La volta al món en 80 dies de Jules Verne (1872)

 

El clàssic de Jules Verne traduït per Jesús Moncada.

El 2 d’octubre de 1872, Phileas Fogg fa una aposta insòlita mentre juga a cartes amb els seus companys del Reform-Club de Londres: està disposat a fer la volta al món en només vuitanta dies. Aquell vespre, amb el seu criat Passepartout, emprèn el viatge que l’ha de dur a Suez, Bombai, Calcuta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco i Nova York, abans de tornar a Londres. ¿Aconseguirà ser de nou al club el 21 de desembre, a tres quarts de nou del vespre?

Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind de Yuval Noah Harari (2011)

 

Homo sapiens rules the world because it is the only animal that can believe in things that exist purely in its own imagination, such as gods, states, money, and human rights.

Starting from this provocative idea, Sapiens goes on to retell the history of our species from a completely fresh perspective. It explains that money is the most pluralistic system of mutual trust ever devised; that capitalism is the most successful religion ever invented; that the treatment of animals in modern agriculture is probably the worst crime in history; and that even though we are far more powerful than our ancient ancestors, we aren’t much happier.

By combining profound insights with a remarkably vivid language, Sapiens acquired cult status among diverse audiences, captivating teenagers as well as university professors, animal rights activists alongside government ministers. 21 million copies had been sold around the world and the book was translated into 65 languages.