Ishmael

Rating:
Summary: What Ishmael will and will not do.
Review: Ishmael will not tell you how to live your life.
Ishmael will not give you a magic solution to "protect the environment".
Ishmael will not tell you how to "fix" the governments of the world.

But if you feel that there is something wrong with how the people of this planet are living, then Ishmael will do the following:
1) Ishmael will tell you the story of your own Culture. You will get to learn your own mythos.
2) Ishmael will show you the results of that story and how that story is directly causing most of the "problems" we are trying to band-aid.
3) Ishmael will teach you the physical laws from which a sustainable human population must be built upon.
4) Ishmael will offer another story, one that we can choose to replace the current story with if we wish the human race to survive the next 200 years.

If you are looking for a "quick fix" or a "new program" for saving the world, Ishmael doesn't do that.
If you are looking for understanding about this snowballing extinction and a way out of it for all life including humans, then Ishmael will help you understand the problem and cleanse your mind so you can work out the solution yourself.

Ishmael will empower you with the ability to save the world. If you are ready for that, read it.

Rating:
Summary: Ever Felt Something Is Off? Here's Why!
Review: Throughout life, I have known many people who couldn't quite put a finger on why they felt disillusioned, depressed, why SOMETHING just felt off. Things just didn't feel right. I shared this feeling, and also the feeling of not understanding why. Was there something wrong with me? With them? I didn't know....that is until Ishmael came along.

I cannot overestimate the way in which this book can change the entire way you see the world. I have recommended it to people who have gone on to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives based on this book. I have also recommended it to people who then forgot what they wanted to do with their lives. Either way, it is a profound book, and even more stunning as it is only really an introduction to Quinn thought. Between Ishmael, My Ishmael, Story of B, and Beyond Civilization, your mind will be opened to the hidden agenda behind so much of our culture, as well as ideas on solutions.

Feel free to email me if you'd like to talk more about Quinn and his books.

Rating:
Summary: An Unforgettable Journey
Review: For those who have read 'Ishmael,' there need not be a review written here. For those who have not, I cannot recommend this book with enough enthusiasm. Do yourself an enormous service and read this novel. You will not be disappointed.

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Summary: 1st Civilization
Review: The first book I read by Quinn, and knew I wanted to read more. A good precursor to Beyond Civilization: Humanity's Next Great Adventure.

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Summary: Life Changing Book!!!
Review: (...) this book has changed my view on everything. It made me want to change the world to how the book portrays it to be. It made me reevaluate everything being forced upon me by socitey, my parents, and my friends. I've been suggesting it to everyone. I garantee that if you read it, you may not like it, but it will open your mind to new views.

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Summary: The book that could save the world.
Review: Ishmael is an incrediable book. If everyone would read this book and followed it's ideals our world (the planet, the animals, and humans) would be safe. This book will change your perceptions about the world. Please read this book and share it with others.

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Summary: Caution! You may never view the world in the same way
Review: I must say that I have never felt the need to write a recommendation for any book. I now however am compelled, by an urgency I didn't know I had, to bring this book to the attention of anyone willing to challenge the foundation of their world paradigm.

I had a graduate course in which we were given the first 5 chapters of Ishmael to read. On this basis and on reading the reviews of Quinn's work I promptly ordered Ishmael as well as the two other books in the "series" (The Story of B and My Ishmael). I tore through all three of these books in less than a week ignoring other "important" work.

Quinn is an extraordinarily unique and provocitive writer. The ideas brought forth in these books will shake the foundations of everthing that you have assumed and been told about the world.

I can guarantee you that even if you disagree with the ideas in these books you will never view the world in the same way. You will feel a need to discuss and debate these views with a inquisitiveness you haven't felt since childhood. This is evidenced by the website Quinn has setup where he continues to answer hundreds of questions from readers.

Let me caution that this is not some new age self-help garbage and Quinn is no charlatan or guru. The information is laid out so the reader can come to their own conclusions. This is also not a book for those not willing to question their views, because this book will turn everything you think you know upside down and shake it. Its left to you to do with it as you will.

The only thing that may not appeal to some readers is the discussional tone of the narrative. If you feel that this type of storyline is distracting then I would suggest Quinn's "The story of B". This has a deeper storyline and deals with many of the same topics but from a different viewpoint.

I have been purposely vague in this review as to what Quinn's ideas are. I urge to take the challenge Quinn has thrown down and find out for yourself. I am now off to order everthing else Quinn has written!

Rating:
Summary: Brain food
Review: Everyone that values mental stimulation reads... but I bet you have never read a book that alters your perspective to the point where you never see things in quite the same way again.

Ishmael is such a novel, it is filled with ideals and discussion that truly leaves you feeling enlightened about the true state of our apparently advanced civilisation.

Once the silliness of the physic gorilla has been disregarded, you are left with a truly astounding book that takes you on a mental journey, challenging your pre-conceived ideas and comforts that society is the great savoir of mankind when really it is a slowly acting poison, ultimately leading to oblivion. The one overriding idea in the book is that "Why should mankind claim the right to separate itself from nature?" You may find yourself with a different opinion after reading these reasoned arguments.

I found myself drawn into this book and finished it with a strong feeling that I had read something important, something different.

If you are the intellectual type who reads as much to learn as to enjoy then I would certainly recommend this excellent bit of "brain food".

Rating:
Summary: A yardstick to compare perspectives
Review: Ishmael is a spiritual journey into a world we would never think is a reality.

Reading the book has had a profound effect. It is clear now that the way our species is going about everday life is based on premises that make things right... for us, for now.

Is it possible that all that mankind has done is wrong? At the least, all that modern man has achieved is based on the belief it is for the good but what if all that we are doing is aiding our own destruction... and what is worst is that we are happy doing it and are glad with the fact that it is our idea, our ingeniuty.

The book is difficult to explain in a review, however reading it brings one to this common club, this exacted frequency that allows us a new perspective to view our species, our history and most importantly our future.

It makes a very interesting read and I highly suggest people to read it.

The best part about the book is that at the end one has the chance to apply the message of the book to ones own life, it does'nt matter what you do or where you do it. Again you have to think of your own equation to apply it to your own circumstances. Though the author does give you guidelines to do that.

Ishmael... a discovery of ourselves and our fellow people. What we do, why we do it and where we went wrong!!!

Rating:
Summary: Another way of looking
Review: An interesting book isn't known by the answers it gives, it's by the questions it raises. And in this book Quinn certainly asks a very interesting one. What is the law of LIFE? All living creatures should live by this law to stay alive. Those who don't are doomed to extinct.

Untill there the book is worth 5 stars, but after that question it goes down to 3. Quinn looks for the answer in the field of anthropology, which is a far to narrow field. It's about human life, not LIFE. The answer should be found in a science which investigates something that all living creatures have in commen. All forms of complex life have one small thing in commen. If you find the law by which that smal thing lives, then you have the law for any form of complex life. (This should be a big hint for the science I'm talking about)
When you find that law, read this book and see how nice the answers of anthropology fit in.