Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but far from perfect
Review: Like some others in here, I would actually rate this book a 3 or 4, but since when I check out a book one of the first things I read are the negative reviews, I thought I'd throw my $.02 in here. For those who insist that this book "doesn't back up assumptions with facts" or that it's "just another new age diatribe" I'd suggest following up a reading of Ishmael with Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" which not only won a Pulitzer, but backs up nearly everthing Quinn postulates about "how things came to be this way."
Rating: 
Summary: Return to the cave----
Review: You may love it or hate it, but I guarantee you will find this unusual book interesting---some have said life-changing!!A student applies for a course advertised for those with "an earnest desire to save the world." It develops that the instructor is a 1000 pound, telepathic gorilla named Ishmael! (for realism, I suppose----NOBODY would believe a gorilla that could TALK!) The book, and the course, could be subtitled "How things came to be this way." The gorilla expounds at length on that subject by dividing all humanity into two groups: Civilized, and primitive, which he promptly renames "takers" and "leavers," in order to avoid any "heavy connotations" that might be associated with "civilized" and "primitive"! I'm sure you can already see exactly where it's going! The "course of study" analyzes the history of mankind since the agricultural revolution, with the underlying, unchallenged assumption that we are now on the verge of total ecological disaster, and how this came about as a result of the vigorous activities of the civilized "takers" to "conquer the world." The inherent superiority of the primitive "leavers" is explained, and their vicious elimination by the takers is asserted, without any challenge or any factual support----it's just stated as well-recognized fact. EVERYTHING asserted telepathically by Ishmael, the gorilla, is readily accepted by the student, who of course is there to begin with because of his earnest desire to "save the world"----and a foregone conclusion that the world urgently NEEDS to be saved from impending disaster! For a view that differs from Ishmael's liberal/conventional orthodoxy on that point, take a look at "The Skeptical Environmentalist" by Bjorn Lomberg. Published in 2001, it challenges environmentalist forecasts of disaster, and demonstrates how they are based on erroneous or outright false interpretations of data, and explains why such errors persist. It's a VERY scholarly work, FULL of data and analysis, but most any serious reader will "get it!" For anyone with curiosity about the full agenda of the whackiest of the environmental whackos, Ishmael is a must-read!! If you doubt that what some REALLY yearn for is a return to the cave, this book will convince you!! I HIGHLY recommend it!!
Rating: 
Summary: Alright
Review: This book was an OK book. it had some great ideas in it, such as distributing condoms instead of just food, to really help with the population problem. But in general i found Ishmael a bit dull. There was absolutely no plot. For a novel documenting the dialogue between a monkey and a man, you'd think there might be some action somewhere in the book. Nope. The guy goes into a bar and nothing happens! Just when you hope some new characters will be introduced. While my friends all seem to love this book, they have a higher tolerance for boring things and seem to like 'classics'. Instead of picking this up, i recommend reading Thom Hartmann's "The last hours of ancient sunlight" for some real inspiration and education
Rating:
Summary: This book WILL change your life!!
Review: If you have an open mind and a good heart, this book WILL change your life. Quinn writes with such passion and enthusiasm for his topic matter that it is hard not to think of him a a prophet. If you are truly concerned about our society/civilization/planet/way of existence, then this is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: What this book did for me
Review: I see alot of argument surrounding Ishmael on this site. Some people give it very low marks. I'm not going to say they don't 'get it' or don't understand what it's trying to say, all I can say is what this book did for me. Although this book isn't one of the finely written things in the world (and it never sets out to be) it is the only book that has sent my world spiralling into a brand new point of view. I have read all other Daniel Quinn books since this one and books that skirt on the same issues by people such as Derrick Jensen (also VERY good) but they obviously haven't affected me as much because I'd read this one first. Ishmael made me see what one of the main problems is with world and explained things to me that were always on the tip of my mind but I could never identify them fully. I haven't felt the confusion I always felt since reading this book. Personally, I don't have a problem with the style of the gorilla talking to the man but I guess other people do. If this book affects you in anywhere near the same way it has me you should read the rest of his books (especially My Ishmael and Story of B) because you can see how he has evolved the idea over time. Anyway, I hope anyone who buys this book enjoys it and I hope it affects you in the same way it did me. As for the people who got nothing from it I hope you can find answers in something else.
Rating:
Summary: Can man exist without ape?
Review: My sister made me read this book, and when i started out on it, i wasn't as enthusiastic as i was half way through the book.
What i really appreciate about the way this book was written is the way the author put many aspects of life and the way we all have grown to live our lives in the eyes of one of the most natural species of animal. This ape that we come to love in this book points out how we are raised and trained to look at the things so one-sidedly. Read this book, give it a try, it won't hurt you, it can only help. Read this book and re-think about how good it helps to drop nukes on other countries.
If you like this book, check out the album called "No Code" by a band called Pearl Jam. Just think about it.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting nonsense
Review: This book, although presenting thought-provoking and somewhat unique ideas, also makes many very outrageous and unsupported claims. The main character just sits around as his teacher asks him crazy and ambigous questions which wastes lots of time. An example question: not exact quote s Teacher: What is your race's myth about creation?
Main character: Are you refering to the genesis?
Teacher: No. and they spend a page arguing whether the creation of earth etc. are just myths and eventually the main character agrees. Half of the book is just them dawdling about unsupported hypothesises. Many of the things that this so-called teacher claim can be found to be exactly incorrect when given serious thought.
If you are gullible or stupid and want to here what may seem to be revolutionary insights until you think then I reccommend this book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Planet of the Ape Celestine Prophecy
Review: I dunno... the central angle of this book, that all the world's schools of thought are wrong...EXCEPT THIS ONE, is a bit hard to take. The narrator character, disillusioned with his previous gurus and mentors, finds enlightenment from a psychic gorillia, who apparently offers little different than his former teachers, other than he's a big hairy ape. Some people like this book, but not me.
Rating:
Summary: If you are happy with your life, do not read Ishamael!
Review: I have been a pastor in a major protestant denomination for nearly 20 years. Reading Ishmael was one of the most profound experiences of my life! I concede that, as a literary work, Quinn's book is not the most artistic or engaging. The ideas represented in it may also be described elsewhere. But, I have never found all of these ideas presented in such an accessible way that allowed me to hear them. I became convinced that for years as a pastor I had been serving "Mother Culture" rather than serving God. I find Quinn's description of the origin of the idea of original sin profound and compelling. (They never taught us this in Sunday school or seminary!) Though I find the Christian church well-intentioned and its core message of love and acceptance important for our world, I found I could no longer remain in my role as a pastor (or as a Christian) and still have integrity. As a biblical scholar, a person of faith and a seeker of truth, I highly recommend Ishmael. If you are happy with your life as it is and do not care about your children's future, do not read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting new way of looking at the world
Review: Quinn has written a book that truly tries to "think outside the box" and look at where we as humans may have gotten "off the track" with nature. Many people consider this to be a life changing book. While good and though provoking, I hardly see it as life shattering. Every few years or so there is a new book that people speak reverantly of, as the one that really touched them. When I was in college, everyone was about Kahlil Gibran's "Prophet." So it is not surprising to see how people are agog at this book. The idea is simple - a socratic dialog between the narrator and the mentor, who in this case happens to be a telepathic gorilla. This unusual pairing signals immediately that the normal framework that the reader may have expected is not going to happen. And indeed, it is a launching point to re-examining our place in the world from another perspective. Yes, it is eye opening and very powerful to look at the world from a different perspective. However, the assumption given is that this is a much better way of looking at the world than our current view. Maybe yes. Maybe no. That is where the life changing aspect takes hold. As an exercise in thinking differently, and viewing the world from a new perspective, it is an excellent book. As the roadmap how to change and live our lives, well I just didn't see that. But evidently others do. It's all in your perspective.
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