A Critical Review of Humankind
Rutger Bregman’s book Humankind is one of the books that questions negative ideas about human nature and makes readers think. For many years, many people believed that humans are naturally selfish, bad, and only care about themselves. However, Bregman does not agree with this idea. According to him, human nature is not as dark as people think. Instead, people are more willing to help each other, understand others’ feelings, and do good things. In the book, the author supports these ideas with many examples from wars, psychology experiments, history, and biology. One of the best parts of the book is that it gives hope about humanity. Still, when I finished the book, I did not only feel admiration. On one side, I was happy to read it because it made me think differently. On the other side, some of the author’s ideas felt too optimistic to me. Because of this, the book was both interesting and questionable for me.
One of the strongest parts of the book is that it makes people question ideas about human nature that many accept without thinking. Today, we often see violence, murder, wars, and fights on television, social media, and in the news. After some time, people start to believe that the world is full of bad people. At this point, Bregman asks an important question: If humans were really bad by nature, how could societies survive for so many years? A big part of human history was shaped by helping each other, working together, and surviving together. From this side, the writer’s ideas are important and meaningful.
His ideas against the belief that humans are naturally wild are especially interesting. Today, when someone behaves badly, people sometimes say, “Did you grow up in a cave?” However, Bregman says that hunter-gatherer societies were not as violent as many
In Amis’s famous novel, London Fields, the witty language is used and highlighted in the book repatedly. With the use of wit and pan (word play) Amis creates one of the most intelligent written novel ‘London Fields’. These uses of high elevated language and word plays also gives us the hints of postmodern fiction. As the novel is considered one of the best novel representing postmodernism, one can appreciate it due to the style that the novel is written, by means of wit and language. To give examples from the book;
-It was fixed. It was written. The murderer was not the murderer. But the murderee had always been a murderee.
The quote from Samson Young foreshadows that the real murderer is not the one we think, it will change. However the murderee ‘Nicola’ will always be the victim, not be affected by the inconstant murderer.
- I know what his poetry will be about. What poetry is always about. The cruelty of the poet’s mistress.
In this quote we can also sense the metaphor that is made to Nicola. Here Samson , as a writer, claims that the poets are writing poetry due to the relationship between their mistresses. It is known that Young also writes a novel about Nicola, creating the same plot with the poets he criticizes.
-I close my eyes, trying to see a way- how do writers dare do what they do ? – and there is just chaos. It seems to me that writing brings trouble with it, moral trouble, unexamined trouble. Even to the best.
-When God got mad he was a jealous God. He had other planets, thanks, and in better parts of the universe. He promised plague, famine mile-high tides, sound-speed winds and terror, ubiquitous and incessant terror, with blood flowing bridle deep. He threatened to make her old and keep her that way forever… Cross that firebreak and then cross that
Reklam
Reading this felt less like a traditional narrative and more like an intimate documentary. By offering the dual perspectives of both authors, the book provides a balanced and realistic look at "cohabitation." It explores how two distinct personalities—with different habits and tastes—can create a harmonious sanctuary together.
There was a beautiful sense of familiarity in their daily struggles and triumphs, which made the reading experience feel incredibly heartwarming. It wasn't just about friendship; it was about the logistics of sharing a life, from splitting chores to managing their "maximalist vs. minimalist" conflict. For anyone who values independence but fears loneliness, this book serves as a perfect blueprint. I’d give it a solid 9/10—a refreshing, modern take on what "home" can truly mean.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway tells a story that feels simple at first, almost like something you could explain in a few sentences. An old fisherman goes out to sea, catches a great fish, and loses it on the way back. But as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that this is not really a story about fishing at all. It is about endurance, dignity, and what it means to struggle in a world that does not always reward effort.
The novella centers on Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman who has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish. In his village, he is seen as unlucky, even defeated. Only a young boy, Manolin, continues to believe in him, although he is no longer allowed to fish with Santiago. This quiet isolation shapes the emotional atmosphere of the story. Santiago is not just physically alone at sea; he is also set apart from the people around him, living on the edge of relevance.
When he finally sets out far into the Gulf Stream, determined to break his unlucky streak, he hooks a giant marlin. What follows is a long, exhausting struggle that lasts for days. The fish pulls his small boat deep into the open sea, and Santiago, despite his age and pain, refuses to give up. What is striking here is not just the physical challenge, but the way Santiago thinks about the fish. He does not hate it. He respects it, admires it, even feels a kind of kinship with it. At times, he speaks to it as if it were an equal. This changes the nature of the conflict. It is not a simple battle between man and nature, but something more complex, almost like a test of worth between two noble beings.
When Santiago finally kills the marlin, it feels like a moment of triumph, but that triumph does not last. Sharks are drawn to the blood of the fish and begin to attack it.
"Call people with their name for giving sincerity to your words", "Don't give advice if no one asked the one", "When you listen to someone look them in the eye" - Those are the only three things I learned from this book.
| "We choose our sex, our color, our country, and then we look around for the particular set of parents who will mirror the pattern we are bringing in to work on in this lifetime."
| "The more self-hatred and guilt we have, the less our lives work. The less self-hatred and guilt we have, the better our lives work, on all levels."
Yukarıda gördüğünüz iki alıntı ve daha nicesi üzerine kurulmuş bir kitaptı "You Can Heal Your Life".
Yazar, 'outer effect of a deep inner problem.' - yani 'derin iç sorunun dışsal etkisi' cümlesi aracılığıyla aktarıyor anlatmak istediklerini. Ayrıca 'negatif duygulardan arınmak' için yazılan çeşitli etkinlikler ve örnekler de var sayfaların içerisinde.
Hep aynı vurgunun üzerinden ilerleyen bir yazı olmuş bence.
"Geçmiş değişmez, gelecek ise bizim şu anki fikirlerimiz ile şekillenir."
Sanırım bu alıntıya kitabın hemen hemen tüm bölümlerinde denk geldim.
Sonuç olarak, bu tarz kitaplardan büyük bir tatmin beklemek belki biraz hata olabilir. Yazarın hayata bakış açısını görmek ve göstermek istediği mesajları anlamaya çalışmak yeterli olacaktır diye düşünüyorum.
İlginç bir yanına da değinelim kitabın: Her organımızın içimizde sakladığımız bir sorundan / travmadan kaynaklanan kusurları olabileceğini savunuyor Louise Hay. Elbette doğru olan yanları vardır, tamamıyla reddetmiyorum bu görüşü ancak eğer fiziksel sorunlarımızın tek sebebi psikolojik sıkıntılarımız olsaydı bilime ihtiyaç duymazdık. Bütün bedensel hasarlarımızı tıp bilimine bile ihtiyaç kalmadan kendimizce halledebilirdik. Henüz böyle bir durumun olmayışından ve olamayacağını düşündüğümden kaynaklı az önce bahsetmiş olduğum yazarın varsayımı bana pek de doğru görünmedi.
Kısacası, çoğu kısımda konunun fazlaca uzatıldığını ve çok sıkıldığımı hissettim. Maalesef bana göre keyifli ve
Reklam
Reklam