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angelatian30's review against another edition
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.
t1dalwave's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: E-book
I can read a book in 3 days but needed 3 years to finish this book.
Format: E-book
I can read a book in 3 days but needed 3 years to finish this book.
charlottekatiereader's review against another edition
5.0
This was eye opening. It took me so long, only a few weeks but in reality I felt like I wasn’t making much progress page-wise, in comparison to how much time I spent reading it.
It was so good though. I have always felt like I didn’t understand how the world works, lacking knowledge about our social and political context as well as biologically where we came from, and this was so informative.
The only negative is it was very heavy and I should’ve read a fiction on the side as well because I struggled to get through it at times.
I will need to reread it but it’s going to be about 10 years before I revisit this 😅😀
It was so good though. I have always felt like I didn’t understand how the world works, lacking knowledge about our social and political context as well as biologically where we came from, and this was so informative.
The only negative is it was very heavy and I should’ve read a fiction on the side as well because I struggled to get through it at times.
I will need to reread it but it’s going to be about 10 years before I revisit this 😅😀
zaxtreme's review against another edition
4.0
This is a difficult book to rate. I absolutely loved the first half of it (and enjoyed a great deal of the second half as well!), but once it gets to the “modern era” it begins to show some cracks.
I took particular issue with the notion that, in the waning decades of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, human society has “moved beyond war” — especially as a 35 year old reading this in 2024….
The other big quibble I had was, the author takes great pains to acknowledge the context of many events throughout human history, but yet easily dismisses the systems of communism and socialism as “failed experiments” without acknowledging a) the uniquely corrupt nature of Stalinism or b) the MASSIVE motivation of the “western world” to topple or snuff out any and every ember of socialism.
Despite spending the first half of the book to make the point that the story of sapiens isn’t a linear narrative, he kind of glosses over some major cultural movements/revolutions as “random chance” or “foregone conclusions”
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I just found some of the more contemporary history to be lacking in nuance and heavy on cultural criticism
I took particular issue with the notion that, in the waning decades of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, human society has “moved beyond war” — especially as a 35 year old reading this in 2024….
The other big quibble I had was, the author takes great pains to acknowledge the context of many events throughout human history, but yet easily dismisses the systems of communism and socialism as “failed experiments” without acknowledging a) the uniquely corrupt nature of Stalinism or b) the MASSIVE motivation of the “western world” to topple or snuff out any and every ember of socialism.
Despite spending the first half of the book to make the point that the story of sapiens isn’t a linear narrative, he kind of glosses over some major cultural movements/revolutions as “random chance” or “foregone conclusions”
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I just found some of the more contemporary history to be lacking in nuance and heavy on cultural criticism