Rating: 
Summary: very annoying but might be useful for newbies
Review: Tom Friedman is a smart guy. He is very well traveled and is a decent journalist. I feel that this book is a series of articles thrown together and he comes across as a bit condescending. If his intended audience are those that know nothing about globalization then this book will be an good intro to the topic. The book is as much about Friedman as globalization. One of the most annoying qualities is that he names everything. I am sure he realizes that everything he talks about has a name already. He also explains everything using his own experiences as if that is the only valid way to learn and explain something. I think that this is a failing of many journalists. They do not realize that their experiences may not be representative of reality. I felt he was trying to play up his importance and create rather than use his influence. It seems to have worked considering how many copies the book sold. For all the annoying features he brings a lot of information into a concise read that for many will be an eye opener.
Rating: 
Summary: the critical reviewers are right, but
Review: The reviewers are correct who complain that Friedman is awfully repetitive and that he constantly attacks straw men. The very worst parts are when he says something like, "What Bill Clinton should have said is..." and gives a three-page, trite, hypothetical speech. I would add that if you don't know what things like "bandwidth" and "short-selling" are, then you haven't got a chance to understand a lot of the stories Freidman tells. And that would be a shame, because the stories really are the redeeming feature of this book. Freidman's insight isn't bad, and he would have done well to make his points a single time (about ten fewer times each chapter) and just tell stories. His interviews with Chinese peasants, Thai street vendors, Mexican politicians, Brazilian log cutters, Malaysian businessmen, Israeli techies, American CEOs and NBA players and so on really are the highlights of this book, and Friedman knows how to present them, and he presents a lot of them; that is why the book is worthwhile. Through these stories, Freidman is able to give an interesting account of a lot of recent history; filled with things I didn't know. He even challenged my political outlook. Really, if you want to learn about the world today, I don't know a better book for that. But you'll have to overlook a number of flaws in the telling.
Rating:
Summary: Theory may hold, but details already don't
Review: The book is Friedman's take on globalization as he attempts to cover the topic from a vantage point as The New York Times foreign affairs columnist for nearly a decade. The New World Order according to Friedman began when the Berlin Wall fell ' capitalism effectively defeated communism. The inevitable ensuing evolution is globalization ' defined by Friedman as 'the inexorable integration of markets, transportation systems, and communication systems to a degree never witnessed before ' in a way that is enabling corporations, countries, and individuals to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that is enabling the world to reach into corporations, countries, and individuals farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before.' Congruously, Friedman explores a nation's desire to grow and enter the future, symbolized by Japan's Lexus vehicles. The Lexus's represent Japan's establishment into the Modern Age, using technology and resources to improve the standard of living of its people. On the other end of that spectrum is a nation's desire to cling to its roots and origins ' a respect for where the people came from ' ancestors, history, culture, etc. Friedman symbolizes this desire through the olive tree. All countries are faced with the same struggle ' do we go for the Lexus or the Olive Tree. Can we go for both? How? What are the implications of tipping that balance too far in one direction? The debate in each country around such questions has been somewhat expedited or squashed by the tsunami of globalization. Sometimes the country feels as if it doesn't have time or a choice ' 'Get on board or get left behind'. What is a country to do? How does it navigate through these uncharted waters? What are the uncharted waters? Friedman explores these questions and more in this book. It is interesting to read this book nearly four years after its publication. When it was written and published, the Internet Economy and the corresponding stock bubble was THE topic. The world was subject to all sorts of hair-brained schemes of a drastic paradigm shift in the way people will do business, live their daily lives, interact with the rest of society, etc. While change certainly has occurred at a rapid pace and no doubt will continue to do so, the overreaching claims made by titans of that time period have fallen flat ' Cisco & Amazon (two companies often repeated in the book) valuations have dwindled dramatically while Enron is non-existent. Friedman is correct in his overarching theories about globalization but the details have not necessarily withstood the test of even a short time. This clearly detracts from the book which otherwise makes a strong statement and delivers some insight into the ongoing struggle to balance modernity and respect for one's past.
Rating: 
Summary: Diatribe - Get in line!
Review: I'm afraid I had a hard time getting by the lecturing "tone of voice" that Friedman so often has in his speaking and writing. Despite the fact that there is a great deal of information in this timely book that will help clarify the trends in globalization, the didactic and often condescending language put me off and made it difficult for me to absorb the good information, experiences, examples, and messages. To make things even worse, I decided to get an audio version of the book to see if I was "misreading" the tone. Bad move! The impression I was receiving from the written word was amplified when I listened to Mr. Friedman read his own material. Still, if you can get by the tone and absorb the message, there is much to commend the book for those of us in the global business market. And, to hear Friedman tell it, economic leaders in the rest of the world had better listen up.
Rating: 
Summary: A good view of Globalization
Review: Have just finished the reading last week and re-read again in this week. I do agree the view of globalization with Mr. Friedman, especially his positive sight at Taiwan. Since, I am a senior markeing and sales woman in computer field from Taiwan.
Do traveling the world similar as Mr. Friedman.
Taiwan is a small island, our IT Industry has been such booming to catch up the world's tempo and it is totally same status as
per Mr. Friedman's writing in this book. The globalization shaping the world is inevitable, the difference is how to follow it with your own way.
Once you have traveling to meet so many different country's people, you will have same view as Mr.Friedman has. I like this book so much and would like to give him 5 star.
Rating:
Summary: Drama Of The Globalization Era
Review: The Lexus And The Olive Tree was recommended to me by my Economics teacher. After reading it I can see why she thought I should use this book for my assignment. It is about Thomas L. Friedman's original look on the new international system. This new system is known as globilization and it has replaced, as Friedman would call it, "the Cold War system." Globalization has changed how we invest, our technology, and ways of communication while shaping world affairs today.
Friedman uses the conflict of "the Lexus and the olive tree" to help explain the concepts of globalization verse ancient forces of tradition. The olive tree represents everything that roots us, like family, community, religion, or a place called home. The Lexus represents all the financial institutions and computer technologies found in the global market today.
I enjoyed reading this book because it gave me a better understanding of globalization. Something that I had never really heard of before reading it. Friedman did a very good job of showing the advantages and disadvantages of this new international system. His vivid stories helped explain a lot of what he was trying to tell the reader. There still was some things that I didn't understand completely. This is just because I'm new at this economics thing, and I didn't know a lot about the history behind some of his concepts.
After reading this book I feel that America homogenizes countries too much. And we do it for our own needs. We do it to make them more accessible to us so we can use their resources. This is just my opinion on the whole thing after reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: Friedman does well to elaborate on Globalization and its characteristics in this book and the book could be considered a primer into globalization. The writing style is easy and highly narrative with numerous examples/anecdotes/stories that cast the authors point in stone. What I had expected was a more detailed analysis of causes and the potential impact of globalization from an econo-political+socio-cultural angle. Friedman instead gives the impression of one who is "trying too hard" as his own introduction sets the rather self-aggrandizing tone, in his desire to create a work of history. Hence he ends up creating terminologies for posterity which seem more for the authors' pride rather than the readers' understanding. The book is also filled with too much "I", and hence ceases very soon to be an objective account. To be fair to Friedman, he never claims to bring an objective account to the issue, though one would expect that of a journalist of his caliber... perhaps the book could be called "my view of globalization" rather than "Understanding globalization". Friedman frequently assumes the tone of a preacher in the book, with his eloquence bordering on arrogance... when he boldly recommends what President Clinton should have said in his opening speech, towards the end of the book. I like Friedman and am an ardent follower of his articles in the NYTimes, but I just feel that this book is too unabashedly American in its attitude - nothing wrong with that, just that I had felt that one would get a more independent perspective. But the book is wonderfully informative and is a definite primer to the globalization. A good sequel I can recommend to this book is "Imperialist Globalization" - a collection of 2 speeches by Fidel Castro, which would present the other end of the spectrum of emotions that Globalization raises.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacks depth, overlooks history
Review: Friedman's book is very simplistic, views the world through the lens of present economical/political events while ignoring historical trends. Full of now defunct clichés' about the information super highway (internet) and democracy, and rather than seeing our democratic system as unique to the American experience he makes it into a one size fits all. A better book to read is The End of the American Era, which incidentally the author devotes a chapter of the book to Friedman's view of the world.
Rating:
Summary: Critical Ecopolitics
Review: A sensational update on the how and now of our global society, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, takes inquisitive minds upon a distinctive journey that coerces thought out of normal realms. The concepts Mr. Friedman establishes are dynamic and many. Beginning with the democratization of technology, information, and finance (the where, when and how) that lead up to today's free market, Friedman, in a zip, establishes the geopolitical setting resulting from all the events traced forward from the Cold War. In a cutthroat world, where all the walls have fallen, globalization becomes the new force shaping the world at a rate unfathomable to many post-Cold War traditionalists. Will we ever find the balance in maintaining our identities while sustaining global modernization? Described in three, organized components we see the impact of globalization on international policy, the result of resisting inevitable change with the new system, and the grand scheme of conflicts it poses from within. Each dimension of the world's technological age is defined so thoroughly and explained so vividly that one cannot help but internalize the logic with which Friedman argues his contentions. A fill of anecdotes gives the audience a sense of everyday comprehension, as if discussing simple politics. Yet, on the same note, in a close read, one can recognize the alarming conservatism through which capitalism is churned into the very source of liberal persuasion. It is equitable to granting the merit behind supply-side economics and claiming its utilization to mitigate the detriments of a welfare state. A great informer for all political, economic, and social mindsets, The Lexus and the Olive Tree knocks readers off their feet and into "just-as-it-is" reality
Rating:
Summary: GLOABALIZATION - AN EXCELLENT ESSAY
Review: Friedman is a good writer. He is cockey, straight-forward, and able to put complex issues into simple terms. Anyone who knows his history (From Beruit to Jerusalm) understands that he should be bold in his writing. It is good to read the NY times, or pick up a novel, and know that the author has lived in the Middle East, spoke to students in Syria, and sat down with Arafat.
True, this is simply a long article on the state of affairs of the world, with no real conclusion or solution at the end. Yet, it goes into excellent examples of how "things fit together." It is a very enjoyable, informative, and enlightening book, and I highly recommend it.
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