Ishmael

Rating:
Summary: Hits you over the head
Review: A couple of the reviews I just read on this page complain that Quinn is stating the obvious with "Ishmael". Well, it's true. That's why everyone should read it. Often people need to be hit over the head with things they already KNOW but yet don't NOTICE. This is the only way they'll pay attention. If you had absorbed even some of the content of the book, you'd know that this is actually one of the main points. And for those who said that the gorilla made the story unbelievable--of COURSE. do you think Quinn actually wanted you to think that a gorilla would rent an office in which he would telecommunicate with humans? Of course not. Quinn was trying to get your attention. Would he have gotten your attention more quickly had he made Ishmael human? No.

This is a great book. I have done lots of reading in my lifetime, and I recommend it to everyone I know, because I wish everyone in the world would read it--or at least a couple people with political and social clout. Yes, Quinn says what a lot of us already know. Quinn presents things in such a way that they CANNOT be shrugged aside, and so that everyone can understand them. That is what makes it so great. Also, not EVERYONE knows these things! If someone reads this book who has not heard Quinn's concepts before, it will have a big impact on them.

Even for those of us who are familiar with all of this, it is wonderful to have it presented in a new light. Quinn pulls such a wide background into the book that almost everyone could be struck by something directly pertaining to them. For example, my extended family is comprised of quite a few agriculturalists, and I am an Anthropology student. The book really hit home with me, and with everyone I've talked to about it. And by the way, Quinn knows his stuff. Everything he says is anthropologically sound.

For those of you who, like the disgruntled reviewers metioned above, have been raised by pop culture and don't have the attention span for anything less than an action novel, AND for those of you who want to read another great Quinn book with a different twist on the same material presented in Ishmael, try Quinn's "The Story of B".

And for God's sake pass the book along to someone else when you're done. More people need to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Food for thought...
Review: This book formulates a sound argument that describes the development, problems, and strengths of the dominant culture that is exploiting our earth to the point of potential catastrophe. While the book keeps the reader entertained and emphasizes the nature of the problems that our culture must face (or perish) its only attempt at a solution to this problem is to promte the awareness of our circumstances. The argument builds a solid foundation on how our culture has wounded the earth but makes very little effort to suggest a remedy. The metaphorical equivalent to the argument presented is --- you are bleeding and here is why --- you can only heal yourself by recognizing that you are bleeding. Quinn presented such a compelling and strong argument for his premise but fails to offer an equal effort regarding a potential solution to the cultural dilemma he describes so well. This is a must read --- but don't be looking for answers --- Quinn just presents the problem well and not the solution.

Rating:
Summary: Yep, Quinn's right
Review: I liked this book. I don't care if the philosophy lesson is veiled in an unlikely combination. The message is clear and I enjoyed hearing it, and learning from it. Good stuff.

Rating:
Summary: ishmael
Review: this is an incredible novel, it helped me to comfirm, make sense of and put into words many of the thoughts i had been developing about our culture. i read reviews that knock the book saying that the authors don't want to follow quinn's ideas of returning to hunting and gathering, and being quite straightforward in saying that anybody that wants to is stupid, in adressing this i'd like to say that i've never heard Quinn refer toanything of this matter, he has suggested living tribally, but never has he associated tribalism with hunting and gathering, many tribes of today depend primarily on agriculture, im sorry that the authors of these reviews can not see these obvious points that i a mere 14 year old can. forgive my pooor grammar and sentence structure, bu im far too lazy to take my time on such things.

Rating:
Summary: Ishmael
Review: Daniel Quinn gives an extraordinary new view to ideas that everyone at one time or another have pondered. He brings to life ideals that most people have difficulty digested. He brings these views and ideals into reality in such a way as to captivate his readers and keep them searching for more. The most interesting part is that of the teacher: a gorilla named Ishmael.
Upon reading "Ishmael" for the first time I found that the ability to digest the material worked greatly to my understanding and there were no words or ideas that were brought forth by Ishmael that were hard to follow or understand.

Rating:
Summary: Provocative
Review: Quinn does a good job raising some interesting questions through the voices of a pupil and a teacher. The teacher happens to be a gorilla, but no matter.
The revolution of the agrarian society vs. the hunter-gatherer society is examined. The bias against the agrarian society is hard to miss, however, the hunter-gatherer society has left us few books, and few technological advances beyond knives, spears and axes, so what is the point? That we should go back to the hunter-gatherer society that our society evolved from?

One of the thoughts I really appreciated was the feeling that current society or Mother Culture seems to tell us to "take our place" or we won't be fed.

Ideas of over-population of the planet and misuse of resources are also examined.

Although I don't agree with many of the ideas in this book, I found it to be thought provoking and worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: Mind Stimulation
Review: Want a good book to read? Want a book that will stimulate you mind? Well I got the perfect book for you. The book is called "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. Would I personally recommend this book? Yes, I would. I will tell you right off Daniel Quinn did an excellent job with Ishmael. Quinn's creativety is just amazing. Quinn keeps Ishmael so interesting that you can't put the book down until you've read every single page.
The book is about how man and world came to be. The ironic thing is Ishmael is a talking gorilla. Ishmael/Quinn tries to broaden the narrator's beliefs, and not to the point of changing your beliefs, but to give the narrator and you a different perspective on life. Quinn presented Ishmael with great charisma and knowledge of life. Quinn also did a terrific job supporting his reasonings with examples from the bible. He didn't only use examples from the bible, but Quinn also used life as examples.
If nothing else take a chance and open up your mind a little to something new. You won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Before you flip past this review, give me a chance.
Review: Before ever reading Quinn's work, I had already heard much gushing about it. Being the uber-liberal that I am, it seemed likely that this book would fit me like a handtailored suit.

But this is not the case. The thing is, Quinn makes a lot of interesting points and often times in very novel ways. But even as such there is a degree of ease and glossiness to his opinions that the issues he covers do not deserve.

Analogy is the main method of myopia here (mine of course, is aliteration) and this maybe a primary selling point, and failing, of the book. It is important to note that analogy is an extremely good way of getting ones point across, but not as good away of shedding optimum light on complicated subjects.

With Quinn, some pretty complex stuff gets boiled down to some pretty simple (yet beautiful) stories. And this is where Quinn loses me. I think he is on the right track more often then not here, but sometimes he can't see the forst for the trees. This is ironic because this a very large point made in the book.

I suggest reading Ishmael, but remember that a good reader should act as a filter, not a sponge.

Rating:
Summary: Like a veggie's meal, there ain't much meat here.
Review: After reading the first few pages of Ishmael, you'll be quite intrigued, up until boredom and marble-eyed reading set in where nothing registers anymore. I had a lukewarm feeling while reading Quinn, especially after I had to put up with the rather uncharacteristic and frustratingly simple protaganist, who is not only hindered by his total lack of personality, but is given the IQ of a plant just to move the plot along.
Now I understand that this is not a book about characters or anything like that, but someone out there might not know this, and if you're looking for that kind of thing, don't look twice at this book until you're ready for a save-the-trees lecture that balks before the option to intellectually stimulate the reader.

Quinn constantly fights the fact that our agricultural revolution took place, and that many of us don't see it as a mistake. This, I found frustrating. We have no dominance over the past, we can't abandon our way of life and go back to hunter-gatherer anymore a fish can decide to breath outside of water- unless of course, we have a nuclear war, then both of these things are bound to happen. As a reader, I felt like I was in Chemistry class. Once in a while something interesting would pop up, my ears would perk, I'd digest the information, wait around a little longer for some more and finally gradually begin to hang my head as nothing else of interest came my way.

This is a very, very preachy book. Either you agree with Quinn or you don't (and you have WILL agree with him sometimes), but when you don't, you're just going to get a giant gorilla shaking his head at you and chewing on a peice of straw like a tyrannical, pompous, forgotten God.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Piece
Review: I began this book in hopes that it would truly be an adventure of mind and spirit, and I was a bit disappointed. I didn't think that the book was what people said it was. Some of the revelations that were made by the pupil of Ishmael were pretty obvious, and it became a little annoying when this pupil would play dumb. However, this is an interesting read. There were some parts of the book that I really enjoyed and thought were applicable to our daily lives. I believe Quinn could have done a better job by turning this into a story rather then just one huge conversation. This isn't a book that you are going to want to read because of the great story, but rather because of the fact that it makes you think, sometimes. I recommend this book, but I honestly believe that it could have been much much better. I am a bit disappointed, but I enjoyed it.