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Summary: Daniel Quinn continues to open my eyes
Review: I'd devoured Quinn's other books, and I finished My Ishmael as quickly as the others. Daniel Quinn has honestly changed my outlook on the world and on life, and he continues to open my eyes and forces me to actually look at my perceptions. His vision of a future in which humans can live sustainably on the planet is wonderful, not only in its astuteness but also in its ability to inspire hope that we can reach that future. I recommend Ishmael and The Story of B to everyone I meet, and My Ishmael is no excpetion. It changed my life, and if given the opportunity of an open mind, can do so for others.
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Summary: The Best Book I have ever read in my entire life!!!!
Review: Daniel Quinn is a genius. Unbelievably thought provoking. The best book is My Ishmael and it is plainly because of the questions asked by the simian, Ishmael. The challenge that this book presents as a little girl Julie is not yet knowing the full task at hand. She seems competant, and is reassured by Ishmael. The values taught and learned from this book are truly amazing and in depth. Everyone should read this book, they do not know what they are missing. The best novel I have read in my life simply because the morals and explanations of life itself.
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Summary: If you read only one sequel this year, make it My Ishmael.
Review: After picking this book up and putting it down three times, I regret not finishing it the first time. If Quinn's Ishmael impacted your life, My Ishmael will blow away the cobwebs that make the gorilla's solution seem so unobtainable. And don't let Ishmael's tone with Julie fool you: he hasn't wimped out - just keep reading. The end will make this book truly worth your time.
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Summary: The Gorilla is back!
Review: You can never think too much. "Ishmael" changed my life. "My Ishmael" touched it. What a vacation "My Ishmael" is. The gorilla is a breath of fresh air, always. Encore, Encore.
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Summary: My personal favorite!
Review: Despite the other reviews that I have noticed on Amazon.com, My Ishmael is my personal favorite of Daniel Quinn. Ishmael teaches this 12 year old girl, Julie, so many of the things that are needed to be taught in our culture. Daniel Quinn, via Ishmael, tells the complete truth in this book and it is all perfectly valid and based on his many years of study. I have never been so inspired and so pleased to be filled with knowledge before in my life.
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Summary: Incredibly disappointing
Review: I am a great fan of Ishmael and as such was shocked by the lack of content in "My Ishmael". The book is disjointed and suggests an emotionally disturbed writer. The thought provocking portion of the book could have been written in five pages. The main character challenges believability more than a talking gorilla. This 12 year old girl puts James Bond to shame. The purpose seems to be creating excitment rather than communicating thought provocing questions as in "Ishmael". The two books are so different that I question whether Daniel Quinn actually wrote this book.The one redeeming point is his perspective on our educational system. To summarize: The book was so lacking in content that I would never have finished it had I not read Ishmael first. To the very end I hoped that there was some purpose in the direction that the story was taking -- but I found none. I felt deceived and cheated.
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Summary: In depth knowledge of anthropology necessary.
Review: The ideas Daniel Quinn restates in My Ishmael once again color the way all of "civilization" and it's antics can be viewed. We are not the superior race we dream we are. The craving to slow down is an ancient drive to return to living within the "leaver" laws. But it is hard to substaniate Quinn's comments on ancient societies unless you have studied them extensively (there is a lot of speculation but little "fact" available.) Quinn's ideas are unique, profound and well stated in Ishmael's sequel but they could use some fleshing out. His characters are cute but give no real challenge to his philosophies. I liked the book because I like Quinn's philosophy, not because it is a literary masterpiece.
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Summary: New Ideas in this one from a kinder, gentiler gorrila
Review: Okay so you've read Ishmael (if you haven't read it) and you're wondering if My Ishmael is just the same book with a different cover. I asure you it isn't. My Ishmael brings new ideas and insights to Quinn's philosophy and explores possible action we can take more than Ishmael ever did. One thing we have to remember is that we can't all be like Alan Lomaxs and expect this teaching to be with us until we die. We can't keep waiting for Quinn novels to pop up like lawyers wait for Grisham novels. Unfortunately we don't get feed back like his students but we all have our own "Ishmael".
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Summary: Excellent follow-up to Ishmael
Review: First off, let me say why I gave this book an 8: In the Daniel Quinn/Ishmael scheme of things, it's a 10, but overall, an 8. There were only 2 things I didn't like about this book (but not enough to really matter - 1. I think Julie, the 14 year old main character is more than a little unbelievable. It doesn't matter, however, because she's really just the medium for Ishmael to speak through. 2. In the last 10-20 pages Quinn sort of compares the 3 students in the 3 books in a somewhat irritating fashion that really rubbed me the wrong way. I probably shouldn't write what happens, so, unfortunately, you'll have to read for yourselves. (again, not a big deal overall) My Ishmael is more like Ishmael than The Story of B. I loved all 3, and I'm impressed how Quinn keeps the common theme running while simultaneously covers new ground. Bottom Line: If you liked the first 2 books, you won't be disappointed.
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Summary: Daniel Quinn has taken leave of his senses on this one.
Review: As much as I hate to admit it, Daniel Quinn has not succeeded at his most recent attempt to "save the world" . In his efforts to write a compelling story, he focuses far too much attention to the details of the story itself and leaves many of his ideas without support. It's one thing to denounce organized education as we know it, however, to substantiate this claim by saying that " for thousands of years before schools people had been reading..." is simply preposterous. You don't need a degree in anthropology to know that until quite recently actually, most of the world was not literate. Perhaps the author meant to say that in tribal cultures reading was and is less NECESSARY ? Another example of an unsupported argument in the book is Quinn's use of contemporary gangs and cults as paradigms of functional tribal systems. While these groups meet some of the criteria for so- called tribal communities, the fact that these societies are overwhelmingly destructive to many of the individuals they serve makes them antithetical in nature to the possibility of an harmonious world. I loved Ishmael and The Story of B and found the ideas therein to be both challenging and intelligent. This sequel, however, is just not up to par.
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