My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sapiens was on my reading list for a long time because many friends recommend me to read it. However, I started reading this book worried that I might not understand Harari’s intention because I’m not a big fan of non-fiction books.
I read the Indonesian version of the book which was translated by Damaring Tyas Wulandari Palar and published by the Popular Gramedia Library (KPG). For the first time, I thought that I could not enjoy this book because according to my experience, sometimes I get lost due to bad translation. But I was wrong. Therefore, I would like to express many thanks and appreciation to her as the translator who made this book easy to read besides to the author who wrote this book wonderfully. Hopefully, I can read the original book next time.
This book gives a wholesome explanation of humankind’s history in every era starting from the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, and then the Scientific Revolution. It changed the way I think about humans themselves. However, there are some parts of this book that I doubt or maybe it’s just me who’s not capable enough to understand what is the author means, one of which is in the second chapter which discusses the Agricultural Revolution. In this chapter, intellectuals once said that it was a great leap forward for mankind. However, it is the greatest scam in history which is a luxury trap. Its essence is to keep more people alive in worse conditions that lead to irreversible population growth.
Most of all, the best thing about it is that it really got me thinking and drive me to want to know more about humankind’s evolution to what it is today. Even if I think that author also drives me as ignorant sometimes, he doesn’t lecture anything. He assumes the readers know and understands a lot, that attitude makes this book fascinating to read.
