Rating: Summary: Well worth the read, but frustrating. Review: As literary fiction, The Story of B is just deadly; but it is well worth the read as a philosphical dialectic. The vision (not the program!) revealed is important and exciting. The greatest frustration is: what to do with the message once received? Quinn is quite clear that anything less than a total response is an exercise in futility, but he offers no other direction. Other than the idea that spreading the vision is fundamental to true salvation, that is....
Rating: Summary: The Story of B vs Ishmael Review: First let me state that I hated Ishmael. My friends bought me The Story of B as a joke for Christmas and therefore was rather reluctant to read it. I picked it up one day, just to see if it was as bad as the original and before I knew it Quinn's ideas became clear and enveloped me. After finishing the book, I decided to give Ishmael another chance. It was then I fully realized what was wrong with the book. Unlike the Story of B which presents ideas logically, Ishmael presents ideas and then just repeats them over and over, not unlike the tactics of most religions.As much as I detested (and still detest) Ishmael, the Story of B has led me to respect Daniel Quinn in the highest regard. I would just like to say that if you have not read any of Quinn's works, read this one. That is unless you are in grade school then Ishmael would probably be better to start with.
Rating: Summary: AMAZING! THIS BOOK COULD, AND SHOULD, CHANGE THE WORLD! Review: Anyone who doesn't like this book has read it with an extremely closed mind. If you disagree, fine. Email me and tell me so. But this book could, and by all rights should, change humanity as we know it.
Rating: Summary: This book changed the way I think. Review: If you are an individual who is concerned with the way the world is today, this is the book for you. Like Ishmael this book answers some of the most Difficult questions about why people are the way they are. It answers these hard questions in a way more truthful than do modern politicians and religious leaders.
Rating: Summary: Very good - once you have read Ishmael Review: The Story of B really hammered home the ideas first presented in Quinn's Ishmael. Quinn himself comments on how religion is "taught" on a weekly basis, the ideas constantly being thrown at the worshipper. Along the same lines, this book takes Ishmael's concepts and reinforces them through an interesting plot. Not as good as the first, but still worth it.
Rating: Summary: The world needs this book to survive Review: If the world is to be saved, it will be saved by new minds. It will not be saved by old minds with new programs. Remember those words, friends, because they are humanity's only hope. No, they are the world's only hope. Our culture has reached the boiling point, and the time to act is now. Read this book.
Rating: Summary: ELEGANT AND AWE INSPIRING Review: What can I say about a book that single handedly renders every major world religion impotent, then explains the root of every major societal ill all in three hundred pages. Quinn maps out incredibly simple and credible hypotheses about the origins of human intelligence, language and religion that hinge on some simple assumptions and evolutionary theory. The author also outlines how, when and where western culture developed its catastrophic method of "subduing" the earth and its inhabitants. I am the last person to fatuously subscribe to far flung theories that might prove impossible to verify. But Quinn's vast general knowledge coupled with his mastery of scientific reasoning and inductive logic are a nearly incorruptible combination. This book can change your worldview if you leave your mind open and put some thought into it. The only problem I have with "B" is Quinn's lack of facility with narrative and developing characters. The main chracter is infuriatingly obtuse and by implication, the reader too is supposed to be equally comfounded by Quinn's message. At times the tone of condescension is almost unbearable. Quinn should abandon the use of the novel as a teaching method and present his ideas in a nonfictional context. Overall, though, I would implore the reader to plow through some of the plot points and absorb the information contained therein. It is revolutionary in its implications and overwhelmingly enjoyable.
Rating: Summary: thought provoking, must read Review: A philosophical journey that every person should take. Those who would criticize his methods are missing the fundamental point of Quinn's teachings. The story of a catholic priest, who by his own admission has somewhat nominal beliefs, is sent to investigate a potential "Antichrist". This candidate is not preaching what one would expect of the Antichrist. B, as he is known, attempts to show his listeners that our culture is destroying the world in which we live. The story provides a fascinating vehicle for Quinn . The basis of his arguments is compelling. I would put it to anyone to read this book and not have their beliefs affected.
Rating: Summary: A must read! Review: Another marvelous book by Quinn. Elaborating and expanding on the ideas in Ishmael Quinn does it again. The ideas are captivating and easy to understand, what more could you ask for!
Rating: Summary: a promising book that does not deliver Review: I am new to this author's work. The concerns he raises and the anthropological examples he uses were new to me three decades ago. The story he uses as a gimmick to present his arguments is so flat as to be a distraction. The main character is infuriating in his thickness--especially since he is supposed to have a doctorate! Of course he is using the main character as a strawman for his ecological argument but he is so dumb that he is a destraction. He also makes assumptions about Catholic theology that are shallow, further reducing the credibility of the main character. He offers animism as a healthier worldview than our present agricultural based worldview. Now I have a great respect for the animistic worldview, as I have seen aspects of it up close among non-Western people. He hinted at some of the beauty of this worldview but really didn't do it much justice--for a book that is supposed to be proposing it as the alternative to the existing Western vision. N! either does he explain why so many non-western people turn away from that vision today in the face of Western technology and goodies. The frustration is that I agree with many of the points he is trying to make but he just doesn't follow through on his thoughts with any depth. He seems to be "angelizing" animism as a world vision. Yet, he doesn't seen to grasp that vision at a level that is lived. He doesn't convey well the vision he is promoting.
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