The life told by a sapiens to a Neanderthal
The life told by a sapiens to a Neanderthal is a book written by four hands by the author and journalist Juan José Millás and the anthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga, both of Spanish nationality. The work —in which a specific genre cannot be determined, but which is found within literary costumbrismo and scientific dissemination— was published by the Alfaguara publishing house in 2020, and managed to win several awards.
What happens when the brilliant and cultivated mind of a doctor of biological sciences and the ironic wit of a journalist come together to create something never seen before? According to the HUFFPOST news portal, The life told by a sapiens to a Neanderthal It is one of the best books of 2021. In addition, the Trends website stated that it was "the book of the summer".
Synopsis of The life told by a sapiens to a Neanderthal
A walk through evolution
One day, during a meal, Juan José Millás comments to Juan Luis Arsuaga that he is a formidable orator, that he can convince anyone of what he wants, which does not always happen in his written material (according to the journalist). So, he proposes to associate as follows: Arsuaga will have to take Millás to the places he deems appropriate —an exhibition of canaries, a maternity hospital, an archaeological site…—, explain everything they see and what is its origin.
The paleontologist doesn't say anything immediately. The writer thinks that he, perhaps, has offended him in some way, or he is simply not interested in such a project. Not enough, at coffee time, almost exalted, Arsuaga plants his hand hard on the table and assures Millás: "We do it." The general idea is to sit down together to present their views on humanity.
Millás takes Arsuaga's words, his resources, and puts them on paper through the rhetoric of literature. From that moment they began to work on The life told by a sapiens to a Neanderthal. In this case, Millás puts himself in the place of the Neanderthal, while Arsuaga takes the role of the sapiens.
An adventure through several places
In this book, Juan José Millás and Juan Luis Arsuaga seek to explain what we are and how we got here. Even though the narrative tells the story of evolution—that is: The life told by a sapiens to a Neanderthal talks about science—at the same time, it's very poetic, because both authors have a certain literary spark.
The writers travel to various places, including: a park, a market, the mountains of Madrid, the Prado museum, the Almudena cemetery and more. Through these walks, Arsuaga, like any passionate about his area who has things quite clear, explains to Millás the various episodes that make up human evolution.
In one of his previous books, the paleontologist explains that, perhaps, between Neanderthals and sapiens there were cases of miscegenation. However, they were not enough for those genes to reach this era. Later, it was discovered that we do, in fact, have Neanderthal genes.
The teacher we all need
To explain why humans possess these genes from older races, Juan Luis Arsuaga offers Juan José Millás a singular panorama: the writer asks if, in the end, Neanderthals are a species or not, to which the paleontologist answers yes.
According to Arsuaga, the fact that we call pillows pillows does not mean that we are Arabs (referring to the parallelism that exists between linguistic loans and genetic loans).
For his part, Juan Luis Arsuaga is a man of science, but he is also someone who knows the culture. In his exhibition talks about Flemish painting, the economic and political change that arose in the Neolithic and that caused inequalities, of evolution, of agriculture in Spain... all to get to the same place: where we came from and how we got to the present, with a tender pen that encompasses philosophical and poetic concepts.
The role of Juan José Millás
On the other hand, Juan José Millás is ironic about himself, calling himself a Neanderthal out of the blue. In addition to collecting and writing all the information, the novelist serves as a companion, and he does so with the agility and sharpness that has characterized his previous works. With the same tenderness that Arsuaga uses in his favor, Millás opens her eyes at each new discovery, and is surprised as a child would be.
He says of himself that he is not a sapiens, and that he has always known it. The author tells the story of how he used to fail for not being a good student.. He didn't fit in with his family either, believing himself adopted. But this discomfort was dissolved when he watched television and came across a program about Neanderthals, and discovered that the protagonist looked a lot like him.
It is important to note that this title is complemented by the text The death told by a sapiens to a Neanderthal.
About the authors
Juan Luis Arsuaga
Juan Luis Arsuaga Ferreras was born in 1954, in Madrid, Spain. He received his PhD in Biological Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid, where he also works as a professor in the area of Paleontology, in the Faculty of Geological Sciences. From a very young age, he was attracted to prehistory, which led him to carry out exhaustive studies that have won him several awards.
In addition to his recurring obligations, he currently works as Honorary Professor of Anthropology at the University College of London.
Juan Jose Millás
Juan Jose Millás
Juan Jose Millás García, better known as Juanjo Millás, was born in 1946, in Valencia, Spain. When he was young he moved to Madrid, where He completed his undergraduate studies at the Institute Ramiro de Maeztu. Later he leaned towards a career in Philosophy and Letters, in the mission of Pure Philosophy; However, shortly after he abandoned his degree, and opted for a job at the Iberia airline.
In time, he obtained a position in communications, and began to reap success in the press.
Other books by Juan Luis Arsuaga and Juan José Millás
Juan Luis Arsuaga
- The chosen species (1998);
- a million years of history (1998);
- The Neanderthal necklace (1999);
- our predecessors (1999);
- The sphinx's enigma (2001)
Juan Jose Millás
- Cerberus are the shadows (1975);
- Vision of the drowned (1977);
- The empty garden (1981);
- Wet paper (1983);
- Dead letter (1984);
- The disorder of your name (1987)