Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Reviewed by Aaron B.
Over thousands of years, humanity has developed a lifestyle far different than any other.
Instead of scavenging for food and searching for water, people can easily buy necessities and
focus on materialism in the modern age. Us humans have changed the world we live in for the
rest of time. Although, most if not all decide to remember the past. Museums and preservation
efforts are used by humanity to save objects crafted thousands of years ago. One method
humanity uses to remember the past is literature, with the medium lasting for thousands of
years. One book attempting to catalog history is Sapiens, a recent book published a few years
ago. The book uses a unique way of telling history, one which I dislike. So, what method does
Sapiens use to achieve this?
The book is mostly, like most books, chronological. Sapiens excels in this, pulling
sources from many studies and scientific research. A device the author loves to use in this book
is similes/metaphors, making the book sometimes not able to go through a paragraph without
referencing things that happen thousands of years later. As an example of this, the author
mentions an event in 1789 when describing basic genomes. Thankfully, the reference material
is more mature than Family Guy cutaways, instead focusing on events occurring the past few
hundred years. References are used to give the reader a better idea of events occurring in the
book, which I feel is unneeded. It makes the book sound like a mash up between real factual
history and a bunch of events the author read in highschool or in the news. Another aspect
distinguishing this from other books is sections dedicated to examining one topic. Whether it be
capitalism or agriculture, lasting a few pages to an entire chapter, they are odd and unneeded in
my opinion. Even the subject of human rights is thrown into the debate. These sections made
the book feel like more of a ramble than a serious history book, especially when talking about
capitalism. I had to skip many pages in order to read the book since I was so disinterested with
the subject. I understand the importance of capitalism, being adopted by a majority of modern
society. Despite the chronological nature of the book, the last few chapters ditch the writing style
and decide to focus on modern humanity. Only in the last chapter does the author focus on the
future of the species, contemplating everyday people being on a god-like status. Never in that
barely 2 page chapter does the author mentions celebrity culture, cultists being treated with a
god-like status, nor any other direct examples.
Sapiens is a book with a specific target. Children are out of the picture due to the book
amassing over 400 pages, as well as having a far greater use of complicated words than a
majority of children’s books. The author calls the book “brief”, ironically despite the length of the
book. Don’t forget the fact that the book occasionally mentions a majority of taboo subjects,
ones I refuse to even say the name of. Due to the long rants on mature subjects like capitalism,
I believe adults are the target audience for the book.
Sapiens holds a great idea, one which I feel was executed badly. Most of the good
aspects of the book shrivel away as the author, Yuval Harari, focuses on the more experimental aspects of Sapiens. Personally, I don’t recommend Sapiens for those reasons. Personally, this
book was not that good in my opinion, 4/10.