Cartoon History of the Universe 1 Vol. 1-7

March 12, 2010 | By In Movie |

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5 Comments so far

  1. Anonymous on March 12th, 2010

    I received this book as a gift from a friend who absolutely raved about it. After reading it I was sorely disappointed. What began as an interesting scientific look at the beginings of the universe and the history of our planet degenerated into a one man diatribe. Gonick consistently puts his view point to the forefront denouncing anything that steps out of his accepted world view either through the text, or by poking fun at historical characters through ludicrous drawings. What could have been an entertaining way to present history to students is simply a volume of Gonick’s personal propaganda. What material in the volume that is good is compromised by Gonick’s persistence in inserting his bias into every single page. I realize that every history text is inherently interpretive, but to be an acceptable text it must make more of an attempt to be objective.
    Rating: 1 / 5

  2. T. Loh on March 12th, 2010

    I bought 3 of Larry Gonicks cartoon books History of the universe, Cartoon guide to Physics and Chemistry. All 3 books are very difficult to read. I took intro physics in college and yet I found Larry’s books difficult and uninteresting. I found that the same for History of the universe as well as the Chemistry one by the same author. I bought it 3 months ago, took 1-2 read and left it on the shelves untouched. A complete waste of money. Will be happy to get rid of it at half price. greatplaces@yahoo.com
    Rating: 1 / 5

  3. Wile E. Coyote on March 12th, 2010

    If you want to read a bunch of Afrocentric and feminist lies about how wise, noble black Egyptians and oppressed, long-suffering women did everything worthwhile and then had it stolen from them by bumbling, ridiculous Greek white men, then by all means buy this book. Otherwise, steer clear. My copy is now sitting in the outhouse next to the Sears Catalog, as that was the best use I could find for it. It makes me mad because I could have gotten a half a case of Quilted Northern Double Rolls for what I paid for this garbage.

    Rating: 1 / 5

  4. Jazz It Up Baby on March 12th, 2010

    This book has excellent art, a great sense of humor and it responds to a great idea if it lived to its title, which it doesn’t. This is not a work of history but a series of pictorial editorials, often times based on laughable and sorely dated sources, such as C.A. Diop’s “The African Origin of Civilization.” Women get unwarranted credit for inventions in a an effort to enhance their historical actual or imaginary roles, sundry events and figures are diminished simply because the author projects his contemporary outlook into the past, etc. In other words, this is just Gonick’s Californian/Berkeley/San Francisco brand of illustrated activist soapboxing on history. Once your realize that, you might get an used copy and read it with a concomitant enormous block of salt by your side.
    Rating: 2 / 5

  5. Melissa J. Newman on March 12th, 2010

    This book is good for high school and above. It is very well written and very funny. He does talk about greek history (sex), use of drugs for prophecy, and the author does not believe that the bible was written by G-d. For example, he believes that there was a thunderstorm when G-d gave the bible to moses, and he wrote the 10 commandments himself. That is why I would not recommend the book to a younger person, even if there reading skills can handle the book. If religion is important to you (and even if it is not), your child should read the stories from the bible before reading this book.
    Rating: 4 / 5

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