Rating: 
Summary: Puerile Utopianism at its worst.
Review: In this book, Quinn opines that the hunting and gathering way of life is superior to our own. He believes this while presumably enjoying all the comforts of modern industrial civilization, and he shows no sign of joining the Bushmen, nor do I see any of his ardent fans doing so either. The tendency to idealize pastoral life from afar is as old as the Greeks and Quinn is merely the latest to express this flawed idea.
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Summary: Take a quick journey into a new possiblity for tomorrow
Review: Once in a while there is a book that is both highly entertaining and thought provoking. Ishmael is such a work of art. In this winner of the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship, Daniel Quinn takes the reader into a facinating journey into the possiblity of man surviving on the planet earth. Consider for a moment the idea that we should not be presumptuous to assume that evolution has not stopped. Also consider the possibility of being a voyeur in a dialogue on whether man will either consume this planet or find a way to live within it. If you saw an ad that ran with the headline, "Teacher seeks student with since desire to save the world" . . . would you at least consider finding out more? If you may find the voyage of exploring these ideas in the format of a great novel both entertaining and intriguing, then curl up with this quick read book. Bon voyage.
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Summary: Interesting
Review: A very thought provoking book that gives and interesting look into our culture. I'm not sure I fully agree but I do enjoy learning from others view points
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Summary: What does the name Adam mean?
Review: Here's the style, if not the exact content, of Ishmael.
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"My name is Ishmael. I am your instructor. It is true that I am also a gorilla, but don't let that concern you. Now tell me, what does the name Adam mean to you?"
I slid back in my chair. "Not much. It's the name of the guy in the Bible."
"Very good, but what does the word Adam mean?" Ishmael was calm and patient.
"I don't know. Do you want me to go out and buy one of those name books so I can find out?"
"No, I want you to think, and then I want you to tell me what the name Adam means." Isamael took another bite from his stalk.
I was becoming frustrated. "I haven't a clue. How long are we going to play this game?"
"Until you tell me what the name means."
"Okay, it means that the guy is a dam. He holds back a lot of water." It was all I could think of.
"No, that is not what the name Adam means."
"It means he's a male sheep?"
"No, that is a ram. A male sheep is a ram. What does the name Adam mean?"
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At this point I'd be ready to skewer Ishmael with one of his stalks and have gorilla-bobs for dinner, but if you're intrigued by this kind of writing, and are horrified that I'd consider doing harm to this calm, patient - DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! -- creature, then this book is for you.
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Summary: What about kudzu?
Review: That's the question that popped into my head over and over while reading ISHMAEL: "What about kudzu?" Dogs, cats, fire-ants, killer bees, and yes, the lowly kudzu vine, all exhibit traits that Mr. Quinn wants to make unique to man, the "taker." Because I could not accept the premise that only man kills what he cannot eat, because I could not accept the idea that only man is trying to take over the world (ask anyone from Georgia or Alabama about kudzu), I had great difficulty getting through the rest of this otherwise thought-provoking book.
Mr. Quinn's interpretations of the Bible certainly seem plausible to my biblically disinclined brain. His idea that contraceptives, not food, should be sent to the famine-stricken areas of the world is backed-up with solid logic.
His vignettes within the novel are good. The Aryan students who get a strange feeling that they are being lied to as they enter the University of Tokyo many years after Hitler's Germany has won WW II (and all races other than the Aryan race have been eliminated from the planet and removed from the history books) certainly make me wonder about our past and how many lies our culture is telling us.
Still, unless you are a serious tree-hugger -- or perhaps an exceptionally bright gorilla -- I can't recommend the book. The kudzu vine is trying every bit as hard as man to take over the world. Before anyone starts throwing stones at mankind, I think they need to ask, "What about kudzu?"
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Summary: Good start, but where's the rest of the story?
Review: I agree with most of Mr. Quinn's assessments of the biology of earth. I wish however, that he would have taken it beyond simple biology, to the levels of chemistry and physics. At these levels though, I am afraid, that his optimistic message that man may be able to save himself if he obeys the laws of biology is not realistic.Presumably dinosaurs didn't manipulate their environment against all the laws of nature. They are dead. So are approximately 95% of all the living species that have ever inhabited this planet and are now extinct through no fault of their own.Man is just another temporary inhabitant of the earth in its present state. The earth itself continues to evolve according to the laws of physics, chemistry and biology on a universal scale and the presence of man is a dot on the timeline. It is no coincidence that man likes the earth exactly the way it was when he was born. If earth didn't suit man, man would not have evolved to inhabit it. But to think that the earth will remain the same because man likes it that way is naive. Earth and man will continue to evolve, each affecting the other to various degrees. There is no doubt in my mind that the earth itself will have much more effect on the evolution of man than man will affect the evolution of the earth. The current destruction of earth attributed to man is small potatoes on a cosmic scale. So why should we care? Because it's all we've got and we like it this way! Will we triumph in the end? Of course not.Mr. Quinn has attempted to get the public to think beyond the superficial "truths" of modern life and canned religion. That's a good start. But there's so much more to the story that needs contemplating
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Summary: UNCLE BILL'S 100% GUARANTEED ADVICE: BUY & READ THIS BOOK!
Review:
Amazon's reviews are the wonder of recent years for this booklover!
Phooey on the one-person NYT people!
Look at the controversy over ISHMAEL!
This may be THE CONTROVERSY of THE BOOK WORLD!
Some reviewers rate it a 1, some a 10, some 2, some 9, some 5. I found that confoundedly interesting! Then, of course, we read that ISHMAEL won an lot of money--an enormous prize--the huge TURNER TOMORROW FELLOWSHIP. Then we read that it won in competition with 2,500 other books? And it rates 1s and 2s along with 10s? (Looks to me like it's a MUST READ!) Then I find that its early editions are already collector's items selling at premium prices! (If you don't want to keep your hardbound copy as an investment, let me know and I'll buy it from you--I'll give you your money back!) I found it a 10 and have bought numerous copies for family and friends. It is one of a rare kind of a book: The kind I run across in paperback and like so well I want a mint, hardbound, First Edition copy for my personal library.
Buy this book for a couple of reasons: It will be good for your intangible wealth to tuck it into your walkabout attic as it provides ongoing nourishment--Food for Thought--and it will be good for your tangible home on Planet Earth if you read and digest all the Food for Thought.
All that, and then it also wins this reader's early nomination to the collector's library of 20th century American books.
Anyone out there care to start voting for, say, The 100 Best Books of The Twentieth Century?
I have not, of course, read them all, but let's start! I nominate ISHMAEL as one of the 100!
What sayest thou? --Bill Hackett
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Summary: From Monkey Mind to Gorilla Grace: Salvation from below
Review: Perhaps human arrogance is about to lose its place of honor. In this book, the mindless chatter of modernity's empty consumerism and the trashing of air, earth, water, fire and our creaturely neigbors, are eloquently exposed to the angst-ridden Student through a Socratically inclined Gorilla, Ishmael. Uncharacteristically, the Master human listens, and the creature prevails but only through using the Master's Tools (A. Lorde) of logic and persuasive human speech. But it takes what it takes. I have my doubts that the mind ever persuades the heart as much as one heart persuades another, but this book is one more route to follow in getting "It": to understand that humankind cannot continue its domination of an earth that was not created by or for it. "Ishmael" means "Let God (El) hear." I am glad that this wise creature has offered words that will switch our internal chatterbox off, and given us human-gods some news that will require nothing less than revolution and courage to realize. But whoever said saving the world from ourselves would be easy? There's no such thing as cheap grace
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Summary: Answer for Questions from deep thinkers
Review: In a suprising, simple and humour way Quinn has brought an attention to answers many questions that many of us prove as we grow.
Intelligiently presented, the perspective of questions in life is not only seen from human view. But it is an awakening to realize that other living beings are also have simillar experience and contribute as much to the experience that human faces.
The only significant difference is that human talk about it. While others just accept, adopt and grow with it
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Summary: pointing out the obvious...
Review: I read Quinn's novel two years ago and saw the first-ever stage adaptation one year later. Initially, I was very moved by the underlying message of the story which I interpreted (fundamentally, at least) as a wake up call. I'm not at liberty to call Mr. Quinn's historical or scientific facts into question because I am not an historian or anthropologist. I do know that a good book is characterized partially by its ability to cause change and urge its audience to question things that they might otherwise overlook. The message of Ishmael is so simple, yet so hard to incorporate into our technologically-advanced, power-hungry lives. Even if the book doesn't cause people to alter their destructive "Taker" ways, it will most certainly force them to think about what it is they're are doing and what effect this inevitable damage will have on their lives and the lives of generations to come
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