Rating: 
Summary: Might take two reads to fully comprehend
Review: I am a huge Daniel Quinn fan. As soon as I was 50 pages into his book "Ishmael", I went out and bought 3 or 4 of his books. Having said that, this is so far the most peculiar of Quinn's books in my view. I don't by any means mean this in a bad way, I just don't think I was prepared for how strange this book would be. The story abruptly changed with the introduction of the character of David and his family, and I had a hard time seeing what his plight had to do with what the book had been about up until that point. I pressed on though because I have a lot of faith in Daniel Quinn as a writer. It gradually became slightly more apparent what was happening here and I found myself on more than one ocassion finding it hard to put the book down. This is a book you'll have to have faith in and see through to the end, because that's when it really starts to come together. In my opinion, the best books are the ones that are good enough to make you want to read again. I feel like if I were to read this again, it would come together even more.
Rating:
Summary: Might take two reads to fully comprehend
Review: I am a huge Daniel Quinn fan. As soon as I was 50 pages into his book "Ishmael", I went out and bought 3 or 4 of his books. Having said that, this is so far the most peculiar of Quinn's books in my view. I don't by any means mean this in a bad way, I just don't think I was prepared for how strange this book would be. The story abruptly changed with the introduction of the character of David and his family, and I had a hard time seeing what his plight had to do with what the book had been about up until that point. I pressed on though because I have a lot of faith in Daniel Quinn as a writer. It gradually became slightly more apparent what was happening here and I found myself on more than one ocassion finding it hard to put the book down. This is a book you'll have to have faith in and see through to the end, because that's when it really starts to come together. In my opinion, the best books are the ones that are good enough to make you want to read again. I feel like if I were to read this again, it would come together even more.
Rating: 
Summary: Like No Other
Review: I am a huge, huge, HUGE fan of Daniel Quinn. His book Ishmael probably influenced me more than anything I have EVER read, bar none. My Ishmael, The Story of B, and Beyond Civilization round out a reading list that, for me, is as close to a personal spiritual doctrine as I can imagine. So when I heard about The Holy and its goal of addressing the "old gods" - I assumed that the book would be the pinnacle of Quinn's career - that it would be a brilliant assessment of "modern" religion and its destruction of the ancient earth-based religions. I thought I wouldn't be able to put it down. I was wrong. So very wrong.The Holy is boring, first of all. I found that not only couldn't I care less about any of the characters, there was none of the brilliant philosophy that Quinn usually fills his pages with in lieu of serious character development. Random events unfold in this book - one right after another - most of which are not particularly interesting, and NONE of which are developed sufficiently to create a "big picture" in which one got a sense of what the POINT was. There was no mind-blowing climax, no mind-blowing revelation, no mind-blowing ANYTHING. Overall, I give this book my lowest rating, not only because it was BAD, but because Daniel Quinn is a great philosopher who can simply DO BETTER. This effort was beneath him. A major disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: A boring, muddled mess with no real message...
Review: I am a huge, huge, HUGE fan of Daniel Quinn. His book Ishmael probably influenced me more than anything I have EVER read, bar none. My Ishmael, The Story of B, and Beyond Civilization round out a reading list that, for me, is as close to a personal spiritual doctrine as I can imagine. So when I heard about The Holy and its goal of addressing the "old gods" - I assumed that the book would be the pinnacle of Quinn's career - that it would be a brilliant assessment of "modern" religion and its destruction of the ancient earth-based religions. I thought I wouldn't be able to put it down. I was wrong. So very wrong. The Holy is boring, first of all. I found that not only couldn't I care less about any of the characters, there was none of the brilliant philosophy that Quinn usually fills his pages with in lieu of serious character development. Random events unfold in this book - one right after another - most of which are not particularly interesting, and NONE of which are developed sufficiently to create a "big picture" in which one got a sense of what the POINT was. There was no mind-blowing climax, no mind-blowing revelation, no mind-blowing ANYTHING. Overall, I give this book my lowest rating, not only because it was BAD, but because Daniel Quinn is a great philosopher who can simply DO BETTER. This effort was beneath him. A major disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Quinn's best
Review: I am confused by some of the reviews here. Some people say it's his best and some say it's his worst and some say it's good and some say it's confusing. Weird. I've three other Quinn books. Ishmael is great. The Story of B is okay. After Dachau wasn't so great. This book is by far the best thing by Quinn that I've read. By far. The other books are preachy and condescending and NOT REALLY NOVELS. The Holy is first and foremost a lifechanging book but not in the obvious way that Ishmael is. It's a novel of ideas, but unlike Ishmael it is not light on the novel part and heavy on the ideas. It's a real book and a great addictive story that I caouldn't put down. I think that a lot of people read Quinn for the ideas and I suspect a lot of them are angry people qho don't liek their parents because daddy wouldn't buy them a Mercedes and then hit them when they whined about it. Grow up. Quinn's idea of the life force is important. The Holy is a grea read but it is also the vehicle for a religion. Call it whatever you want. I think it's basically animism. Here's the thing: If this book were considered holy then the world would be saved. What about that for an idea? People who diss this book are either stupid or really stupid because it's got everything the other books have with the additional thing of being really fun to read. I highly recommend this book to all Quinn fans and to anyone else who wants a hardboiled lifechanging book.
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal, life-changing
Review: I am familiar with most of Quinn's work. It has never failed to move me. The Holy is no exception. It is a very well written and exciting book that I read in record time. It gave me, and will give you a new perspective on life, religion and the story we are all told. Have a great time reading!
Rating:
Summary: Not Quinn's best, but pretty good
Review: I expected to be disappointed by this book, having thought After Dachau to be an interesting idea that wasn't all that well executed. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. The beginning of the book is interesting but then Quinn cuts off the plot to start a new thread, and he weaves together several different stories during the second half. It never quite comes together right, but execution has never been Quinn's strength. He does a good job with the main idea of this book--it is essentially about paganism, though he doesn't ever use that name--the idea that mystery, holiness, magic etc. are imminant rather than otherwordly. Kind of similar to Story of B in its indictment of repressive religions. The ideas behind the book are solid and Quinn does a good job expressing them; he still has a little ways to go in terms of writing good dialogue and making his plots smoother. He is one of my favorite authors, though, because he's good at translating his basic ideas into story ideas, and this was fun if at times frustrating.
Rating:
Summary: Not Quinn's best, but pretty good
Review: I expected to be disappointed by this book, having thought After Dachau to be an interesting idea that wasn't all that well executed. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. The beginning of the book is interesting but then Quinn cuts off the plot to start a new thread, and he weaves together several different stories during the second half. It never quite comes together right, but execution has never been Quinn's strength. He does a good job with the main idea of this book--it is essentially about paganism, though he doesn't ever use that name--the idea that mystery, holiness, magic etc. are imminant rather than otherwordly. Kind of similar to Story of B in its indictment of repressive religions. The ideas behind the book are solid and Quinn does a good job expressing them; he still has a little ways to go in terms of writing good dialogue and making his plots smoother. He is one of my favorite authors, though, because he's good at translating his basic ideas into story ideas, and this was fun if at times frustrating.
Rating:
Summary: Like No Other
Review: I have a feeling that some of those who didn't like this book stopped reading it before they reached the end. If they had continued and seen the book in its totality, it would be impossible to claim that the book had no big ideas. It is, in fact, full of them. From personal to social to cosmological-- all woven into a story of action, spooks, and suspense. This is not like anything I've ever read before and I doubt any book will ever match the experience I had reading The Holy. Its characters, especially Howard Scheim, David and Tim Kennesey, and Andrea and her friends are very memorable. The book is a real journey, one I wish I could take again and again. Or even better, in real life, for myself. This book opens up that possibility if you take it to heart.
Rating: 
Summary: review of these reviews
Review: I have not read this book yet, but according to all of these "customer" and "reader" reviews (ca. 10/2002) it seems that I should put my dialysis aside and sit by the front door for the mailman to bring me my very own hardcover!!!
Why do publishers do this?
I have read all the Ishmael books and After Dachau. After Dachau was not in the same league as Ishmael and Story of B, don't expect this to be. It's probably like After Dachau: a good story written by a good author. I'll buy it to keep Quinn writing.
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