Scan barcode
theresugar's review against another edition
4.0
Super informative book! It really showed what still needs to be improved in the U.S. (but unfortunately probably won't be) and what good people can do during a crisis. It was bizarre to read about things that he predicted happening (like a recession) actually happening or things that he thought would happen (like improvements or most people working from home) just... Not happening and life going back to how it was (or trying to... And ignoring the problems). If you listen to the audiobook, I recommend also having the physical book on hand so you can go back because all of the science stuff can get confusing. Plus, at the beginning, I got confused between when he was talking about the SARS-1 virus vs SARS-2, it was written in a kind of confusing way where if you missed 1 thing then you would be slightly lost for a bit. And towards the end it got to be too long and I was essentially just waiting for it to be over, it could have been shortened a bit.
But overall, really interesting! I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about COVID-19, both the virus and the effects it had on society.
But overall, really interesting! I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about COVID-19, both the virus and the effects it had on society.
drerinmac's review against another edition
While a good clinical assessment of the COVID-19 situation, with insight from a professional, this book is already out of date with respect to insight on a second (or third) wave and vaccines already rolled out. For an early book on COVID-19 I would have hoped for more lyrical narrative of what life is like early in a pandemic. Will still be one for the history books.
maxstone98's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure the audience for this book, which is about covid and seems from the examples given to have been finished being written in late July. Reading a book in November 2020 about covid written in July 2020? Not enough time had passed since covid appeared to have space and perspective on it. And it was already outdated the moment it came out, as the covid pandemic, and the cultural and social reactions to covid, and the scientific understanding of covid, have continued on since then. And written by a fellow that seems to have more than a full time job battling covid. I couldn't imagine someone picking this up who wasn't really interested in reading about covid, and I couldn't imagine what a person like that would learn that they didn't already know from living through it and reading about it for the last 9 months.
All that said, I liked the author's Blueprint a lot, and I was attracted to the subtitle that he would be saying interesting things about the enduring and ongoing impact of covid which he thought would continue as the disease faded.
It turns out to be better and worse than I thought. The first 80% of the book is about how the covid pandemic evolved, how people reacted to it, and how that compares with past pandemics, including a fair bit of history about past pandemics (although obviously not in as much detail as e.g. The Great Influenza by John Barry), and that part of the book was all a fair amount more interesting and more informative than I expected. Not that I learned many new facts about covid itself, but it put a lot of things in perspective, and was well told. I'm not sure how the author managed to write something that good in such a short time! Still, while better than I expected, it definitely suffered from "what did it describe about covid itself that I didn't already know from the news".
The last 20% actually got around to the "enduring impact" speculations promised in the subtitle, and that wasn't as interesting as I hoped. Partly I think that it showed the age of speculations made in July. And mostly I thought those speculations were not that interesting (e.g. more working from home) or a bit panglossian. I didn't think they were bad guesses for a person guessing about the lasting impact of a pandemic, 4 months into the pandemic (measuring from when it started having a big impact internationally), but still, not as interesting as I hoped.
4 stars because it was well written and I'm impressed by the feat of getting out something this coherant that fast. But still, not exactly sure who the expected audience is.
All that said, I liked the author's Blueprint a lot, and I was attracted to the subtitle that he would be saying interesting things about the enduring and ongoing impact of covid which he thought would continue as the disease faded.
It turns out to be better and worse than I thought. The first 80% of the book is about how the covid pandemic evolved, how people reacted to it, and how that compares with past pandemics, including a fair bit of history about past pandemics (although obviously not in as much detail as e.g. The Great Influenza by John Barry), and that part of the book was all a fair amount more interesting and more informative than I expected. Not that I learned many new facts about covid itself, but it put a lot of things in perspective, and was well told. I'm not sure how the author managed to write something that good in such a short time! Still, while better than I expected, it definitely suffered from "what did it describe about covid itself that I didn't already know from the news".
The last 20% actually got around to the "enduring impact" speculations promised in the subtitle, and that wasn't as interesting as I hoped. Partly I think that it showed the age of speculations made in July. And mostly I thought those speculations were not that interesting (e.g. more working from home) or a bit panglossian. I didn't think they were bad guesses for a person guessing about the lasting impact of a pandemic, 4 months into the pandemic (measuring from when it started having a big impact internationally), but still, not as interesting as I hoped.
4 stars because it was well written and I'm impressed by the feat of getting out something this coherant that fast. But still, not exactly sure who the expected audience is.
john_raine's review against another edition
4.0
Really interesting book and one that makes me think that I would enjoy reading more sociology based books. Would recommend
bootman's review against another edition
5.0
I've respected the work and writing of Nicholas Christakis for a long time, which is I've been anticipating this book for months. At the time of writing this review, it's the Fall of 2020, and the COVID pandemic isn't over yet, and Christakis has worked extremely hard to get one of the first books out documenting everything that's happened. As a layperson, this book answered many questions about how the pandemic started, where mistakes were made, how we learned from mistakes, some unforeseen consequences as well as some unforeseen benefits.
At first, I didn't think I'd get much from this book because I've been following pandemic news pretty closely since the beginning, but I was wrong. I learned a lot from this book. I think for years to come, this book is going to go down in history as some of the best information about the 2020 COVID pandemic.
At first, I didn't think I'd get much from this book because I've been following pandemic news pretty closely since the beginning, but I was wrong. I learned a lot from this book. I think for years to come, this book is going to go down in history as some of the best information about the 2020 COVID pandemic.
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
4.0
Important read on how COVID-19 has made and will continue to make sweeping changes to how we live.
Nicolas shows the sources and impacts of COVID-19.
I really enjoyed Nicholas' viewpoints and honesty! Great angles and thoughts for the future too!
Would recommend!
4.4/5
Nicolas shows the sources and impacts of COVID-19.
I really enjoyed Nicholas' viewpoints and honesty! Great angles and thoughts for the future too!
Would recommend!
4.4/5
napkins's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t know who this book is for. I will freely admit I only read it because it was given to me for my birthday with the expectation that it would Spark Discussion once I was done, otherwise I’m still living through the Covid-19 pandemic, I don’t need to read about it’s impact.
This book was written too early. Despite the paperback version having a new preface and afterword, the majority of the book was written by the end of August 2020, and the paperback additions only a year after that. Eight months into a pandemic that we’re current in Year Four of is an odd time to publish a book that you intend to be enduring, at a time where a lot of what is written is speculation and hopes, or what turns out to be spectacular events that turn out to be a blip in the response and behavior changes.
The book is also overflowing with statistics, needlessly so, especially given the fact that it’s taking such a narrow view of the pandemic as a whole. I don’t need to know the exact percentage of people who moved out of rural areas as a response to the 1957 flu pandemic. It only has the effect of reading more like an editorial column in a scientific journal than a book ostensibly for laypeople.
The question is kind of answered in the chapter that discusses cultural learning and knowledge, that this is, I guess, intended to be a chronicle for the future of what happened and how we responded to the beginning of the pandemic, and everything else is loosely tied together to make people in this era want to buy it. But even then it’s oddly organized, chapters meandering all over the place, no chronology in sight, and that doesn’t escape the issue of it being published too early. It also tries to avoid any sense of political statement (aside from the comment that scientific facts shouldn’t be used as political agenda, which, unfortunately, is a political stance in this pandemic), and in doing so, avoids discussing a major factor in the United States’ response to the news of Covid-19. Human altruism is discussed at length, which would be well and good if the mindset from the first few months of the pandemic had endured. Sadly, it didn’t, and the effect of hearing about how communities came together to protect each other seems naive in 2023.
This book was written too early. Despite the paperback version having a new preface and afterword, the majority of the book was written by the end of August 2020, and the paperback additions only a year after that. Eight months into a pandemic that we’re current in Year Four of is an odd time to publish a book that you intend to be enduring, at a time where a lot of what is written is speculation and hopes, or what turns out to be spectacular events that turn out to be a blip in the response and behavior changes.
The book is also overflowing with statistics, needlessly so, especially given the fact that it’s taking such a narrow view of the pandemic as a whole. I don’t need to know the exact percentage of people who moved out of rural areas as a response to the 1957 flu pandemic. It only has the effect of reading more like an editorial column in a scientific journal than a book ostensibly for laypeople.
The question is kind of answered in the chapter that discusses cultural learning and knowledge, that this is, I guess, intended to be a chronicle for the future of what happened and how we responded to the beginning of the pandemic, and everything else is loosely tied together to make people in this era want to buy it. But even then it’s oddly organized, chapters meandering all over the place, no chronology in sight, and that doesn’t escape the issue of it being published too early. It also tries to avoid any sense of political statement (aside from the comment that scientific facts shouldn’t be used as political agenda, which, unfortunately, is a political stance in this pandemic), and in doing so, avoids discussing a major factor in the United States’ response to the news of Covid-19. Human altruism is discussed at length, which would be well and good if the mindset from the first few months of the pandemic had endured. Sadly, it didn’t, and the effect of hearing about how communities came together to protect each other seems naive in 2023.
peterthelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
After six or so months of fitful reading, I finally did finish this, but felt it’s predictions and conclusions were less on point as the year went on: vaccines arrived in record time and reduced the likelihood of hospitalization and death, but new, more contagious variants and social weariness with NPIs meant that the disease continued to spread seemingly unabated; there was little data on Long Haul haul effects at the time of the book’s publication; etc. information about the initial response to the disease, details of which the author had an inside view, were interesting. A second edition of this book would be worthwhile if it is written with further insights and data gathered over the course of the 18+ months of the pandemic.
k8iedid's review against another edition
5.0
I was browsing the American Book Center in The Hague some time before the Netherlands did away with the final coronarules in October, sometime before this current wave (the fifth?), sometime before this current "lockdown" that we're in. I spotted this title on the shelf and wondered how someone could already write about the enduring impact. Then I discovered the author's pedigree and picked it up.
What a fantastic read. I was fascinated by how much information we have about previous pandemics and how, even though our modern world is so different, this is playing out almost the same. This book is very niche-y and won't appeal to all, but I loved it.
tl;dr: coronavirus will be around for awhile, and it depends on how society decides to live with x level of risk.
What a fantastic read. I was fascinated by how much information we have about previous pandemics and how, even though our modern world is so different, this is playing out almost the same. This book is very niche-y and won't appeal to all, but I loved it.
tl;dr: coronavirus will be around for awhile, and it depends on how society decides to live with x level of risk.