In my opinion, this is a great, well written traveling story, where no objective, willful harm was caused by the author. What I got from it was that a book should not be judged by its cover, it's important to try and relate to people when traveling, and violence against women is a horrible problem.
If the names weren't changed, you could say he was a bit naive (although the odds of this ever reaching Irlan seem somewhat small to me), but ultimately, he portrayed all of the people he met in a positive light that makes me want to visit Kazakhstan.
I think being in such a situation, out of one's comfort zone, gives great perspective on what really matters (although it's not for everyone).
I came across this a few years ago watching an interesting documentary about surfing and Papuan culture called "Splinters". Even taking into context cultural differences, this can be considered nothing but horrific.
As someone with zero previous experience who attended an 8-month "Software Developer" program (not at a bootcamp but at a locally well-known public school in Vancouver) 2 years ago, for the hyped-up reasons the author mentions in the article (job availability, the "cool dynamic startup" factor, flexibility), I certainly agree with the premise that coding is simply not as easy as some people advertise it to be, and is not for everyone.
Now in a Junior Dev role working on complex ETL applications for the last year and half, I certainly feel like I am running on thin ice in my role due to my lack of knowledge about data structures, algorithms, and general computer science basics.
Certainly, the internet offers many resources for the right learner, but for those like myself who are not particularly gifted individuals, it would take another number of years to think about calling myself a "software developer" instead of a "coding technician".
I agree very much, and think that a lot of the problem comes from the fact that as a society, we are not taught enough about how to think (and especially read) critically. In combination with floods of data coming in 24/7, people's compasses start getting out of whack, and online journalism becomes a marketer's dream. I'm guilty of it too, even though I try to make a conscious effort to pick my sources more carefully now.
As someone who has spent half of their life in France and the other half in North America, I would disagree. I return every 2 years or so to visit family, and am always appalled by the amount of English words that weasel their way into the language.
Marketers (in France and many other countries) have realized that the American legacy of progress and technology is still cool and edgy, and helps sell pretty much anything.
It honestly irritates me, as 95% of those intruder words are not only often misused in their context, but have perfect etymologically correct translations in French.
Un steak is spelled the same but pronounced "steck". The Hangover movie was literally called "Bad Trip" in France, instead of "La gueule de bois". "Shopping" is the go-to word to describe purchasing goods, even though "achat" is a perfectly valid word.
I could go on and on: un smartphone, la freebox (router), un smoking (a tuxedo), un string (a thong), wi-fi (this one is worldwide), chewing gum, businessman, boycott, startup, warning...
In my opinion, this is a great, well written traveling story, where no objective, willful harm was caused by the author. What I got from it was that a book should not be judged by its cover, it's important to try and relate to people when traveling, and violence against women is a horrible problem.
If the names weren't changed, you could say he was a bit naive (although the odds of this ever reaching Irlan seem somewhat small to me), but ultimately, he portrayed all of the people he met in a positive light that makes me want to visit Kazakhstan.
I think being in such a situation, out of one's comfort zone, gives great perspective on what really matters (although it's not for everyone).