Ishmael

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Summary: A pyrotechnic display of what *not* to do in a book
Review: This novel commits the cardinal sin of failing to entertain. I won't comment on the many technical and literary flaws, as there is hardly enough story to support them

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Summary: A book written with the intention of opening peoples' eyes.
Review: This book, as well as The Story of B (also by Daniel Quinn) were written as works of fiction with the intention of opening our eyes and asking us to start questioning that which we think is true. To those of you who appear completely concerned with the writing and the "exact science" of the book, obviously your eyes have not opened. Ishmael, The Story of B, as well as Providence are "must reads" if we plan on keeping the human race around for a while. Please read the book with an open mind and by all means, start questioning! Nothing should be taken at face value. Come to your own conclusions and come up with some solutions. Check out the Story of B web-site for some more interesting reading! Peace

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Summary: Ishmael: Literary Pestilence
Review: I think it is rare for an author to so effectively capture every literary (and intellectual) horror. Ishmael is the home of atrocious writing, painful logic, and quicksand pacing: it is the longest of short books. And Quinn, with sadistic flair, so pummels the reader with repetitive, tiresome pseudo-socratic ramblings, that one is left weak and confused, hoping for mother culture's only certain salvation: the whisper of "nuclear winter."

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Summary: Philosophy taught by a strange professor with humor!
Review: An strange ad in the paper unfolds into numerous lessons of philosophy taught by a very peculiar teacher. Because we are hurting ourselves and the planet around us, Ishmael, the professor, shows the reader how to change our lives to save ourselves, and Mother Earth. Using stories and a bit of humor, he spreads our timeline of events, dating back three million years, into order, showing us where we went wrong and how we can still, if we start now, change the outcome. The Student often times did not think about what Ishmael was teaching, confusing himself when Ishmael went farther. Many times during this book, Ishmael scolded the student, telling him to think harder and not to say, "I don't know," without thinking a little bit first. At first I did not think this book was very good, but I found that I was in the middle of the book in NO TIME. If there is a man or woman out in the world who has the wisdom that Ishmael had, I would be glad to become his student!

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Summary: Excellent story/quest for new models of perception
Review: Ishmael begins by making one incredulous and ends by leading to a new way of thinking. In the tradition of Carlos Castaneda and other Socratic stories of personal revelation, Ishmael at once annoys and educates by illuminating the preconceptions of our perspectives. The image of the "voice of mother culture, whispering in your ear" will always have a new power to free me to think of other ways of perception. Read this book!

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Summary: A Stunningly Novel Novel
Review: There is no one out there thinking like Quinn thinks. His vision of human history, told through the voice of a sage, lowland gorilla named Ishmael, is the the most original, hopeful, sensible story I have ever heard. I have read countless reviews on this book, and I am facinated to find that poor reviews, without exception, reflect a cursory read of this simply masterful work. Ishmael is not a book to be read in one sitting and swallowed quickly. And it is not a book to be read only once. The strength of this book is in its ability to question in an engaging fashion our most fundamental assumptions and superstitions about "The Way Things Are." Never have I had such questions posed to me in any book, fiction or non. And now, mulling over those questions that I can no longer ignore, I find myself changed forever for the better. As a gorilla, Ishmael speaks from a different landscape, and the dialogue between Ishmael and his lead-headed student is a never ending delight. I understand that some people have turned away from the book because of a mistaken belief that novels---fiction---aren't "real." and cannot contain "real" discourse. Think again. And again. Don't miss this one.

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Summary: Boring and Repetitive
Review: The book endlessly repeats its theme, so much so that it marginalizes its subject. It's a story that can be told once and then elaborated on with supporting detail, which seems to have escaped Mr. Quinn

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Summary: Disappointing at best
Review: I bought this book after reading the great reviews here on Amazon. What a disappointment. Quinn starts from an important premise: industrial humans are killing the world and we need to find out why we do this in order to stop the destruction. This is an issue I'm passionately interested in. However the book doesn't investigate the question or answer it in a satisfactory manner. The book has faulty logic, feel-good answers and totally flat characters. Do yourself a favor and read something else

Rating:
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: The book has a very clever idea, but that is the end of it's value to me. The characters are flat and boring and the text is lacking in subtlty. The author burdens us with self-rightous lectures making us feel like naughty eight year olds

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Summary: A marvellous book ! GET IT NOW!!
Review: OK so some of the science may not be up to scratch, who cares! This is a moral message about how man can live in the world if he'll only wake up to the idea that he doesn't own it! Thank you Mr. Quinn for adding to my very small collection of "must have" books. READ THIS......NOW!