Sapiens

A Brief History of Humankind

Paperback, 498 pages

English language

Published July 6, 2014 by Vintage Classics.

ISBN:
9780099590088

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4 stars (5 reviews)

Copyright (c) Yuval Noah Harari 2011 ISBN 9780099590088 (isbn 978-0-09-959008-8)

15 editions

Sapiens

4 stars

Lots to think about... I loved some of it, and many of the ideas presented made me question my outlook of the world! He also, however, threw a few curved balls, and let myth sit as fact in places. One of my favourite stories from the book, the one about Buzz Aldrin and the Native American, looks to be a myth for example. Other sections just didn't come to much (the chapter on gender for example, although it was written 2011 and these debates develop quickly). It is interesting to see how the book has aged... sometimes well, sometimes not so much. Overall worth the read, and helpful for reflecting on these things.

Review of 'Sapiens' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

This books tries to talk about everything but ends up talking about nothing.

It takes the sweetest bits, the sensational bits, from the most popular disciplines, smash them together to make a very provocative and fascinating book. Going through chapter after chapter felt like brainlessly scrolling through TikTok style videos, the obnoxious particular kind that start with the phrase "Did you knogw that...".

I think that Harari wanted to be impersonal while expounding his favourite scientific facts, nonetheless I found him to be tendentious and biased, even if only in a small number of occasions, particularly when adding to the fact.