crisis hit and the creditor nations took a look at the books.
When the easy loans stopped, the government was hamstrung by rampant tax evasion. Sure, tax evasion is an issue everywhere, but Greece takes it to an Olympic level. When the government tried to collect missing tax revenue, it ran into the corruption issue. Auditors, when they found money owed, relied on a 40-40-20 formula: 40% of the amount owed the citizen was allowed to keep, 40% of the amount owed went to the auditor, and 20% went to the government.
Germany, that paragon of responsible virtue, reacted with unsympathetic rage to the financial predicament Greece quickly found itself in. Angelos finds evidence to support the view that Germany intended to punish Greece with terms as harsh as possible in exchange for its assistance.
The punitive nature of the initial bailout agreement - the bringing out of the bats, in other words - somewhat quieted the German electorate's misgivings about helping the Greeks. German chancellor Angela Merkel made sure to emphasize the toughness of the agreement to her voters, assuring them the Greeks were being adequately chastened, that moral hazard was being avoided. Other eurozone countries would "do all they can to avoid this themselves," Merkel told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.While this book makes clear that Greece has no room to argue that it does not deserve harsh consequences, despite its attempts to do just that, the wisdom of Germany and other eurozone countries making them more harsh than perhaps necessary is certainly open to question. As the final chapter impicitly suggests, an unintended consequence might be the rise to power of a fascist, neo-Nazi party.
August 28, 2015
The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins
By James Angelos
The economic crisis in Greece has been dropping in and out of the headlines for years now. As I write this in late August, the governing Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA using its Greek acronym) has stepped down after agreeing to a third round of austerity imposed by the European Union and European Central Bank. The country’s second parliamentary election of 2015 (which SYRIZA might still win) will happen in a month’s time.
Greek-American journalist James Angelos spent three years covering the crisis for the Wall Street Journal and other outlets. Some of the results of this reporting is collected in The Full Catastrophe. The book, which I received as part of LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program, offers a good introduction to contemporary Greece and its people as they cope with the seemingly endless rounds of austerity.
Angelos offers a variety of profiles that can seem to contradict themselves, but perhaps that’s intentional. Readers of the first chapter may come away with the impression that Greeks are lazy freeloaders who hate paying taxes and deserve what they’ve gotten since the global economic crisis hit. If you drop the book then, having had one’s suspicions confirmed (either of Angelos or his interview subjects), you’ll make a mistake. While sometimes he seems to make the case that modern Greece is a nation based on a shared mythology alone — not based on ancient gods, but on modern Turkish and Nazi enemies — that’s not really his thesis either.
What a reader will get here is a lively portrait of how ordinary Greeks are coping with the crisis. You will also get a hint of what darkness may result if Greece fails to cope. The last two chapters focus on what was then the beginning of today’s immigrant crisis, with refugees from African and Asian wars using Greece as the first place to land in Europe. Angelos talks with many immigrants also trying to cope. He is sympathetic to them, more so than many natives.
This portrait is followed by the rise of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which Angelos warns could be standing at the ready if government, and democracy, fails.
Ultimately, The Full Catastrophe is less an explanation of how Greece got into this mess, but suggests that it will somehow find its way out. The alternative is scary.
By James Angelos
The economic crisis in Greece has been dropping in and out of the headlines for years now. As I write this in late August, the governing Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA using its Greek acronym) has stepped down after agreeing to a third round of austerity imposed by the European Union and European Central Bank. The country’s second parliamentary election of 2015 (which SYRIZA might still win) will happen in a month’s time.
Greek-American journalist James Angelos spent three years covering the crisis for the Wall Street Journal and other outlets. Some of the results of this reporting is collected in The Full Catastrophe. The book, which I received as part of LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program, offers a good introduction to contemporary Greece and its people as they cope with the seemingly endless rounds of austerity.
Angelos offers a variety of profiles that can seem to contradict themselves, but perhaps that’s intentional. Readers of the first chapter may come away with the impression that Greeks are lazy freeloaders who hate paying taxes and deserve what they’ve gotten since the global economic crisis hit. If you drop the book then, having had one’s suspicions confirmed (either of Angelos or his interview subjects), you’ll make a mistake. While sometimes he seems to make the case that modern Greece is a nation based on a shared mythology alone — not based on ancient gods, but on modern Turkish and Nazi enemies — that’s not really his thesis either.
What a reader will get here is a lively portrait of how ordinary Greeks are coping with the crisis. You will also get a hint of what darkness may result if Greece fails to cope. The last two chapters focus on what was then the beginning of today’s immigrant crisis, with refugees from African and Asian wars using Greece as the first place to land in Europe. Angelos talks with many immigrants also trying to cope. He is sympathetic to them, more so than many natives.
This portrait is followed by the rise of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which Angelos warns could be standing at the ready if government, and democracy, fails.
Ultimately, The Full Catastrophe is less an explanation of how Greece got into this mess, but suggests that it will somehow find its way out. The alternative is scary.
June 21, 2016
This book explains many things about modern Greece, a nation often shaped by forces outside it's control. The book comes at the right moment, with increasing concerns about the debt crisis, and how ordinary people are coping with the economic crisis and the increasing tide of migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty, and trying to use Greece as a way to the rest of Europe and hopefully a better life.
The author is an American journalist of Greek descent and he gives the reader a good look at issues facing the country such as corruption, mismanagement, and an overblown and inefficient bureaucracy. It examines some of the episodes that will help readers understand how and why Greeks react to certain current events. For example, he looks at reasons why Greeks think the Germans should pay reparations for their occupation during WWII as well as some events that happened during the war that shaped the generations to come. He also examines how and why it has become so easy to take and give bribes for even the most mundane services. Something that many of us would find unimaginable.
I learned a lot about Greece, not just about its current economic troubles but more generally about what makes this country and it citizens tick. It also brings to light facts about Greece not known to many outsiders. For instance, I was unaware that the birthplace of Kamal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey was Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. This city was also once home to a large, thriving Jewish community before WWII. But during the war nearly all of the 50,000 Jews in Thessaloniki were deported to Auschwitz.
This book did leave me wondering about what the future holds for Greece. It seems that more effort is spent by Greeks, blaming outsiders, corrupt politicians and history for many of the problems currently facing the country. There seems little attempt to unite and find realistic ways to institute the needed changes. It will be interesting to see what the future brings.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
More reviews at: www.susannesbooklist.blogspot.com
The author is an American journalist of Greek descent and he gives the reader a good look at issues facing the country such as corruption, mismanagement, and an overblown and inefficient bureaucracy. It examines some of the episodes that will help readers understand how and why Greeks react to certain current events. For example, he looks at reasons why Greeks think the Germans should pay reparations for their occupation during WWII as well as some events that happened during the war that shaped the generations to come. He also examines how and why it has become so easy to take and give bribes for even the most mundane services. Something that many of us would find unimaginable.
I learned a lot about Greece, not just about its current economic troubles but more generally about what makes this country and it citizens tick. It also brings to light facts about Greece not known to many outsiders. For instance, I was unaware that the birthplace of Kamal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey was Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. This city was also once home to a large, thriving Jewish community before WWII. But during the war nearly all of the 50,000 Jews in Thessaloniki were deported to Auschwitz.
This book did leave me wondering about what the future holds for Greece. It seems that more effort is spent by Greeks, blaming outsiders, corrupt politicians and history for many of the problems currently facing the country. There seems little attempt to unite and find realistic ways to institute the needed changes. It will be interesting to see what the future brings.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
More reviews at: www.susannesbooklist.blogspot.com
December 2, 2015
Well, if you want to know why the Germans and other Northern Europeans simply hate the idea of transferring the tax dollars to the Greeks - read this book
If you want to know why the Greeks simply hate the Germans and act against their own self-interest, read this book.
And if you want other evidence of how a country can become a nominally-modern failed state, read this book.
A lot of what is reported in the book has been told before in US media but not to the level of detail that Angelos did with his on-the-ground reporting. The European press probably did more of the reporting and as such, the stories herein might not be newsworthy to other euro-zone citizens. But for Americans, the stories are most illuminating.
Republican predictions to the contrary, the US is not likely to become Greece unless the whole US were turned over to labor unions (on the one hand) or demagogic nativists (on the other hand). Greece has the misfortune of both threads running at once.
The only downside to the book is that Angelos doesn't really spend much time interviewing Greeks who have faced reality and are planning for the future. So we get an unrelenting portrait of a country that was horribly misgoverned over the decades with the full compliance of the population - and has realized that the good times can't be brought back. This leads to some pretty ugly behavior.
Well-written, the first set of chapters are the most enjoyable, probably because you'll shake your head at the Greek 'system'. The later chapters are more on Golden Dawn and their rising hatred against migrants - a story all too-well replicated in many other countries.
If you want to know why the Greeks simply hate the Germans and act against their own self-interest, read this book.
And if you want other evidence of how a country can become a nominally-modern failed state, read this book.
A lot of what is reported in the book has been told before in US media but not to the level of detail that Angelos did with his on-the-ground reporting. The European press probably did more of the reporting and as such, the stories herein might not be newsworthy to other euro-zone citizens. But for Americans, the stories are most illuminating.
Republican predictions to the contrary, the US is not likely to become Greece unless the whole US were turned over to labor unions (on the one hand) or demagogic nativists (on the other hand). Greece has the misfortune of both threads running at once.
The only downside to the book is that Angelos doesn't really spend much time interviewing Greeks who have faced reality and are planning for the future. So we get an unrelenting portrait of a country that was horribly misgoverned over the decades with the full compliance of the population - and has realized that the good times can't be brought back. This leads to some pretty ugly behavior.
Well-written, the first set of chapters are the most enjoyable, probably because you'll shake your head at the Greek 'system'. The later chapters are more on Golden Dawn and their rising hatred against migrants - a story all too-well replicated in many other countries.
July 9, 2015
My knowledge of modern Greek history is slight to nonexistent, but I love reading books by journalists, so I was up for this one. Reporters instinctively know the power that live interviews have to bring life to a narrative that could bog down if a historian were telling the same story.
In these slices of daily life in modern-day Greece, journalist James Angelos tackles the ambitious project of demonstrating the effect of Greece's recent economic crises on its citizens. Mr. Angelos gives people time to spin out their stories, spending hours with garrulous individuals in order to get to the heart of a matter.
By remaining open-minded, Mr. Angelos can show why, for example, decent hardworking people might claim to be blind in order to get a disability payment, and why medical personnel and politicians are willing to further the claims. He talks with both sides in the refugee crisis that is ripping apart the social fabric of small communities that have become the entryway to Europe for people fleeing the violence and lack of opportunity in their own countries. He examines the uneasy relationship Greece has with countries like Germany, whose bad blood goes back to World War II and has worsened with the huge financial bailouts of late.
To enjoy this book, I suggest you read a little bit about modern Greece -- even an online encyclopedia! -- so you don't get lost while reading the this book. Its strength is in its lively interviews, but they are interspersed with long passages about the history and the politics of Greece, which can be bewildering to the uninitiated.
In these slices of daily life in modern-day Greece, journalist James Angelos tackles the ambitious project of demonstrating the effect of Greece's recent economic crises on its citizens. Mr. Angelos gives people time to spin out their stories, spending hours with garrulous individuals in order to get to the heart of a matter.
By remaining open-minded, Mr. Angelos can show why, for example, decent hardworking people might claim to be blind in order to get a disability payment, and why medical personnel and politicians are willing to further the claims. He talks with both sides in the refugee crisis that is ripping apart the social fabric of small communities that have become the entryway to Europe for people fleeing the violence and lack of opportunity in their own countries. He examines the uneasy relationship Greece has with countries like Germany, whose bad blood goes back to World War II and has worsened with the huge financial bailouts of late.
To enjoy this book, I suggest you read a little bit about modern Greece -- even an online encyclopedia! -- so you don't get lost while reading the this book. Its strength is in its lively interviews, but they are interspersed with long passages about the history and the politics of Greece, which can be bewildering to the uninitiated.
August 2, 2015
The author is a Greek-American writer for the Wall Street Journal. He is fluent in modern Greek and still has relatives living over there. He organized the book around locations in Greece, instead of chronological, which allows him to describe the modern history of each place. Thus, the book is both a good study of the current debt crisis but also an excellent history of modern Greece. To use one example, part of the book is about a neighborhood in Athens that became a center of the fascist Golden Dawn. In that chapter, he discusses in detail how the Greek collaborators later became the core of the postwar Greek Army. (The king of Greece during WWII was the nephew of the last Kaiser.) The most effective liquidation of any Jewish population was that of Thessaloniki in Thrace. Angelos also discusses the fact that Greece had an extremely active and effective resistance to the Nazis. The youth who performed the first act of defiance to the Nazis, is, in fact, still a member of the Greek Parliament for one of the left of center parties. His story is one of the better reasons to read the book.
Angelos shows in his book that the current debt crisis has roots not only in the recent past and its quite fantastic levels of corruption but also with longer history, and modern Greek history is fantastically complicated. Anyone interested in World War II would enjoy this as much as someone interested in recent history. I recommend the book heartily.
Angelos shows in his book that the current debt crisis has roots not only in the recent past and its quite fantastic levels of corruption but also with longer history, and modern Greek history is fantastically complicated. Anyone interested in World War II would enjoy this as much as someone interested in recent history. I recommend the book heartily.
January 29, 2016
How many really have an idea about what has been happening with the recent Greek financial crisis, especially if you are not directly involved in the finance industry? Even many Greeks don’t have a clear understanding, despite knowing the “big picture” and, of course, feeling the impact the crisis has caused. This book seeks to add a bit of colour and information to the confusion, going inside the crisis and looking past the headlines.
This was a bit of a mixed read; away from the screaming news reports on the television it can be a hard-to-fathom story, yet the author sought to give a good, authoritative insight into the situation. It just felt that the writing style was a little disjointed or unfocussed at times, that made concentrating on a complex story a bit of a challenge and it could possibly be a turn-off for some. Yet overall, if you persevere, the resulting read is worthy.
The book provided a fairly good general overview about many problems affecting Greece without specifically pointing fingers or climbing onto a high horse to push a certain agenda. It led to an engaging, valuable read and snapshot of the situation to date. The story is by no means over, after all.
At the book’s very low price, certainly it can be a great impulse buy for the curious reader as well as a considered additional information source for the more involved professional reader.
This was a bit of a mixed read; away from the screaming news reports on the television it can be a hard-to-fathom story, yet the author sought to give a good, authoritative insight into the situation. It just felt that the writing style was a little disjointed or unfocussed at times, that made concentrating on a complex story a bit of a challenge and it could possibly be a turn-off for some. Yet overall, if you persevere, the resulting read is worthy.
The book provided a fairly good general overview about many problems affecting Greece without specifically pointing fingers or climbing onto a high horse to push a certain agenda. It led to an engaging, valuable read and snapshot of the situation to date. The story is by no means over, after all.
At the book’s very low price, certainly it can be a great impulse buy for the curious reader as well as a considered additional information source for the more involved professional reader.
September 30, 2015
While the book has its failings, the early essays give the reader a new perspective on the relationships between Greece and the rest of the European Union, the cultural history of the Greek people, and their attitudes toward their government.
It is easy conclude from the initial essays that Greece should exit from the EU and the data is presented so cogently that we find it difficult to understand why Greece to remain in the EU.
The word portraits of the Greeks emphasizes how different current Greece culture is from its European counterparts and why the country would probably benefit when if the Greeks were not bound by European strictures and not dependent on its financing.
Toward the end of the book, conversations seem to be recorded verbatim and ad nausium, to the detriment of the story as a whole. These long conversations could be carefully edited to enhance their impact.
It is easy conclude from the initial essays that Greece should exit from the EU and the data is presented so cogently that we find it difficult to understand why Greece to remain in the EU.
The word portraits of the Greeks emphasizes how different current Greece culture is from its European counterparts and why the country would probably benefit when if the Greeks were not bound by European strictures and not dependent on its financing.
Toward the end of the book, conversations seem to be recorded verbatim and ad nausium, to the detriment of the story as a whole. These long conversations could be carefully edited to enhance their impact.
July 22, 2016
James Angelos's "The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins" is an in-depth look at the economic woes plaguing modern Greece. The author uses contrasting images of Greece, ancient and present, in his exploration of the factors that led to the recent economic collapse.
Turns out that there is a lot more going on in this nation that I was unaware of. I had read a lot of news stories, but Mr. Angelos's account brings up a lot of issues I hadn't heard about, such as a mayor being gunned down in a northern village and a rise in neo-Nazism.
Overall, it was a great exploration of the factors that have affected Greece economically and the aftermath of the economic collapse.
I would recommend this book to people interested in keeping up-to-date on current events in Greece and the Mediterranean region.
I won my copy of this book from the Goodreads.com website.
Turns out that there is a lot more going on in this nation that I was unaware of. I had read a lot of news stories, but Mr. Angelos's account brings up a lot of issues I hadn't heard about, such as a mayor being gunned down in a northern village and a rise in neo-Nazism.
Overall, it was a great exploration of the factors that have affected Greece economically and the aftermath of the economic collapse.
I would recommend this book to people interested in keeping up-to-date on current events in Greece and the Mediterranean region.
I won my copy of this book from the Goodreads.com website.
July 8, 2015
Provides in depth understanding of the role of Greek culture in perpetuating the country's economic woes.
James Angelos has written a highly engaging and informative book about Greek citizens' expectations: a bloated public sector will provide jobs to family members and friends, regardless of qualifications or attendance at work; businesses and individuals do not routinely pay taxes to the government; and, corruption is accepted as long as the benefits trickle down. Any government attempts to enact reforms are widely protested in strikes. People, understandably, feel that they are losing benefits to which they feel entitled. The current severe financial difficulties are attributed to the actions of Germany and other external factors. There appears to be little acknowledgement of Greece's systemic dysfunction.
James Angelos has written a highly engaging and informative book about Greek citizens' expectations: a bloated public sector will provide jobs to family members and friends, regardless of qualifications or attendance at work; businesses and individuals do not routinely pay taxes to the government; and, corruption is accepted as long as the benefits trickle down. Any government attempts to enact reforms are widely protested in strikes. People, understandably, feel that they are losing benefits to which they feel entitled. The current severe financial difficulties are attributed to the actions of Germany and other external factors. There appears to be little acknowledgement of Greece's systemic dysfunction.
July 17, 2016
My personal BEST READ OF THE YEAR. The author offers observations of and insight to the current situation that complicates life in Greece. In well defined chapters, Angelos gives examples of the corruption of the welfare state, the tremendous influence of the Greek Orthodox church, the "no one pays taxes" mindset, complicated politics, the horrific life of refugees, the inability of Greece to absorb those refugees...and, of course, the tensions of life in the EuroZone. The discussions of Greece's value to Europe, the tensions with Turkey, and the resentment that Germany has not paid the WW2 reparations were especially interesting. I can offer a very strong recommendation for this book,
August 15, 2015
The majority of the essays in this book are excellent. They directly address the topic of the Greek economic crisis and do so in an objective manner. The author is an American of Greek parents and he uses that to provide meaningful and insightful views of the financial challenges being faced in Greece.
I have only given the book three stars due to the last two essays which are on the subject of illegal immigration to Greece. This is clearly not the author's field of expertize and he writes using his own pre-determined conclusions and views to draw 'findings' irrespective of facts or the reality of the situation.
I have only given the book three stars due to the last two essays which are on the subject of illegal immigration to Greece. This is clearly not the author's field of expertize and he writes using his own pre-determined conclusions and views to draw 'findings' irrespective of facts or the reality of the situation.
July 23, 2015
Excellent picture of what is happening in Greece today across the full spectrum of society. Makes one very sad to see such (self-inflicted) tragedy among a proud people in an amazingly beautiful country. Most outsiders have a very objective opinion about Greece and the Greeks; mainly that they are to blame for for all of their current problems. Like anything else in life, it is not black and white but a very complex history and set of social and economic circumstances that has led the Greeks to where they are today. So much tragedy in a such a beautiful place.
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