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Summary: Ishmael
Review: I didnt know what to expect when i started reading this book. As soon as i made my way through the first chapter i was hooked. The book changed the way i thought, and the way i acted. What Ishmael does is open our mind to the truth about our culture, and our past. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to grow as a person. Read it and youll see what i mean.
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Summary: An important read.
Review: I must agree with everyone else, this book is a life changing read. We live in a world that refuses to open it's eyes to reality. We are programmed from our very day of conception to believe that the human race was born of devine creation, and the earth and it's inferior animals are only second in line of the list of importance. We have ripped ourselves from the roots of nature and surrounded ourselves with artificial technology, superficial desires and fantastic beliefs. This book, however, was NOT meant to be taken sooo literaly. It is mostly aimed at a younger audience, like teenagers and those entering college. It was to open our generation to a new view of our world. I find it a great book for those who are fed up with our cultures' worlview, for those who realise they too are as much animal as all other animals, for those who are fed up with carelessness of man's manipulation of our earth, for those who are looking for a fresh new perspective on reality. It isn't the single greatest philosophical book in history, but for most it is a stepping stone to a new world of intellectual thought. Though, Quinn's ideas are not wholy original, he has very true arguments, and it is a helpful tool to see through the cloud our world has cast upon our heads.
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Summary: IT GOT ME THINKING AND READING AGAIN
Review: This book is by far the most important book ive ever read. Ishmeal and other books by Daniel Quinn have opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at the world. Great book.
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Summary: Different from anything I've ever read before...
Review: This book got me thinking about so many different ideas about life and society that, up until reading it, I'd just come to accept. The idea that our culture is mythological is completely new to me, but the way Quinn explains it, it makes perfect sense. I think that Quinn's point or goal in writing this book was to get the reader thinking in the way Ishmael the character gets his pupil thinking. I'm not saying I wholeheartedly subscribe to all of Quinn's ideas in this book, but I don't think he's trying to get people to agree with him. Reading this book has planted a seed in me -- it has changed me.
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Summary: Extremely Interesting
Review: I must say that I enjoyed the book. It brought up (or slapped me in the face with, rather) many interesting points, and really made me think. I'm sure it helped that I agreed with the author's views, and that I had already been pretty pissed off about the state of the Earth BEFORE I read the novel. But, as much as I liked the book, I wouldn't say that it was incredibly well-written, although compared to a lot of the YA crap out there it's amazing. Not everyone will like Ishmael. Some will dislike the writing style, some will dislike the treatment of Christianity, some will disagree with the points the book makes, and some will just think it all-around sucks. But I encourage you to give it a try. I am, apparently, younger (14) than most of this book's readers, so I can't say what it will do for you. I will say that Ishmael opened MY eyes and made me think more deeply about the world and the culture in which I live. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Interesting issues balance out mediocore writing.
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Summary: Who is rating this with a FIVE?
Review: I have a masters in philosophy, and I am working towards my doctrate. I am, of course, aware that this does not make me the ultimate authority in literature or discourse, but it also points out that I am far from ignorant or unable to "think with an open mind."
I am also not a Christian, nor am I a conservative. I, like Quinn, am a liberal enviromentalist. I even agree with many of his conclusions.
That said... -- This is honestly the worst book I have ever read. Honestly. -- I have no idea why so many people are praising it as an intellectual triumph. My guess is that many people agree emphatically and passionately with the themes of the book, even if they didn't before reading it. When finding that they have a champion for their cause, which is so virulently opposed in mainstream culture, they stand behind him just as emphatically and passionately as they stand behind his ideals.
It can't be his writing. Please tell me it isn't the writing.
This was so poorly written, and the conclusions were so poorly argued or supported, that I was genuinely intellectually insulted. I felt mentally offended. I was angry that I actually read through this, trying so carefully to find what all the hype was about. Unfortunately, it only got worse from the front to the back.
Ishmael, a gorilla, is teaching the main character an extremely one-sided view. He constantly champions his view as totally original, world-changing, ultimate, and perfect. Not only is it cliche liberal propaganda (again, which I actually agree with!), but it is far from well-phrased, well-argued, well-supported, or even consistently intelligent. The philosophy is nonexistent, the dialogue is purely lecture, the anthropology is uneducated, the history is ad hoc, and the sociology is contemptuous. The points he tries to make are presumptuous, horribly exaggerated, one-sided, arrogant, unoriginal, audacious, anti-humanist, pessimistic, cynical, unfounded, and sometimes defiantly untrue. This is propaganda, pure and simple. I am sad, though unsurprised, to see my fellow liberals champion their own hollow propaganda with the same rabid, arrogant, extremist fervor so common to their conservative counterparts.
Indeed, the left and the right are separated only by the mirror.
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Summary: Horrible and Disturbing
Review: This book is blatantly anti-Semitic and anti-Christian blaming both groups with everything from over-population to animal extinction. The overall tone is pessimistic and negative. It premises are ridiculous and offensive and display nothing more than the author's twisted take on history and his strong anti-religious views. Who will like this book? It will be loved by KKK members, environmental terrorists and people with no hope for the human race.
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Summary: My Favorite
Review: The only book I've given a 5-star, so far. I would recommend that people not allow themselves to be influenced by reviews, and be their own judges. You don't have to agree with the content of book in order to appreciate its author's creativity. It is thought-provoking for the open-minded.
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Summary: Make up your own mind--this book is worth reading
Review: Although I wouldn't categorize this book as "life changing", I also don't agree with many reviewers that _Ishmael_ is a waste of time or poorly written. Granted, the protagonist of this story is quite dense and the premise of the "Takers" and the "Leavers" is pretty redundant at times... and okay-- the ideas expressed aren't exactly new or original. I'll give the negative reviewers that. But... this book makes you think. I originally read it for a Sociology project in college and have re-read it 3 or 4 times since. Its simplicity and repetition makes the concepts easy to understand. I don't agree with other reviewers that you have to be stupid to find value in the arguments in this book. They are clear, concise, and well-articulated. I'm not a theologian or a philosophy scholar but I am interested in making our world a safer place for ALL creatures. This book reaffirmed my beliefs that we--as humans--have overstepped our bounds in regards to our use and destruction of the earth. Read this book. Make up your own mind. You're not stupid for wanting your arguments to be spelled out concretely.
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Summary: Review in Context
Review: Understandably, Quinn beats folks over the head with his leaver/taker message, though I think its important and a useful writing style. At times his arguments are cloudy and I think he uses the obtuseness of the protagonist to restate his arguments to the readers that may not have grasped his original intent. That being said, no wonder it is popular to the younger generation -- or those not accustomed to ancient philosophy or even more contemporary writings. This is not necessarily a problem though, until you pick up the "Story of B" which is basically a re-hashing of the same arguments made in Ishmael. The "Story of B" is horrible and really goes nowhere, even with its pathetic attempt at plot. "Ishmael" however is a refreshing re-visit of our culture and Ishmael's characterization of "Mother Culture" is as accurate as it is appalling. How can you deny the main premise: A. Mother Culture teaches us to produce more food that we can use.
B. We reproduce in direct correlation with the amount of available food.
C. The more we reproduce, the more food we need. Quinn's distillation and modernization of Malthusian and Bentham's writings on population is noteworthy, and given that it is not earth-shattering information, the fact that this book has created countless diaglogues and opened the TV-sealed minds of high school students makes it worth the read and discussion. For those reviewers too "intelligent" to enjoy this book, why not critique the theory rather than the approach?
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