Rating: 
Summary: Recommended as a beginning
Review: Ishmael is neither a bible nor a profound work of intellectualism. It's not even new--Euripides embodied the same things in his play the Bacchae, three thousand years ago. Biologists trying their hand at philosophy have been posing the same questions for decades. Quinn merely explains a series of important events in human history from as nonhuman a perspective as possible. The philosophy is solid, the storyline an afterthought.This book is not a Bible. Quinn does not believe that civilization is inherently evil, nor that subsistent societies are inherently good. The argument is simply that civilization is ecologically untenable (a popular debate in some schools of economics) and subject to the same laws of ecology that its constituents fancy to have overcome. End of line. No more. The rest of the book is devoted to substantiating that humble claim, and Quinn does a pretty good job. The most stunning point of the book is the interpretation of the story of Cain and Abel. The argument goes that Cain was an agricultural society, Abel a nomadic culture. Cain kills Abel, of course, the rationale being that Cain was of course in control of more food and resources thanks to his agriculture. This, like so many other parts of the book, has an intellectual root that Daniel Quinn's skill with metaphor permits him not to credit: linguistics. Such a theory has been posed to explain the spread of the Indo-European language. It's progeny contains many words for agriculure, the languages of cultures overcome do not. It's a laudable insight to apply that theory to Genesis, but not a case of brilliant intellectual rigor. Read either the first or second book, "The Story of B." The third book, "My Ishmael," contains only a conclusion to the barely-existent plot. A good read for the intellectually curious, but not for the scholarly philosopher.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Quinn presents a unique view into the nature of our civilization, told from the persepctive of a Gorilla, teaching a man. Essentially, we have been all wrong since the Agricultural Revolution, in which mankind was divided: into Tribal societies on one side, and the ancestors of our civilization on the other ("leavers" and "takers" according to Quinn). Our way of life is destroying the Earth, and the Leavers are almost gone....thus we must return to the ways of the Leavers. The mistake many make when reading this book is thinking that Quinn desires for a literal return to tribalism: hunter/gatherer living, no technology, etc. Aparently, Quinn means for us to undertake the more general aspects of "Leaver" culture, their attitudes, and world-view, rather than the specifics of their economies and daily lives. Unfortunately, he is quite vague on how one can achieve these goals, or what form a modern "Leaver" society would take. While he does elaborate on these points in "My Ishmael" and "Beyond Civilization", the lack of concrete ideas is the major fault of his doctrine in "Ishmael". Additionally, this novel does not have much of a plot-the ideas, not the story, are at the center.
Rating:
Summary: Really interesting, but...
Review: Ishmael is a really fascinating, incredible book, and it's had a huge impact on the way about I think, etc, etc, but it doesn't really tell you what to DO with all these ideas you've just acquired. I mean, you can't stay in taker culture without being a part of it, but it's pretty pointless to just drop out of society- you can't impact anything by doing that. So what's the solution? How are we supposed to live to bring about change? Ishmael claims to be telling us that, but it doesn't really.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book, a must read for anyone
Review: The book is simply excellent. It flows very well and what Daniel Quinn has to say can open your eyes to what is happening around you. Once you read the book you can see how the takers mindset has provided a justification for what humans have done to the earth. We will not destroy the earth, we will destroy ourselves. Towards the end of the book he makes a point that evolution has a tendenacy towards complexity. He says that there is a progression from ultrasimple to more complex forms throughout time. This is totally wrong! Evolution has no overall tendancies. This is a human made bias. The most common (by many orders of magnitude) forms of life are and have always been bacteria. Large, complex, and intelligent organisms (vertebrates) don't even make up one-tenth of one percent of the species on earth. Man is not an inevitable product of evolution. I realize that I am being a little picky, but Daniel Quinn is misrepresenting evolution in this case. In all fairness, this is a small part of the book and does not detract from the main concepts of the book. This is certainly not a reason to not read the book. I still recommned the book the everyone. It will help to open your eyes to what is going on around you.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Ought To Shake Up The High Priests of Society!
Review: I find Ishmael to be THE most influential book of my adult life (I'm 44). Quinn deconstructs the rather shakey foundations of western civilization, exposing all the presumptions we've been using to gobble-up and destroy the planet that is our only home. Quinn struggled for nearly fifty years to write this; he deserves every award that has come his way. I hope the book succeeds in its goal of saving the world, saving humans, leading us all to a better life. Lofty? Indeed. But: why not?
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK NOW
Review: I initially read Ishmael the way one reads the morning paper, with little surprise and less energy. A month later I was camping by a lake, and I suddenly started weeping uncontrollably as the ramificaitons of Quinn's hopeful message swept through me. The same miracle has happened on subsequent readings of this and other Quinn novels. Ishmael contains the wisdom already within the self and its own capacity for reason, compassion, and action. This creative dialectic begins by challenging one's entire concept of culture and humanity, and then revealing that it is not a challenge afterall -- that it is a homecoming to hope, clarity, and courage. The message is one of immense relief. To save the world, we do not have to change humanity (HUMANITY IS NOT FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED). We need only change our own minds. Get started!
Rating:
Summary: Ishmael
Review: This was one of the most powerful books I have read and as a 16 year old has touched me in a great way. An excellent read for anyone interested or confused in their beliefs in evolution and man's origin. It was a great novel and made me rethink my previous stand point on GOD's existence. Definately a worth while read!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I am probably one of Quinn's younger readers. I first read Ishmael when I was fourteen years old. I didn't enjoy it at all. I thought that the plot was weak and that the ideas were shaky at best. But, because I am curious by nature, I went back to the teacher who had recommended the book. He informed me that I hadn't enjoyed the book because I had read it with a closed mind. I grudgingly took the book home over a long weekend and cleared my mind of doubt. When I read it that second time, I was shocked to realize how insightful it was. I urge anyone who likes to think to read this masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: IMPORTANT MESSAGE about this Book
Review: I know that I'm copying a previous reply, but I must reiterate READ THIS BOOK, it deserves five stars not 1 (I just put one in order to get attention to the review). Also, all of these bad reviews (1 stars), are just proof that this book is an interesting read. Anything this controversial has to have affected people in a strong manner (either loved it or hated it). To be honest, it is not surprising that there are bad reviews. It is an intelligent book and this means that a lot of people will not understand it that well. Don't let all of these 1 star reviews fool you about the validity of this book's message. The truth hurts, and these people just can't come to terms with what they have read. So I recommend this book only to those intelligent people who are willing to read this book with an objective, open mind.
Rating:
Summary: For almost the first time, it made me think while reading
Review: I have to say this book was an eye-opener for me. While the viewpoint expressed is unique and compelling, it is the open-ended nature of the conclusion that I really felt gave the reader a jolt. Really leads you to question what you think you know. The story dragged a little for me at first, but after I got used to listening to an ape tell a story, it really pulled me in.
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