Ishmael

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: A wonderful little book that will shift many of your existing paradigms about life and the stage its played on. Just a new, different and intriguing perspective on things.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best books that I've read!
Review: When I was a senior in high school, my English teacher recommended this novel to the class. After I graduated, I spent the following summer reading "Ishmael." What an extroadinary book! The title character, a talking gorilla, teaches his pupil about the world, thus embarking on an insightful quest of understanding humanity. I'm proud to have this book as part of my collection. If you like to be enlightened or inspired "to do something," then I strongly recommend "Ishmael."

Rating:
Summary: Ishmael
Review: One of the most profound and disturbing books I've read on human beings and culture. A must read for anyone with a conscience.

Rating:
Summary: braindead
Review: The most important aspect of storytelling is the story; a single, unified action of some magnitude, whereby characters' fortunes are reversed and their attributes are revealed. Quinn, apparently concerned only with his ideology, failed to construct any sort of a plot, so Ishmael can not rightly be called a story. It can not be dignified with the title of "philosophical Dialogue" either, since few of his premises are substantiated, and his conclusions are drawn from invalidly constructed arguments. Unlike Socrates' friends, Ishmael's pupil never once examines what he is told for internal contradictions. Socrates continually sought wisdom from those who claimed to possess it, whose arguments he then examined objectively, while also proposing through sound and valid propositions his own arguments. Ishmael, however, is quite content with his view of the world; and as it is to him self-evident and unassailable, he never bothers to anticipate any objections, nor does he offer any proofs of its validity. Despite Quinn's frequent use of the word, this book also contains no parables, since a parable is an allegorical story intended to convey a lesson in morality; and there are no stories told with any intended purpose throughout this book. Contrary also to the claims made on the book's cover, this book is certainly not in the least bit adventurous for the mind or spirit. For something of that nature, read Dante, Plato, Ecclesiastes, or the New Testament, as these are works which tend to a more sublime and ultimately rewarding ideal than the virtues of hunting, gathering, and otherwise subsisting always on the verge of starvation. If the hunting and gathering lifestyle was truly as glorious as Ishmael depicts it, surely Quinn's disciples would be moving to the Kalihari, the outback, or some glacier to live at one with nature and sunder their relationship with our culture, which, according to Ishmael, is inherently evil and suicidal. Ishmael would be brilliant, were it deliberately a satire of predominating modern beliefs; but insofar as it intends a serious end, it is a complete failure. If you want a compelling story and brilliant dialogue, read Shakespeare. If you want rationally constructed philosophy, read Plato and Aristotle. If you want a spiritual experience, read the Divine Comedy. If you want insightful social criticisms(with more useful and practical solutions than completely dismantling modern civilization), read G.K.Chesterton or C.Wright Mills. If you want to find evidence that there is indeed something wrong with current American literature, and with the culture which produces it, read Quinn's book. Only in a complete vaccuum of art and ideas can a book like Ishmael achieve any sort of popularity.

Rating:
Summary: What a book!
Review: I believe and hope that this book will have a tremendous impact on all who read it. It's for anyone who has ever entertained the thought that our present course is at odds with sustaining life. Daniel Quinn has prophetically articulated a feeling that I think many of us have had for a long time and lends hope in our ability to change course.

Rating:
Summary: Ishmael points the finger
Review: Perhaps Daniel Quinn's Ishmael character offers little more than an arm raised, a finger pointed and the suggestion that we "look over there" to freshen our search for a way to get through and beyond our troubled social and ecological predicament. I have spent the last six years since first reading Ishmael exploring and experimenting in the direction of the pointed finger because this avenue has provided a more compelling and encouraging alternative to the path that formed the basis of my 20 years of social activism prior to reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most important books in human history
Review: This book, in a concise, easy-to-comprehend way, nails down exactly where humanity has been, where it is going, and how we messed things up along the way. Simple enough for a young person to read, yet deep enough for any thinking mind, Ishmael is truly a book that will change the way you look at everything. No really... everything. Every few pages seems to hold a number of revelations about our great yet tragically flawed species. Revelations that will make you say "wow" and in many cases, "duh", at the same time. Things that make such perfect and amazing sense that you find yourself amazed that you never realized them before. I first read this in a college course (many thanks Dr. Paulus) and still frequently give it to others as a gift people always appreciate. A recommendation is not enough; this book should be required reading for all humanity.

Rating:
Summary: It will change the way you look at the world
Review: I read this book in two days - and I'm a busy high school student! It changed the way I see civilization, agriculture, and environmentalism, and politics. For anyone who wants to do good in this world, I have an idea: 1. Read Daniel Quinns books. 2. Take an active leadership role in society. 3. Save the world.

Rating:
Summary: Too Short or Too Long
Review: Because of manner in which Mr. Quinn has told this story (Socratic Dialogue), he takes 250 or so pages to tell what could have been written in 10 - 20. And though the book is a quick read, if looked at in this perspective, it is too long. I believe the author used the dialogue method to help the reader slowly see how he arrives at his main point. However, the supporting arguments are not fully flushed out--which is understandable since there are entire wings of libraries filled with arguments for and against some of the assertions made by Mr. Quinn. I think his logic works if each of the premises hold. Unfortunately, that would entail that, among other difficult concepts, Mr. Quinn has reasoned correctly on "nature vs. nurture" and "the human condition." Mr. Quinn either needs more space to develop the argument or he needs to cut the book down by 90%. 250 pages are a lot of leaves to turn for a half-baked conclusion.

Rating:
Summary: Ishmael Reveiw
Review: Hi, I am a freshman i n high school and we are reading ishmael as a class. OUr homework assignments are usually to read a certain chapter etc. and then we we return to class we discuss issues that have come up. I find it very interesting becuase we have very heated debates about the subjects for example, the idea that man was put on the earth to rule and that a paradise will be the result. Personally I believe that this is not the case, and that is one reason why i like reading ishmael. It has opened my eyes to the issues facing the world, but are also in a sense hidden behind the stories told over and over to our society. AsI read through I couldn't believe the reality of the thoughts presented and explained through the novel. Anyone who reads this book must consider both sides of the story, no matter what their insticts tell them is true. Becuase these insticts have been embedded into our minds from day one, as part of the creation story that is told to us, we have a hard time disagreeing with what we are been taught is true. Even if you believe that man is the ultimate ruler of the world and has the right to control everything, Ishmael does a utterly great job of defending the opposing side.