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A review by angelatian30
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
4.0
This was a reread in order to re-do all my reading notes; my first read was a really long time ago (generally done between 2018-2019), and during a simpler (more naive) time in life. However, similar to last time, I still found the first half of the book more enticing and more informative than the latter half.
The book was a good introduction to the history of humanity, easy to read, and made big subjects accessible -- these were my first thoughts as well back in 2018. Each larger chapter is broken down to smaller sections, each section with a clear structure, and good build up from point to point, often provided with real life examples to strengthen his arguments. I remember during my first read, the concept that everything is essentially a 'religion' really gave me a fresh perspective on the world that a young 20 something year old did not have.
During this second time around (especially after reading some criticisms online about how the book has a lack of research, citations, and sometimes even misleading or wrong information), I have increasingly been reminded throughout the book that this is one man's opinion, influenced by his world view. I do still feel that I appreciated many perspectives, but the latter half of the book did not delve quite into enough detail or explore enough nuances/depth for a 30 year old me.
It has also been 10 years since he wrote this book -- and there has certainly been more developments, notably AI, that brings forth new questions. I think reading this book when it was first published, in 2015, would have been more impactful for my reading journey. Somehow I just never got around to finishing it entirely.
My first read was more of a 5 star (but I got to the part about religion and gave up). Now its just a 4, and I'm glad I made notes since I don't think I would be returning to this book again in such a detailed way.
The book was a good introduction to the history of humanity, easy to read, and made big subjects accessible -- these were my first thoughts as well back in 2018. Each larger chapter is broken down to smaller sections, each section with a clear structure, and good build up from point to point, often provided with real life examples to strengthen his arguments. I remember during my first read, the concept that everything is essentially a 'religion' really gave me a fresh perspective on the world that a young 20 something year old did not have.
During this second time around (especially after reading some criticisms online about how the book has a lack of research, citations, and sometimes even misleading or wrong information), I have increasingly been reminded throughout the book that this is one man's opinion, influenced by his world view. I do still feel that I appreciated many perspectives, but the latter half of the book did not delve quite into enough detail or explore enough nuances/depth for a 30 year old me.
It has also been 10 years since he wrote this book -- and there has certainly been more developments, notably AI, that brings forth new questions. I think reading this book when it was first published, in 2015, would have been more impactful for my reading journey. Somehow I just never got around to finishing it entirely.
My first read was more of a 5 star (but I got to the part about religion and gave up). Now its just a 4, and I'm glad I made notes since I don't think I would be returning to this book again in such a detailed way.