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onetothreedogs's review
4.0
Very interesting, but it is not written "for the ear" as David McCullough likes to say.
murphyc1's review
4.0
23 in '23 #1
Dense and exhaustive, this book is like a fat Thanksgiving turkey that baked slightly too long: appealing, filling, but just too dry. Case it point, it took me more than a year to get through this one, and I've been slightly obsessed with Neanderthals since I was a kid. I see myself returning to reread a few chapters again and perhaps again, but the rest I will likely never revisit, such as the chapter on lithic techno-complexes.
Dense and exhaustive, this book is like a fat Thanksgiving turkey that baked slightly too long: appealing, filling, but just too dry. Case it point, it took me more than a year to get through this one, and I've been slightly obsessed with Neanderthals since I was a kid. I see myself returning to reread a few chapters again and perhaps again, but the rest I will likely never revisit, such as the chapter on lithic techno-complexes.
hecman111's review
4.0
Kindred—there’s not other way to describe it—“humanizes” Neanderthals in a way that many wouldn’t think possible. The book portrays Neanderthals as complex, caring, intelligent, and social beings, taking the reader through the minutia of scientific research and paleontology in a surprisingly accessible way. Yes, it does get bogged down in the details, but the purpose is clear: it’s time to move away from popular portrayals that severely limit our ability to see Neanderthals as, well, a part of us.
After about the 300 page mark (maybe sooner), I did start to feel a tad weighed down by said details. However, Wragg Sykes puts together an amazing summation, respectfully analogizing our historic approach to understanding Neanderthals to the mistreatment and degradation of Indigenous peoples over time. It’s a masterful close that begs us to be more mindful of our past, and our future.
After about the 300 page mark (maybe sooner), I did start to feel a tad weighed down by said details. However, Wragg Sykes puts together an amazing summation, respectfully analogizing our historic approach to understanding Neanderthals to the mistreatment and degradation of Indigenous peoples over time. It’s a masterful close that begs us to be more mindful of our past, and our future.
colorfulleo92's review
5.0
I found this to be an intensely interesting non fiction about neanderthals. Every page had some new, fascinating and exciting fact about them, their life and the ever going process to learn more about them. But I had to take a few breaks as it was a lot of information to process.
katyoctober's review
5.0
The reinvention of the Neanderthal...I loved it! A portrait of sensitive, complex, familial, artistic peoples.
Long, detailed book from which the more entertaining parts could be extracted for a more marketable volume (think: Sapiens)
I loved this book because for me, it’s so evocative. Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses only solid evidence to set out the grieving rituals, the childcare, the artistic endeavours of the Neanderthals, which are remarkably similar to us now. This is the history of my ancestors, the history of royals is not.
Overall I’m delighted to have found such a comprehensive volume which seems to cover every element of our current understanding of Neanderthal life. I have every faith in the rigor of the underlying research and I feel very well informed now!
Long, detailed book from which the more entertaining parts could be extracted for a more marketable volume (think: Sapiens)
I loved this book because for me, it’s so evocative. Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses only solid evidence to set out the grieving rituals, the childcare, the artistic endeavours of the Neanderthals, which are remarkably similar to us now. This is the history of my ancestors, the history of royals is not.
Overall I’m delighted to have found such a comprehensive volume which seems to cover every element of our current understanding of Neanderthal life. I have every faith in the rigor of the underlying research and I feel very well informed now!
pickwickthedodo's review
4.0
Really interesting, if a little dense and repetitive at times. Sykes mostly succeeds in taking you through a very complex and lesser known period of history and explaining it clearly (and without feeling like you're reading a text book). I particularly enjoyed the more personal stories pertaining to art and potentially beloved objects.
I did not love the epilogue, it felt random and out of step with the rest of the book (I know it was meant to be looking to the future (ie climate change, pandemics) but that would have made a lot more sense if 'the future' had been referenced literally at any point in the rest of the book).
I did not love the epilogue, it felt random and out of step with the rest of the book (I know it was meant to be looking to the future (ie climate change, pandemics) but that would have made a lot more sense if 'the future' had been referenced literally at any point in the rest of the book).