Perhaps many people have left high school with the impression that History is boring and boring. Events associated with numbers, dry, impersonal narratives that are unknown to anyone, stories that happened far and wide with relative timelines like “a few tens of thousands of years.” ”, “20-30 thousand years ago”… However, that feeling will disappear when the reader Sapiens – A brief history of mankind with pictures – episode 1: The beginning of mankind. The work was born from the cooperation of three authors Yuval Noah Harari, David Vandermeulen, Daniel Casanave. A special edition Before Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, a Jewish-American historian has been well received by many readers, including Vietnamese readers. This book, though thick and heavy both literally and figuratively, has been hotly discussed by a wide audience. Reading him, one will go from one surprise to another and after reading it, there will be questions and reflections left in the mind. He has been very successful in making the reader, be it the average reader or the researcher, one more time pondering the true meaning of history. This time, the content that appeared in that book has been restructured, recreated in a special edition – the “picture” version. Book Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind with Pictures, Volume 1. Photo: Omega Plus. Overseas, it is very common for a classic, famous, best-selling or influential work to appear in multiple versions for different audiences. However, even if it is the same basic expression of the same content, each version has its own uniqueness and appeal. Those who have read Sapiens-human history Before that, it would have been thrilling to flip open the book to see what the picture version was all about. The book opens with the foreword by Yuval Noah Harari: “Dedicated to extinction, loss, and oblivion. Everything fits and falls apart.” Reading this preface makes me feel like the author is more like a certain Eastern sage than a Western historian who likes to dissect and analyze. The book leads the reader to follow the history of the universe – earth and humanity along the time axis with a unique way of divergence: From the history of physics, to the history of chemistry, biology and finally The same is cultural history with 4 titles and 4 chapters: Rebels in the Prairie, Fictional Masters, Sex, Lies and Caves, Intercontinental Murderers. A special narrative As a picture version, of course the book’s great appeal comes from its visual and vividness. However, not only that, the appeal and uniqueness of the work lies in many other things. Firstly, the text in the book is written very succinctly, easy to understand, and highly generalizable. Reading a sentence, the reader can imagine an era of hundreds of thousands of years, even billions of years. For example, it is easy to find in books statements or interpretations like this: “About 14 billion years ago, matter, energy, time, and space were formed in the event we call it. is the big bang – the Big Bang. The story of these fundamental properties of the universe is called physics”; “The story of atoms and molecules and their interactions is called chemistry”; “The Story of Creatures Called Biology”; “The process of human cultural development is called history”… A lot of the tangled messes of our perception have been compressed, rearranged in a concise and logical order. The work of Yuval Noah Harari was well received and debated by many readers. Photo: Omega Plus. Second, the history that appears here is not a cold and frozen “impersonal” history. In this picture book, there will be many people telling about history such as historian Yuval Noah Harari, professor – biologist Saraswati, professor Dunbar – expert on human communication, even detective. López. This narrative technique called “multi-tonal narrative” has recently been applied in many countries to primary school history textbooks to increase the book’s appeal. This narrative, academically shows that to understand history one needs a lot of experts in many different fields, but at the same time creates the appeal of the story being told as history is seen. from many sides. Third, the history told in this pictorial version is a “continuous dialogue between historian and history, between present past and future” as EH Car put it. It is the dialogue between historian Yuval Harari and Zoe – a curious teenager curious; the dialogue of professors like Yuval Harari with archaeological evidence such as tools, fossils, relics left in the ground, between professors and the public in seminars, between present – past – future such as the trial of the Sapiens genocide of large mammals and the current threat of destroying the ecosystem of humans… The narrative style always changes the point of view from the present to the past, then from the past to reflect and relate to the present and future. Those are the journeys through time of modern people to many different times, on many different lands, making readers not feel tired. Harari has appeared in the book as a narrator who speaks directly to the reader. Finally, the humor. Humor makes the historical narrative charming and engaging. For example, when describing 6 human species that once existed on earth, with characteristics summarized on each portrait card, the authors described Homo Sapiens like this: “HOMO SAPIENS ANNUAL: THE FINALLY PEOPLE The human family 50,000 years ago. Location: anywhere, even on the moon Existence: 300,000 years ago to present. Probably going extinct before 2100. Characteristic: They think themselves wise above all else. Strengths: Good at crafting tools, from toothbrushes to intercontinental rockets. Weaknesses: Big ego. Or believe in nonsense.” Along with humor is the explanation, simile full of images. All of the above factors are mixed, reduced, and skillfully combined in the entire work, making it attractive to both adult readers and children over 13 years old.

Renowned French comic artist David Vandermeulen and Belgian screenwriter Daniel Casanave were the first to come up with the idea for the series, so they teamed up with Harari to create a series of graphic comics. . Author Yuval Noah Harari said: “Their creative talent allowed the three of us to tell human history from a whole new perspective – without them I wouldn’t have been able to. Their humor and intelligence have made the book a truly enjoyable experience ”. The trend of graphicizing books is favored by many readers In the series, Harari plays a narrator, along with her niece named Zoe. He tells stories, guides, and explains Zoe’s questions through the intricate pages of evolution and his theories about how an ape living on a secluded steppe has grown to be a species. dominate the globe. At the same time, he brought Zoe to meet real characters such as scientist professor Saraswati – biologist, professor Robin Dunbar – anthropologist, expert on human communication to bogus characters. Dr. fiction, Detective Lopez … to explain more thoroughly the evolution and development of our species. “Sapiens – human history” (text version) has more than 10 million readers and has been translated into 50 different languages. And Sapiens comic version has now been translated and released in more than 35 countries around the world. Harari also argues that it is imperative to pass the book’s message to more readers because we are living in a global era, you need to understand the big picture of history in order to really understand. my life. Also according to the author, most of the educational apparatus only teaches the history of the country, its own religion and culture. “I spent 12 years in school in Israel and never heard anything about Chinese history or what happened before Judaism. I never took a class that teaches about the agricultural revolution. So everyone needs to see the big picture and Sapiens can provide it in an interesting and accessible way ”- says author Harari. Volume one of the series focuses on the formation of the human race that dominates the Earth today, including 4 parts. Part 1 – The rebels on the grassland: the human race was originally just an ordinary animal like any other, and there have been many different human species in the evolutionary process. Part 2 – Fictional Masters: 70,000 years ago, Sapiens had a Cognitive Revolution. Humankind has left artificial works and achievements thanks to the cooperation on a large scale, through language communication and information exchange. Part 3 – Sex, lying and cave painting: tells about people’s life after the Cognitive Revolution and before the agricultural revolution. Sapiens groups are very different in social structure, family, and religious beliefs. Part 4 – Intercontinental killers: in the process of spreading across the globe, humans have caused many ecological disasters, making many native animals extinct. The author has raised a fictitious trial of the Sapiens species for this crime, and all humans share the common responsibility.

Every time you step onto the red carpet, Ariel Winter has the feeling that hundreds of thousands of eyes around you are only focusing on your bust. Before the stares, murmurs, rumors, the actress still smiled and walked away, but deep inside, the unpleasant emotion almost eroded her. “15 years old, I have an F-size bust and it keeps growing until one day I never find a shirt that fits in the store again.” At the age of 18, Winter realizes that clothing isn’t the only problem. “Every time I bow, I feel pain that I can’t stand it.” In 2015, after many hesitations, Winter finally decided to have breast reduction surgery to end the misfortune that not everyone understands. By the age of 18, Winter realizes that clothing isn’t the only problem. Gazi Hussain, president of the Australian Association of Plastic Surgeons, told The Sydney Morning Herald : “About 95% of women have breast reduction surgery because they feel tired of constant pain: neck, back, shoulder, wound caused by a bra strapped deep into the shoulder”. Unlike breast augmentation, breast reduction surgery is related more to health problems instead of appearance. However, in many cases they are overlooked and turned into jokes to others. “I don’t dare run.” When he first met his friends after surgery, Zoe still looked the same but seemed to be thinner. Many people asked if she would lose weight. As this type of surgery became more and more common, patients like Zoe were no longer too afraid of their problems. Similarly, Ansanda Munyu (29 years old) recently performed breast reduction after years of suffering both health problems and psychological trauma. “I’ve been struggling with my oversized breasts since I was 12. It was the last time I could wear a bra because I couldn’t find a size that fits and kept hurting.” After many years, Munyu suffered from severe back and neck pain, back problems, and chronic cervical vertebrae. But health is only part of the reason why her determination to operate. “I don’t dare to run and feel guilty when doing any body movement. The gazes, vulgar comments, harassing are the real battle for me,” Munyu said. Like other cosmetic surgeries, breast reduction comes with risks and costs. Being too big can lead to a series of diseases. Photo: Banner Health. According to Dr. Hussain, patients will have to undergo many examination and consultation before going to the operating table. The whole process costs 10,000-20,000 USD, similar to cosmetic breast augmentation. “Most women seek surgery because of their medical symptoms but then quickly realize that their life is almost turning over,” said Mr. Hussain. This is true of Munyu. The 29-year-old woman said the surgery changed her life completely. “I no longer have to spend thousands of dollars on a simple bra, anxious to find the shirt that fits and put an end to the pain that seems to hang on me for a lifetime.” Aesthetic changes According to the CNN Breast surgery has become very popular from the US, Brazil, UK to China, Korea … For many years, female breast reconstruction has been an attractive topic on reality television and sentences. stories of obsession in celebrity culture. The first breast augmentation surgery using silicone implants was performed in 1962 at Jefferson Davis Hospital in Houston, Texas. The patient at that time, Timmie Jean Lindsey, a 30-year-old mother of 6, received a breast augmentation from Cup B to Cup C. Before that a few years, Barbie dolls and magazines Playboy appear. During the 1950s, Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Jayne Mansfield transformed the hourglass figure with plump breasts into ideal beauty. Entering the 21st century, with the development of magazines and television programs for men, the size of 3 rings on a woman’s body continues to be converted into tenderness and femininity. At this time, breast augmentation surgery even surpassed abdominal liposuction to become the most popular cosmetic procedure in America. But in recent years, the story has completely changed. “The unusually large, fake breasts are no longer a sign of sexism,” said Ruth Holliday, professor of gender and culture at the University of Leeds. They synonymous with fake and most women no longer want to involve it “. An hourglass body with a plump bust was the standard of beauty in the years 1950-1960. Photo: Getty. The depletion of oversized breasts is motivated by the changing aesthetic conception. “A new trend is taking the throne: Natural beauty,” said Gemma Sharp, clinical psychologist and senior research fellow at Australia’s Monash Alfred Center for Psychiatric Research (MAPrc). Studies also show that in the US and UK, demand for breast reduction procedures has increased by 6% between 2018 and 2019. According to Google Trends, the number of people searching for “breast reduction surgery” has increased. has been steady in other countries since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. For example, South Africa recorded a 100% increase in searches for this term over the previous year. Dr. Caroline Payne, London-based specialist in plastic and plastic surgery and a member of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), said: “Among my patients Now, almost no one wishes to increase breast size ”. A year after breast reduction surgery, Ariel Winter appeared at the 22nd Film Actors Guild’s Awards Ceremony in a black dress with a chest cup. From the deep styled lines of the dress, the scar from the actress’s bust surgery was evident. However, it was not the costume malfunction as many thought. “There’s no reason for me to try to hide my scar! It’s a part of me and I’m not ashamed of it at all,” the 1998-born star said.