King has still got it! The beginning of the book is very entertaining. Charlie and his dad are realistic and relatable. The story gets more interesting when Charlie meets Mr. Bowditch, the tension ratches up when Charlie realizes that Mr. Bowditch may be hiding something odd in his shed!

And here begins the trope of the portal to another world, a favorite of King's. Sometimes the portal is a Buick 8, sometimes it is a pantry, but in this case, it is a shed. Even though King uses this trope in several of his books, each portal brings the characters to a different type of alternate reality. This won't let you down. This alternate world is the stuff of dark fairytales.

Three stars- the beginning and the end of the book were excellent and enjoyable. The middle, in which Charlie was in Empis (the alternate reality) was too long and a bit tedious. ( )

Man was this good. Enjoyed every second of it. How does he still have so much imagination after all this time? ( )

Fascinating read. Easy-to-read for those of us who aren't scientists. Harari's approach is balanced, pragmatic, and complete. He presents all sides of an issue or theory while not taking sides (as a good scientist would). ( )

Overall interesting, provided you remember you're reading a viewpoint and put it in context. Could have been a bit clearer about what is largely accepted as fact, what is debated theory, and what is personal opinion. ( )

After listening to most of this book as an audio book it all seemed a bit like a well worn sock. It's certainly difficult to cover such a vast topic as human history without the kind of confidence that comes from either narcissism or brash ignorance. The extent to which there are errors is beyond me but I did notice a few (perhaps minor) errors. For example, Yuval Harari asserts that no one could have predicted the internet. Yet Vannevar Bush had presciently predicted the World Wide Web in his much quoted 1945 article in the Atlantic Monthly to the extent that it has become part of internet lore. Nevertheless, good on Yuval Harari for having a go at being an independent thinker. I felt as though there was little that was new or particularly insightful but there were moments when some of questions posed seemed worth the effort. I was left with the confirmation that predictions are risky and short-lived. The book is approaching being 10 years old. In many respects it is already embarrassingly dated, especially when it comes to Yuval Harari's speculations about war and bioprocessing. The rise of AI and the invasion of the Ukraine have changed the way we Sapiens think, so rapidly that speed of change and its consequences could easily have been a chapter heading. ( )

It descends too precipitously into baseless assumptions and ludicrous extrapolations, such as disingenuously asserting that foragers lived better lives than ancient farmers, which is done by minimizing the severity and instability of the former's lifestyle. It needed less bias and more nuance. ( )

Make no mistake, this is a big picture painted with broad strokes. And that is exactly what is great about it, it is educational but more importantly it’s a fun read that creates clarity and feeds curiosity! Lots of analysis and ideas that I’ll reflect on for a long time to come. ( )

This first 2/3 was great, but the closer to the present the book went, and then into the future, it went down a bit. ( )

"Sapiens" was a disappointment. It's imaginary more than historical (if it could even be considered historical) ( )

A short history of mankind, in particular Homo sapiens, highlighting how young a species we are, and how much change we have accomplished in that short period. The future, well that is potentially quite a different story. And our report card tends toward needs improvement in many aspects. ( )

A very ambitious book. Hands is very serious about every step along the path that led to humans. A real eye-opener for me in that he highlights many inconsistencies and weaknesses in theories that I thought were pretty much proven scientific fact. Our learning has a long way to go in and in the end, some things may prove unknowable for certain. Some heavy slogging but I’m glad to have persevered. ( )

This books is mandatory read. ( )

Another baffling bestseller. Full of basic factual errors and information you probably already know if you've read a few books on history, science and economics. It's so full of smug self satisfaction it reads like an endless reddit thread bemoaning the usual culprits. Other attempts at the Grand Narrative, like Civilization, or Ascent of Man, were at least successful in writing a beautiful if flawed picture of humankind and history. Sapiens doesn't have that cohesion or any focused point to make. ( )

Extremely delightful read. One of the best books I have read in the recent times. It is very provocative in its arguments. Author intentionally paints the picture in extreme broad strokes, which is making it fun to read. Now it is up to me to read in details about the topics and more books to get more nuances. ( )

Very interesting, very well written, and yet I kept losing focus and interest. That's probably largely on me, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
I'll probably read this again in a year or so, when I've read other stuff to compare it with. ( )

One of the most powerful and gratifying books I've ever read. It's worth reading slowly to get every drop. For instance, near the end of the chapter, "And They Lived Happily Ever After" was one of the briefest, most lucid descriptions of Buddhism I ever encountered - far better than those in any other book on the subject that I've read. ( )

(mindblown)

A little uneven in places but a very compelling read ( )

In hindsight, this book is so deceivingly simple that you are swept away in its prose - but you later realize that Harari's arguments either do not make sense at all or even if they sometimes do, they are not backed up with data. I'd rather read Piketty or Ferguson, who make for dry reading, but at the very least, they try to back up their opinions with fact. ( )

I loved the big picture view of Harari, and the way he worked to tie together the big themes of the evolution of our species and our culture. Very thought provoking.
I liked it so much that I gave several copies to family members and encouraged them to read it. I told my high school grandson that reading it would give him a head start in the college life. ( )

Fundamental work of Harari. He tried to fit in entire history of humanity in 440 pages. Ideas and concepts are well expressed and well defined. I really enjoyed reading part one, although there are a lot of speculations and opinions about early development of homo sapiens. This book has definitely made me think and question current foundations of the world. Must be read with caution, significantly influenced by author's political,ethical views. ( )

Este es un libro interesantísimo. Seguramente muchas de las reflexiones van en contra de ciertas creencias de varios lectores, pero eso no lo hace menos valiosa la forma en la que nos va describiendo en toda nuestra complejidad y contradicción. Un libro que, sin duda, merece muchas más relecturas.

Si alguien le este libro en formato audiolibro, el narrador es, en definitiva, un plus a la obra. ( )

The first half of this book was very interesting.

I've never really taken an interest in anthropologic history, and as a devout leftist I was enthralled with the commentary on what Capitalism has done to global cultures. I'm sure this book is essentially a Wikipedia article, summarizing sources and texts that have already told the story — but I loved it!

However. It would have 5 stars if the author didnt say some wildly misogynistic bullshit in the middle of the book. After all of the time he spends talking about how race is a social construct, it's maddening to read him wondering if women just aren't as good at public speaking and persuasion as men are, and if that's why men rule societies. Fucking gross. ( )

An informative read with some provocative viewpoints about what has shaped Homo Sapiens to be what they are today. There is also a glimpse of what the future may hold. It was a bit repetitive and dull at times but I found it a good book to provoke me to think more about the world we live in. ( )

This history of mankind starts out with a bang, reminding us that the truths we hold self-evident are imagined, and seems like an introduction to cultural anthropology presented as a history with economics and assorted other social science ideas thrown in. It becomes less focused as it progresses and sometimes seems less like the work of an Israeli history professor and more like hot air from the guy next to you at the bar. Harari brings up the old saw that Communism and Capitalism are essentially religions. He mentions the term syncretism to describe how people run their religious ideas together as it pleases them, but he seems to take the Nazi's (another religion) "tenets" at face value as if people always followed them for something besides being coerced or for their own self-interest or for some other reason having nothing to do with some psychopath's tenets. If he mentions evolutionary psychology, it is in passing. Harari spends some time discussing our knowledge of the neurotransmitters associated with happiness, but he says, "In addition, most biologists are not fanatics. They maintain that happiness is determined mainly by biochemistry, but they agree that psychological and sociological factors also have their place." To me, this shows a misunderstanding of the whole business. The neurotransmitters are a gross or high-level mechanism that is correlated with some behavior or feeling. They do not preclude any particular associated sociological factor. I wonder if the biologists that he thinks are fanatics, are the ones who would tell him that eventually (if the grant money holds up) all brain activity will be reduced to its physical mechanisms. ( )