Scan barcode
textpublishing's review
The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of A Letter to Layla
'Koval’s erudition carries the reader across many disciplines and A Letter to Layla reminds us of our potential as a species...Koval and Layla’s exchanges give an immediacy and connection to our evolutionary past, and also embed a personal memoir of Koval within the story of homo sapiens. Koval’s warmth towards her immediate family extends to our species as a whole.’
Readings
'A Letter to Layla is a weird journey in the best of ways…the book clips along at an incredible pace, and yet never feels overwhelming or cramped…[I]n reading it you fill in gaps in knowledge you didn’t know you had, and form a fuller picture of the world.'
Saturday Paper
‘Keeping up with reality is Ramona Koval’s modus operandi. Here, the author and broadcaster takes a panoramic view of history, from the palaeolithic period to the near future. She is motivated by concern for the world her grandchildren (including her titular youngest granddaughter) will inherit…She keeps both her own doubts and those of her interlocutors in play, like a battleground of ideas in which the collateral thought remains visible on the ground…[There is] the sense that our world is inescapably reverse-telescoped, and that all signs of purchase on the present are receding daily. With A Letter to Layla, Koval tries swinging the telescope back around.’
Sydney Morning Herald
'A really beautiful book...a call to action as much as a love letter and a really deep and nimble-footed exploration of the human condition as well as the shape of our future.'
David Astle, ABC Melbourne Evenings
'Ramona Koval turns her talent for in-depth interviews and her training in science into an engaging and illuminating book.’
Australian Book Review
'Charging along, sometimes even laugh-out-loud funny, it’s a triumph of form into which [Koval] seems to squeeze her entire understanding of the world.
Plus61J
‘[Koval] sets out on a global quest to meet the scientists whose work is shaping the grand narrative of our species…These vignettes are marshalled with Koval’s trademark geniality and delight.’
Australian
'Koval’s erudition carries the reader across many disciplines and A Letter to Layla reminds us of our potential as a species...Koval and Layla’s exchanges give an immediacy and connection to our evolutionary past, and also embed a personal memoir of Koval within the story of homo sapiens. Koval’s warmth towards her immediate family extends to our species as a whole.’
Readings
'A Letter to Layla is a weird journey in the best of ways…the book clips along at an incredible pace, and yet never feels overwhelming or cramped…[I]n reading it you fill in gaps in knowledge you didn’t know you had, and form a fuller picture of the world.'
Saturday Paper
‘Keeping up with reality is Ramona Koval’s modus operandi. Here, the author and broadcaster takes a panoramic view of history, from the palaeolithic period to the near future. She is motivated by concern for the world her grandchildren (including her titular youngest granddaughter) will inherit…She keeps both her own doubts and those of her interlocutors in play, like a battleground of ideas in which the collateral thought remains visible on the ground…[There is] the sense that our world is inescapably reverse-telescoped, and that all signs of purchase on the present are receding daily. With A Letter to Layla, Koval tries swinging the telescope back around.’
Sydney Morning Herald
'A really beautiful book...a call to action as much as a love letter and a really deep and nimble-footed exploration of the human condition as well as the shape of our future.'
David Astle, ABC Melbourne Evenings
'Ramona Koval turns her talent for in-depth interviews and her training in science into an engaging and illuminating book.’
Australian Book Review
'Charging along, sometimes even laugh-out-loud funny, it’s a triumph of form into which [Koval] seems to squeeze her entire understanding of the world.
Plus61J
‘[Koval] sets out on a global quest to meet the scientists whose work is shaping the grand narrative of our species…These vignettes are marshalled with Koval’s trademark geniality and delight.’
Australian
fionappletini's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
More...