April Book Reviews
Sapiens & Please Look After Mom
Yes yes, I know…my book review count has been diminishing by 1 book a month. I’m just as disappointed as you, I promise. But have you seen the size of Sapiens 😳 ??? That’s a thick-ass book! I’m surprised I even got a second book done at all.
Needless to say this’ll be a quick review post.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Non-fiction (natural science, social-science, history, economics and a vast array of other areas are touched on) education and some sarcastic undertones
Wow, there was a lot to digest in this book. Firstly the language used and explanations of complicated concepts were brilliantly done. You don’t need to have a background in any of the topics Yuval Noah Harari writes about because he lays everything out in simple terms with such efficiency.
I found myself eagerly reading with a highlighter at hand to note some historical or statistical facts that I found rather interesting (and there were a lot!).
He starts with the emergence of Homo sapiens and walks us through the reasons why and how our society has been shaped into what we know it to be today. It’s honestly rather disheartening to see a clear layout of how much damage we as the human race have left in our wake since from the moment we started walking this planet. But utterly fascinating how we’ve built such complex societal rules from shared fictions. Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyway who has the time and a genuine curiosity in human history.
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin (신경숙)
Drama, family dynamic, thought provoking and somewhat of a slow build
We follow a Korean family as they’re tasked with the unthinkable heartache of finding their missing elderly mother. Each chapter takes on the perspective of a different family member which draws a continuously broadening image of who this woman was beyond a mother or a wife.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing style in this book, it did make it a slight drag to read but the story was compelling enough to keep me going. And my biggest take away from was the depths to which I self-reflected afterward and I’m fairly certain that was the authors entire intention.
This book left me thinking of my mother and grandmothers in a total different way. It’s such a tricky concept to fully comprehend that the women who raised us existed very differently after our conception versus before. They lived lives that, quite possibly, we will never truly know of. And that’s wild!
