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.
Rating:
Summary: interesting message, oddly written
Review: i won't comment about the style, as many others have- but calling this a novel is pushing it.apparently in order to save the earth, we must abandon not only our evil civilization, but even be prepared to accept our individual deaths (from starvation, disease) as acts in the hands of the gods. tough stuff for even a leaver society to swallow, i think.
Rating:
Summary: More New Age drivel
Review: Oh come on! An answer to anthropocentrism? I give it one star because of the points made about the need to care for the earth. But we knew that, didn't we? Or is this Social Darwinism in disguise? That bit about not over-producing food for worldwide distribution as it will cause ever increasing overpopulation- dying isn't so bad, right? I would submit that there is hardly any worse way to die than by starvation. This book is quasi Socratic trudge to the maxim Live and Let Live. The history is ludicrously simplistic, the metaphor of Takers versus Leavers is ridiculous- and some of the Leavers groups Quinn uses to illustrate his point have some of the worst drug and alcohol problems on the planet. This is new age drivel- yet another guy with another idea which will save the earth. Believe this: If you didn't get it from your Bible you sure as shootin' aren't going to get it from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: High Expectations =>=> So-so Message
Review: I consider myself an open-mined, reasonably enlightened person. I read this book on the recommendation of a good friend, whose prior suggestions I've enjoyed greatly. So, my expectations were fairly high before reading the book. Unfortunately, I felt a sense of disappointment after reading it. While at times interesting, my overall impression is a mix of "duh"and "this is old hat". Like some of the other reviewers, I felt that the author's generalizations detracted from the integrity of the message he was trying to convey. I wouldn't put this one at the top of your list. Nor would I say that it had a significant impact on my life (although several other books have).
Rating:
Summary: Do not inspect the hand that reaches to help you up
Review: First - Ishmael has the capacity to be a great book, to those with open minds. Second - Several reviewers indicate that the content in Ishmael is good, but the prose is not up to their literary standards. I think they miss the point. Quinn wrote this book to instruct, not to be a literary masterpiece (see Steinbeck, Hemingway, Poe, etc.). The question in my mind is: Does the message alone carry this book to a rating of 5 stars? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE:The Truth here can be permanently mindshattering
Review: The Reader Beware-This book may cause you to be haunted all the rest of your days, but with great effort it will lead you to Enlightenment, since like Buddha you cannot stop until you solve the riddle for yourself. When I read this I had difficulty sleeping at night and doing anything during the day except trying to resolve the truth spelled out. We all instinctively know we are going down the wrong path but to be shown it in front of our own eyes is profoundly disturbing. As disturbing was the obvious answer that came only after extensive research into philosophy, religion, anthropology, and human history; all motivated by the reading of this book. Ask yourself:Why do we feel the past is full of wisdom and the farther back the wiser? Or stated in reverse: Why do we feel the future will be more comfortable but devoid of wisdom? The answer is that what researchers have found all over the globe: Hunter-Gatherers are in Paradise, they never left the Garden, they never ate from the Tree. I cannot tell you what I came to from all this. You would not believe me. What I can tell you is that this book is a catalyst for Change, but only if you are ready to Work, otherwise Beware.
Rating:
Summary: A serious reflection on what an alternative culture might be
Review: I read this book when it first came out, during high school, and the impression it made on me at the time was profound. Daniel Quinn is a remarkably courageous writer; none of the sequels surpasses _Ishmael_. Rarely have contemporary authors set down to grapple as he does--from such a compelling, imaginative, yet basic premise (a conversation between ape and man)--with the possibility--indeed, the necessity--of finding an alternative to a culture that is at every moment complicit with atrocity and languishing into apathy. Quinn's prose is by no means groundbreaking, and it lacks the philosophical rigor of social theory, but he manages to get at the heart of the matter: we must change. As I return to this book now, much of its appeal seems to lie in a certain reductionism. _Ishmael_ is a patient, passionate, challenging work, but finally it is the challenge that remains. How does one stop living as a "Taker"? It is not enough, Quinn knows, momentarily to feel oneself somehow absolved by one's own desire for an elsewhere, only to continue in the same unconscionable tracks as before. But the "Leaver" way of life the book recommends also suffers from a too-naïve nostalgia for some enlightened primitive state. We cannot simply "walk away," as the book's anecdote about the Aztec tribe suggests should be our model. The difficulty is that we must stay--must force ourselves to stay even if we want to leave--if we are to revolutionize ideas and lives. Still, whatever its elisions and generalities, this is a remarkable work for our age. I only hope that the bestseller status Quinn's books have attained indicates some real stirrings of self-critical consciousness among their readers. Or else even a book like _Ishmael_ risks becoming mere inoculation.
Rating:
Summary: Your Purpose is Held Within
Review: Not only does Ishmael explain in an amazingly articulate, yet easy to read manner, why we are destroying our environment, it explains how we got here. Ishmael makes it blatantly clear that there are many ways to live happily and at peace with nature, but we may never see them if we continue destroying our habitat. Quinn blames the agricultural revolution for the problems that are occurring in our world and makes it very clear why he feels that way. Anyone who has read the bible should have seen it coming but now our only hope may be Ishmael. In the past forty years the population has gone from 3-5 billion people. That may mean that we will face a cataclismic disaster due to overpopulation in our lifetimes. It's time to take life seriously and give Quinn an openminded listen.
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