Catch Hold Of Grand Bazar România Sau Călător Străin Updated Depicted By Mike Ormsby In Print

enjoyed reading this. It gives a good view on Bucharest life, Some great insight into the village life as well, Here's what the media / literary critics say about 'Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania', and its author

He's likeable, lucid, with a big soul and a lot of humour.
The English journalist offers neither a façade, nor caricature, but reality today's Romania,

Mike Ormsby has not the slightest intention of flattering us, nor of treating us with the superiority of those coming from the civilised world to the backward East.
He insists on writing exactly what he sees, lives and feels in today's colourful Romania, His western mentality is that of someone formed in a system that has worked for generations, of someone who has in his blood politeness and respect for law and human rights, as well as civic responsibility.
This way of thinking is constantly contradicted by aberrations that to us appear normal,

Put simply, it's very hard for him to understand the lack of reliability and punctuality, the infernal and idiotic bureaucracy, the national institution of bri es and petty envy, the bad manners, the impunity of cheats and the ostentatious arrogance of the nouveau riche, the poor work ethic and cruelty to animals.
by Adriana Bittel, Formula AS

Romania has found itself a British Caragiale, The book makes you die laughing at out national failings, the sort that drive some lesstolerant Romanians abroad, by Raluca Ion, Cotidianul

He does not flatter or indulge us, nor does he play our national sport of turning away, indifferent.
If Mike was a time traveller, he'd take antibiotics to stop the Black Death, But that would be impossible, It would mean changing history, by Elena Vladareanu, Romania Libera

The stories are juicy, full of charm, unified by a lot of English humour Claudia Craiu, Ziarul de Iasi

Romanian clichés treated with intelligence and a unique, subtle irony.
This merits pride of place on any bookshelf, Mihai Gadalean, Foaia Transilvana

A bittersweet, accessible read, where Romanians can see their portrait in an English mirror, I devoured it in one sitting, with a range of feelings: from exultation to indignation, from surprise to whocares, from pleasure to anger.
A very well written book, carefully constructed and extremely intelligent, If it travels abroad, it will have a lethal effect, by Eduard Tone, editor, FHM

Too many books or articles present Romania and its people in beautiful colours and too many stress the dark side, until it shocks.
This author succeeds by showing a high degree of professionalism to present the facts as they are with subtle irony when the context requires.
Expatromania. ro

ltgt by Frank O'Connor, Vivid expat magazine, Romania

Ormsby recounts the mishaps, muddles and privations that make daily life hard in Romania for Romanians, and even harder for outsiders.
But through it all comes a strange sort of affection for a place, and its people, as they struggle to regain their sanity after the years of madness under Ceausescu.
The author Hamletlike, refuses to go with the flow and battles against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with a relish that leaves most of his Romanian friends, and probably not a few readers too, bemused but amused in equal measure.
If you're going to Romania, it's better than a guide book, by Ivor Gaber, Tribune UK

Mike Ormsby sees Romania very clearly, Sometimes we surprise him, sometimes he challenges us, Nevertheless, he clearly appreciates our charisma, confidence and warmth, by Mihaela Spineanu, Elle Romania

It's about Romanians in transition, still

tainted by the national experience of Communism, those who do not seem to know how to use the freedom they won in.
The book offers Romania a mirror, made in England, by Christian Mititelu, former Head of BBC World Service Romanian section, I want to say that it's brutally funny, but not because it's funny in a superlative term, but because it's brutally honest and that makes it funny, but it also makes it sad for us Romanians the way he sees us, which is how we see us as a nation, when we are truthful about how we really are.
There's good and there's quirky, you might say, but then there's bad and very bad and, sadly, we make fun of the bad instead of trying to correct it.
But how would the foreigners make fun of us otherwise In Romanian it's called "a face haz de necaz", which is to say, to make fun of a mishap or misfortune.
It's something the author learned a lot while living here, The book has a pleasant general tone and is quite funny for the better parts funny as in haha but also funny that conceals tragedy.
Loved this book so funny amp very keen in his perception, anytime I got frustrated as being the American in Romania, I read a chapter, laughed, amp felt much better! Mike Ormsby scrie despre viata cotidiana din Romania, observand micile mari chestiuni care unui occidental I se par pur si simplu absurde, nedrepte sau incorecte.
Este agrenat, ca orice alt "vestic", intro alta paradigma decat cea balcanica,
Scurtele povestiri sunt tragicomice pentru un roman care le priveste din prisma aceleasi paradigme ca a autorului,

Mike Ormsby writes about the daily adventures of life in Romania, observing the smallish things which only a westerner believe to be simply absurd, unjust or unfair.
He is functioning, as any other westerner, in a different paradigm than the Balcanic paradigm, He does it best though!
The short stories are bitersweet for a Romanian who looks at them through the same lens as the author.
Românul postcomunist consumă frenetic televiziune, presă şi, de tot recent, Internet, Producţia şi consumul de scrieri literare scad dramatic, Se înmulţesc însă neaşteptat cronicile despre ţările române datorate unor călători străini, Ca întro cădere brutală prin tunelul timpului, ne redescoperim în scrisul lor dimensiunea noastră exotică, de fanarioţi incorigibili, Mike Ormsby e, fără îndoială, mai mult decît un călător străin, el e noul om global îndrăgostit ilogic de România si, mai ales, de Transilvania too good to be true.
De la Dîmboviţa, apă dulce la ţară tristă, plină de humor, toate trăirile memorabile legate de România sînt revizitate sensibil de un nativ al limbii bătrînului Will.
Ce se poate întîmpla deaici înainte Ori România va deveni mai englezească, ori Mike Ormsby va fi absorbit în abisul nostru oriental, de margine de lume.
An easy to read book,  with short, sensible stories about life in Romania after thes, from the perspective of a Western, Mike Ormsby captures with a keen eye various everyday funny situation in a changing Romania,   In the same time,  reading this book I could visualize the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains in which the autor fell in love and learn different things I didn't know about Romania.
 In my opinion, presentday Romania had changed in a good way and some of the presented situations are no longer found, The Grand Bazar România sau Călător străin updated's best asset is its awesome, occasionally hilarious writing style, You can feel the journalist behind the writer: Mike Ormsby is attentive to details, straightforward yet still able to convey the atmosphere, capable of conveying his point of view without losing himself in rants or considerations.


However, the stories wander a bit aimlessly, sometimes going back to the same themes over and over without necessarily saying new things about them: reckless drivers, stray dogs, that sort of thing.
After a while, it started feeling a bit repetitive and limited, as if it never dared to outgrow its initial scope, but fluttered around it like a moth.
Still interesting, still fun yet it felt like something was missing, The flows from story to story and is enjoyable in places, However some of the stories are only views from individuals which of course everyone is entitled too but that does not make them true.
Abit more history and facts would of made thia an excellent book, Fun and true! I would really recommend it to my foreign friends before arriving to Romania, Excellent read, if you can stand the truth and lough about it!
I was intrigued by the title, coming from a Balkan country, and somebody compared the writer to Bill Bryson whose books I love, so I had to read it.
And I wasnt disappointed, I laughed a lot and could place each of the stories in my own country, Bosnia, Particularly amusing are the stories describing oldfashioned services, like in the post office, with which we are all stuck as long as its happening to someone else.

These are not sugarcoated stories, it is how it is, though Im guessing inexperienced foreigners might suspect some exaggeration,
This book made me laugh 'til I cried, . . Terrific book by scouse journalist and fellow Beatles fan Mike Ormsby, I love it as I discovered Romania this year and it tells me lots of things about life in Bucharest that I can relate to.
I'm not sure how people who haven't visited Bucharest will find it but Mike is a journalist and this reads like, funny, Letters from Romania with a real sense of place, characters, timing every chapter ends with a punchline.
This book has a strong personality, The author has a fresh and interesting way to see and to present those details of the everyday life of a country that make it unique, but are often difficult to see from inside.
Is it funny Is it sad Both, And we certainly need to see both, if we want to cure, Great style, i have enjoyed the reading, Ieşim cu imaginea cam şifonată, dar asta e, adevărul doare, Never Mind The Balkins, Here's Romania was a free book from BookBub, I gave it four
instead of five because initially, I found the book had crude, vulgar and abrasive details,

The author, Mike Ornsby, writes in the first person masterfully and uses vivid description and interesting storylines about the people, landscape, food, politics, and his experiences in Romania.


In the section Too Good To BeTrue, Mike is hiking a mountain in Transylvania with his friends, George, Alina and theiryear old daughter, Catrinal.
A sudden lightning and thunderstorm hits and they are running for their lives in heavy torrential rain with the thunderstorm directly overhead and a pack of five hungry territorial sheep herding dogs closing in on them.


"The pack of five suddenly splits, Two dogs run left to block our progress, Three run right, to block any retreat, We slow down, surrounded. The dogs close in, legs splayed, eyes aflame, crouching and barking and slavering, teeth exposed like ivory daggers,
Suddenly, from nowhere, a barefoot kid scampers down the hill brandishing a huge stick, He yells at the dogs, They freeze, panting and glaring at us, The kid jabs his stick towards a gap in the circle of hackled fur and gives us the nod, We walk towards the gap then run, "

Another example is Mike's description of Vasile,
"His tanned biceps are as big as rugby balls, "

This was an interesting, informative and entertaining book,




funny and interesting short stories of a brit living in Romania Having some curiosity about this ever since release, I jumped at the chance when I saw this edition given away for free and I'm not sorry I did.
Of course, it's a collection of very realistic short stories and my main focus are high fantasy series, followed a long distance behind by a few other forms of literary escapism, so it's not anything I'd particularly like, as the rating shows, but that doesn't mean it didn't meet my expectations.
At times, it even exceeded them,
As for the stories themselves, the vast majority certainly seem extremely real and paint a pretty accurate picture of "democratic" Romania, A few do seem to be akin to those pictures mentioned in "Buried", somewhat falsified, forced, in order to better present the desired concept, but the result justifies the approach and the overall image depicted still holds true.
Things change, of course, and some did since the end of the period covered by the stories contained in the book, but in our case few of the changes are major, and even fewer for the better.
Buna treaba Mike ! Am ales sa scriu cateva randuri in romaneste pentru ca sigur cunosti si vorbesti limba cred ca destul de bine, desi nu stiu de ce ai ales sa scrii cartea in enzleza.
Mie destul de greu sa numesc o povestire preferata, pentru ca toate sunt bune, Si eu sunt din Sibiu desi la Paltinis am fost doar de vreoori in ultimiani de cand am descoperit ca pot sa ajung gratuit pana acolo eu sunt persoana cu handicap.
Miar place sa il cunosc pe George si familia lui, Ma bucur ca iti plac meleagurile noastre, in special imprejurimile Sibiului, si ca ai avut noroc sa cunosti oameni ca George care sa iti arate si sa va bucurati impreuna de aceste locuri.
Numai bine. Take care. .