Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn ISBN: 0-553-37540-7 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 May, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.14 (651 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: "Will there be hope for man?"
Comment: Deep in thought but thin on plot, Daniel Quinn's award-winning novel is actually a series of telepathic, Socratic dialogues between an enlightened gorilla (Ishmael) and a less evolved human (the narrator), a student who has "an earnest desire to save the world" (p. 4). Over the course of several days (and 263 pages), Ishmael takes his student on an educational journey that encourages him to rethink man's relationship with the Earth. Ishmael teaches us "to discern the voice of Mother Culture humming in the background, telling her story over and over again" (p. 37), murmuring in our ears, "there's nothing to think about, nothing to worry about, just listen to my voice and go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep" (p. 53).
There are two ways of living, Ishmael observes, taking and leaving. Whereas "Takers" (our culture) believe the world belongs to man, "Leavers" (hunter-gatherers) believe that man belongs to the world (p. 240). Since 8000 B.C., he tells us, the Taker story line (derived from the Bible) has regarded "the world as a sort of human life-support system, as a machine designed to produce and sustain human life" (p. 59). This way of life "makes people stupid and destructive and greedy and shortsighted" (p. 83), and leads to greed, cruelty, mental illness, crime and drug addiction (p. 147). In other words, the Taker mentality has brought civilization to the point of collapse in just five hundred generations (p. 119). The 3,000,000-year-old story line of the Leavers is: "Take what you need, and leave the rest alone" (p. 127). Ishmael reminds us, "the world was not made for any one species" (p. 145). After living harmlessly on the planet for over three million years, the Leavers have become the "endangered species most critical to the world--not because they're humans but because they alone can show the destroyers of the world that there is no one right way to live" (p. 248).
If we want to save Mother Earth, ISHMAEL teaches us that we must first liberate ourselves from Mother Culture, possibly alienating ourselves from our friends, family and associates in the process (p. 37). And then we must change the way we live our lives.
G. Merritt
Rating: 3
Summary: teachings of a preachy gorilla
Comment: The ironic cleverness of casting a gorilla as a more evolved and educated being than man wears off after a few pages. "Ishmael" was recommended to me by a person who, at one time, intimidated me with her worldliness and intelligence. After reading it, though, I came to understand that most of the philosophy she was feeding me came directly out of this book, and that realization disillusions me somewhat.
The title character is a worldly ape who seeks out a pupil "with an earnest desire to save the world." The unidentified narrator is the pupil, whose perceptions of living are changed drastically by the animal. The book is basically a drawn-out college lecture on the history of the "good" of mankind (Leavers) and the "bad" (Takers), as told by a sometimes annoyingly preachy primate. The unsubtle message is: if we, as humans, don't turn around our destructive behavior, we'll ultimately destroy the planet.
"Ishmael" addresses issues of relevance and is actually a quick and easy read, but for anyone who's mulled over the facts of their own existence without help from the Idiot Box, none of it will come as a big surprise. The person I knew seemed to use the contents of this book to prop up her own 'intelligence,' but didn't necessarily take any of it to heart.
Like Orwell, if it's not forced upon you in a school setting, "Ishmeal" can provide an intellectually stimulating and philosophical take on the condition of society; its premise is simple and it leaves you with some food for thought. But to get the hard facts about what's really going on outside your door and affecting your life (without the fictional guise), I'd suggest picking up something by Noam Chomsky instead.
Rating: 5
Summary: Open your mind and eyes
Comment: Awesome! When you get into the meat of the book, Daniel Quinn puts in words what many (hopefully most or all) of us have felt. We learn about 'human history' and see the effects of religion (as opposed to spirituality) and the population explosion. He fills in the blanks left by Mother Culture and shows us that there is hope for all species and the earth. Read on!!
 |
Title: My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn ISBN: 0553379658 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 06 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: The Story of B by Daniel Quinn ISBN: 0553379011 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 03 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: Beyond Civilization : Humanity's Next Great Adventure by Daniel Quinn ISBN: 0609805363 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 07 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: Providence by Daniel Quinn ISBN: 0553375490 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: The Man Who Grew Young by Daniel Quinn, Tim Eldred ISBN: 1893956172 Publisher: Context Books Pub. Date: 15 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
