Reviews with content warning for Genocide - Sapiens: Een kleine geschiedenis van de mensheid

Don't read this book if you're in recovery from disordered eating. The author manages to bring up obesity and issues with food in places that seemingly had nothing to do with diet.

Otherwise, read on. It's an interesting book, though it definitely has a pessimistic view of everything from farming practices to medicine to our future. I disagree with the author on a very basic level, and I think some of his reading of certain scientific studies is suspect. I suppose I hope readers read this with a skeptical mind and don't let his worldview replace yours.

Content Warnings

merilyn_ohtla's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

In his book "Sapiens," Yuval Noah Harari presents a historical timeline in which he sheds light on significant advancements achieved through various "revolutions" in human history, such as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. Challenging established perspectives, he encourages fresh ideas about our modern way of life and argues against the notion of a natural way of living.

Harari specifically focuses on the Agricultural Revolution and its profound impact on not just diets, but also on family and community structures, which continues to influence our present era. While the surplus of food brought about opportunities for leisure and cultural development, the majority of people still carried the burden of laborious tasks.

Strong opinions are expressed by Harari with regards to money, culture, and capitalism. A notable quote from the book states, "Money is the only trust system created by humans that can bridge any cultural gap, and that does not discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, race, age, or sexual orientation."

Finally, Harari concludes by reflecting on the imminent revolution in human society and the irreversible changes we are causing to our environment.

Content Warnings

keishac13's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

kinddog2073's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

1 star because it's not entirely terribly written. But only 1 because the book is quite literally barely anything more than:

1. Wild ans unsubstantiated sociological-anthropological conjectures
2. Unapologetically but still annoyingly coy in its defense of imperialism
3. Imperialist and capitalist propaganda, sum and substance

It is a frustrating read written mostly (though not entirely) in a self-righteous and snivelling tone. Harari at once appears to either trust the reader to make their own critical conclusions about say, the validity of American justifiation for atomic war crimes, but not enough to stop himself from arguing in favour of (or at least against substantive criticisms of) inexusable genocidal empires that to this day continue to reap the benefits of and never pay the price or reparations for their centuries of crimes against humanity.

The wild conjectures at least are darkly funny, but the uncritical defense and optimism applied to "Western values" betrays a lot about the writers view of the world.

No wonder Obama, Bill Gates, and Jared Diamond praised this book.

Content Warnings

scifipunk's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book was a very informative and yet surprisingly entertaining recap of literally, the history of humankind as modern scientists understand it.
There is a lot of information in there, but the lively style makes it easy to read regardless.
I enjoyed that Harari manages to approach complicated issues from multiple perspectives and explains controversies among scientists very well. All opinions given are explained, and the author interestingly does not leave out issues he does not have a satisfying answer or explanation for (yet), but rather admits to that and moves on.
I also noticed that the translator localized all examples or comparisons, and did so very well.
This is one of the books that I see myself re-reading over and over in the future, and I truly wish it had been around when I was a child.

Content Warnings

bookreadingelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective medium-paced

2.75

Content Warnings

cjwicker's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative

4.5

I don't generally enjoy history as a subject to read about, but this book integrates history with science, politics, and the larger implications as a whole. I feel like this would be a good book to read in conjunction with Daniel Quinn's book Ishmael. I had a little trouble getting through a few of the chapters in the middle, but I think that was just a personal preference.

Content Warnings

More...