Ishmael

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Summary: Fake Analysis of Evolutionary History We Don't Need
Review: Ishmael won the Turner Tomorrow prize and the five thousand dollars that goes with that award. It is part of a literature I call civilization bashing. Fond tradition pictures the planes and mountains of this planet as a nature untouched by humans, a sort of original realm of the wild, undisturbed and eternal. Abandon that vision because it ain't so. Even if it were so, you wouldn't want to live there. Mankind has always been a major player in the recent history of Earth whether Ishmael the talking gorilla thinks so or not. What a better way for the pop-cult eggheads like Quinn, and the other self appointed satraps to earn their livings than by pointing out for us the early warning signs of the death of civilization and by constructing a fake analysis of evolutionary history and its direction. Man isn't entitled to control this planet because God wills it. Man is entitled to control the planet because he can. This has nothing to do with simplistic dualities of takers and leavers, as Quinn may believe, but with the natural law of struggle for survival, and the survival of the fit. Nevertheless, this book is worth a look, despite its exaggeration and extrapolation, because it encourages us to think about the larger issues that affect our future. For instance, the destruction of acres of rain forest is miniscule compared to the vast destruction wrought by suburban sprawl. Ishmael teaches us that grim lesson and much much more.

Rating:
Summary: Ishmael
Review: In this novel Daniel Quinn uses a gorilla to voice his opinions on the environment and the entire human race. The theme of this novel was to educate the society about the stress that is being put on the world. The gorilla is educating the so-called brilliant human beings. Quinn names the majority of the human race the "Takers," and a few exceptions on this planet the "Leavers." Throughout this novel, the "Takers" and the "Leavers" are being compared. Quinn was a little harsh when referring to the human race. He stated "The Takers are a culture riddled with greed, cruelty, mental illness, crime, and drug addiction." This is present in our society but there are also a lot of good things in it too. Although Quinn was right on when he wrote this novel, we should be doing something about it. Something does need to be changed in the way the human race is living on this earth. We are destroying our very home. Quinn uses a gorilla to portray this message because obviously the human race isn't aware of the damage we are causing to the environment. Well, maybe we are aware of the damage we are causing but not alot of us will do something about it. I hate to sound like your mother but we have to so someting about this problem soon. We can't just sit back and let our home be destroyed. That was the intention of Quinn when writing this novel, to try and change society's view on the earth. This is a very good book to read and it sparks up your thoughts on the environment. It might even cause a few people to actually realize what they are doing to the environment.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down
Review: Considering myself fairly conservative, I honestly didn't expect much from this book when a friend recommended it to me. After reading some reviews of the book, I expected another "tree-hugger" tirade. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Ishmael is nothing if not thought-provoking. I had never really thought about our culture having a "mythology" until Quinn skillfully exposed it. Similarly, I'd never thought about the rules that animals and primitive cultures abide by, but "civilized" peoples ignore. Whether one agrees with Quinn or not, his points demand closer examination.

Students of the Bible are in for a special treat. Anyone who has tried to understand the first few chapters of Genesis should be captivated by Quinn's explanation. Indeed, for me, Quinn's was the first explanation that ever made any sense at all.

On the down-side, Quinn can't resist using the tired, old "give up the power, white man" cliche in the closing chapters. A real downer to an other-wise engaging dialogue. Also, calling Ishmael a novel is a bit of a stretch, so I have to take away a star. The characters, other than Ishmael, are not very engaging, so don't expect Atlas Shrugged. This being said, the Socratic dialogue was so engaging that I found I couldn't put the book down. It is a rare pleasure to find a book with this quality about it.

Perhaps the best thing about Ishmael is not that Quinn is unquestionably right on every point, but that, if you're like me, you'll be thinking about the book long after you've read it.

Rating:
Summary: Of the utmost importance!
Review: Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael" is one of the most important and thought provoking books on the market today. It begins "Teacher seeks pupil, must have an earnest desire to save the world, apply in person." A man goes to find the teacher and finds he is not an ordinary teacher in any sense of the term. The book is the man's account of his days as a student with Ishmael. This book challenges many of the beliefs that are so built into our culture that they're rarely thought about. Ishmael is fundamentally about two stories... one lived for the past 10,000 years by people called "Takers" which have conquered nearly the whole world. The Taker's is a story about rule and conquest, a story that considers man flawed and unable to live in the world without destroying it. But there is another story to be in... one that man lived for millions of years and that made him no more harm to the world than any other animal. This is the story of the Leavers, one that was lived for millions of years and is still lived in some places in the world where the Takers haven't wiped it out. This is a story that enables humans to live in the world without causing it's destruction. It also works extremely well for those living it. These people don't have nearly the problems that we do... and it's not because they're noble... but because they have another story to be in-- one that works! (Imagine THAT!)

This book explains the whole concept of what it means to be living a story and describes the two stories that have been enacted on earth by humans. It's an amazing book of hope. It doesn't say that man doesn't belong here or that humans are bad. No, this isn't a book like that at all. This book offers hope! It's a must read. It's not the kind of book that is going to teach you how to get in touch with your inner self or how to get to Heaven or reach Nirvana. It's going to explain how humans lived as part of this world and how they can continue and it explains it in a way that gives insight that is better than Heaven or Nirvana... it will teach you where HOME really is!

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Summary: A horrible read replete with loopholes & tirades
Review: _Ishmael_ stands (cowers, disappears) as one of the poorest written books that I've ever read. Since I feel the book is poorly written, I shall not attempt to write a well-crafted, orderly review. Rather, I shall type my problems with the book in a quasi-stream of conscious fashion. For the sake of reader's eyes, I'll number each complaint with the text, and go from there.

1. I don't believe the rendition of the text because this text is written in past tense. _Ishmael_ contains over 250 pages of dialogue. Thus, it should be in present tense (or transcribed from a tape recorder) because it is an impossible feat for any human to remember over 250 pages of dialogue WORD-FOR-WORD.

2. Quinn's explanation of Ishmael's acquisition of language (on pages 14 and 15, for example) is a total cop-out. Quinn just slides by Ishmael's ability to telepathically speak by having Ishmael state: "In short, he decided to teach me to talk. I will pass over the painful and humiliating months that followed," (Quinn: 21). That's cute that Ishmael will pass over the months of pain and humiliation, but it further makes the book's text unbelievable.

3. _Ishmael_ is written in the past tense; thus the narrator tells this story after his interactions with Ishmael, the Sokolows, Mr. Partridge, etc.; and the narrator states that "there is no secret knowledge; no one knows anything that can't be found on the shelf in the public library. But I didn't know that then," (Quinn: 5). Great, so (since we are to assume that the narrator isn't plagarizing this text... thus meaning that it was on the shelf in the public library) we can throw all telepathic dialogues with gorillas out the window. This book is a joke. Why? Because the book's narrator said that there is no secret knowledge that isn't on the shelf at the public library. Well, there are no texts on the techniques of telepathic communication between gorillas and humans at ANY public library (somebody e-mail me if I'm wrong on this), so we are to ignore the 250 plus pages of telepathic gorilla/man dialgue and thus laugh at this book.

4. The idea that the Leavers are good for the planet and the Takers are bad for the planet is absurd. The Takers are humans who have come about since the agricultural revolution and have, in one way or another, taken from the earth and destroyed the earth and animals. Contrary to Ishmael's thesis, BOTH Leavers and Takers are bad for the planet. The dawn of man (way prior to the agricultural revolution) set into motion the 6th mass extinction on this planet (following the end-Ordovician, end-Devonian, end-Permian, end-Triassic, and end-Cretaceous extinctions): the extinction of species by MAN. Mass extinctions of mammals in South America, Australia, New Zealand, and North America happened far apart (obviously not being caused by a climate change or meteor impact), but they all begin directly after humans introduced themselves into the geographic regions. For more information on the 6th extinction, purchase Richard Leakey's _The 6th Extinction_ from Amazon.

5. 250 plus pages of dialogue, quite simply gets highly boring. If I want to read a philosophical treaty, I'd rather read one that is fully developed and not hiding behind the telepathic communications of a gorilla. This novel was just a way for Quinn to score some quick bucks and unload an ecological rant.

6. Quinn utilizes death in a far too convenient fashion in this text. I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read the book, but Quinn uses death as an escape clause too often in this book.

The only part of this novel that I enjoyed was the part in which _Ishmael_ offered his take on Cain and on the garden of Eden. That brief portion of the novel was enjoyable.

My advice: avoid this text, if at all possible. If you don't avoid this novel, read it with an open mind and don't just accept everything that Quinn (uh... I mean Ishmael) tells you.

Rating:
Summary: A poor attempt at The Celestine Prophecy
Review: This book has to be one of the worst that I have read in a long time. The story is implausible, the characters are unbelievable, and the message is too hidden, not to mention too convoluted. A winding story that weakly tries to give its reader the same sort of feelings of destiny and purpose that Redfield's "THE CELESTINE PROPHECY" instilled in all of its readers. Not only did I feel that this book was a waste of time, but of paper, that it's Taker vs Leaver mentality is souly against. I gained nothing from this book, and found myself only confused and bored from the lack of any sort of involving plot line. If you are seeking enlightenment, look somewhere else.

Rating:
Summary: Further Reading
Review: I think the ideas in Ishmael rate a 10, but I knock off a star for presentation. Quinn writes like his target audience is teenagers (and perhaps it is), which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think this book should be on high school curriculums. But do all of his books have to be written that way? Well, for those of you looking for a more "adult" presentation of the ideas in Ishmael, some of Paul Shepard's books are back in print. He was writing about this stuff 20 years before Ishmael saw publication. Try "The Tender Carnivore" and "Nature and Madness".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Piece of Work
Review: I have read this book twice and continually give it to many colleagues, family, and friends as a gift. This shift in perspective is urgent and necessary. We need a green revolutionary leader.

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Summary: A journey of the mind...
Review: A journey into one's imagination; think about what the world would be like if we could all have conversations with animals. Perhaps our perspectives about the planet would change. Daniel Quinn's novel Ishmael raises pertinent questions about our role in the environment and offers alternative ways of thinking about relevant issues in today's world. The plot is simple: Teacher seeks pupil that had a desire to save the world. Well, of course all of us want to save the world, but how can we? In this book, the character Ishmael brings new meaning to changing the world. Not only do we need to save the planet, but we also need to save each other from destroying the planet. We may think that the little we do for the earth won't make a difference. However, if one person can change their mind and their behavior, perhaps it will have a snowball effect. Ishmael teaches us to be a new kind of trendsetter. By reading this book, one learns what the world should be like. It is not yet too late to change it. The question isn't, "What can we do?" the question now is, "Who wants to start the revolution?"

Rating:
Summary: Ishmael
Review: I thought this novel was very tedious to read.There was really no plot to story line