Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

So, I just finished “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari, and honestly, it was a bit of a slog. Don't get me wrong, I can see why people rave about it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

First off, this book is looong. Like, way too long. 450 pages? Come on, Harari, ever heard of editing? It could've easily been trimmed down to 300 pages without losing much. There were times I seriously considered giving up, but I pushed through because of all the hype.

The amount of detail in this book is overwhelming. Maybe I'm not the target audience, but there's so much information that I found myself not really caring about. It gets repetitive too, with some points being hammered home over and over.

I've got some beef with some of Harari's takes. Like, claiming the British Empire peacefully gave independence to its colonies? That's a bit of a stretch. And comparing violence levels between eras by just looking at numbers? It feels like it's disregarding the value of individual lives in the past.

To be fair, the book is packed with information, and I can see how history buffs or anthropology enthusiasts might love it. But for me, right now, it was just too much. Maybe I'll give it another shot in a few years when I'm in a different headspace.

If you're super into this kind of deep dive into human history and don't mind a hefty read, you might want to check it out. But if you're looking for a light, breezy read about human history, this ain't it.

For now, I'm chalking this up as “not for me” and moving on to something a bit more my speed. Maybe I'll revisit it someday, but for now, it's a 2 out of 5 for me.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​