Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit

Rating:
Summary: Open Your Eyes to the Larger Picture
Review: This is a great book telling the story of a nameless student and his teacher, who just happens to be a gorilla, and the journey of knowledge they are about to embark on together. The first couple of chapters you find yourself wondering how this man is speaking with a gorilla but that thought soon passes and you join them on their journey. They question the ways of the world such as our culture. As well as our role as humans in the world and the part we have with the extinction of animals and our selfish belief that the world was made for man and man was meant to rule it.

After reading Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit I have begun to think about my beliefs, in not only the large things in life such as the part I play in the world, but in the little things I do on a daily basis. Not to say the book has made me abandon everything I have ever believed in, but it has simply made me evaluate the things that I feel strongly about and begin to understand why I feel the way I do. I now wonder if I believe in some things because it was what I was told to believe, with subtle messages, or if I believe in them because I feel it is the right thing to believe.

Since I have finished Ishmael I have recommended it to and and everyone who will listen. I think this book should be required reading in high schools today. If we had more people questioning and thinking about what is going on in the world today instead of taking everything in and accepting it all as truth we would not be walking around without a clue. We would be more aware of whatis going on in the world around us.

I give Ishmael 5 stars because it is an enlightening book that we all could use. We should all know and understand why we have the belief system we do instead of assuming others beliefs as our own. Some may see this book as a way to change your views, but I see it as a way of evaluating your views as they currently are. It opens your eyes to the larger picture of life.

Rating:
Summary: Reader Seeks Writer
Review: In my opinion this book is a philosophical piece of crap and if being taught the deeper meanings in life by a gorilla is your cup of tea, then by all means enjoy. However I did not enjoy this book. Throughout the book I feel as if Daniel Quinn is just babbling on about what is wrong with the world today, but he offers no solution. Not only did I not agree with many points in the book, but I found it also to be a very boring read with almost no action at all. Most of the book is dialogue between a man and a gorilla. I found the main point of the book to be that humans are on a path to self destruction and that we keep trying to fix it but keep messing up. The importance of the gorilla is so that we can see things through a different perspective. This is the only book that I have read by Quinn but after reading this book I take him to be a nature lover. Some people may call this stereotyping but I believe people who think that anything else on this earth is equal to man is dad wrong. Are we supposed to run amuck on this planet and cause chaos and conquer it? The answer to that is no, I am not saying to go and kill every animal in sight but if one species becomes extinct on a remote island then who cares. Some people do care and see this is a big problem. I however cannot relate to this at all, seeing as how this species would never relate to me and the world is neither a better nor worse place without it. There are some life forms on this earth that are just to exist whether they have a purpose or not. God put man here to be stewards of this planet but we cannot always walk on egg shells. Man is the supreme being and if some animals have to die in order for us to live then that is the cost that must be paid. My review of this book would be that it's point is totally helpless and on top of that is an extermely boring read. I would give this book zero stars based on those two points. If Quinn wanted to do something to help the world he could have just never wrote the book that caused so many trees to die. If you enjoy animals to a very extreme extent and see yourself as an equal to a jellyfish then this is the book for you, but if this is not you, then stay very far away.

Rating:
Summary: A Meeting Of The Minds
Review: I am guilty! I had the basic human belief the world was made for me and I was put here to conquer and control it. I believed God put me here or allowed me to evolve into the creature I am today, for the sole purpose of taking care of his many other creations. We (the human race) are the more dominant of species, so there fore we should be allowed to rule, conquer and even destroy. After all, it is our planet, our world, our solar system we should be able to handle things as we see fit. We have all the answers, and we were made in the image of our God, therefore we have his wisdom.
WRONG! We may be able to build and create nuclear weapons or over come our basic inabilities like flying, but that does not make us superior. We can make written laws or place harsh and unnecessary barriers on our UN or misinformed social classes. We can threaten, bully and actually punish; but that does not keep these laws from being broken. We take leaps without looking at the consequences or direct affects outside of ourselves. Our so-called "help" usually turns out to be more harm than good. This is usually attributed to our jumping into things half-assed. After all, if it doesn't hit home it isn't really a problem.
This is why I liked the book Ishmael. Though it was a gorilla and a meeting of the minds type of discussion, it was truth. This book made me think, truly, honestly stop and think. I had never realized until the reading of this book that I believed the world was made for man and man was put here to conquer it. Where did I learn this, and from whom? Who had tainted me with such holier than thou sanctimonious crap and where did they get it? I mean, obviously they had gotten this message around to quit a few people. It was funny to me how this was a sort of unspoken, unsaid universal belief. Man is superior, his life and all of his comforts are more important than anything else is in this world. There is nothing smarter or as advanced and complex as the human being. The passion that sparked from the fuse of equality during discussions was amazing; whereas, the sheer strength of a simple superiority complex beamed from the lips of a few in the form of a sincere belief. Is one life more important than the other, and who is to decide?
Ishmael really made me think twice about taking responsibility for my part in the damage I do to this world. Sure, the problem does not affect me directly, but maybe the outcome will. It doesn't hurt to take an interest where an interest is needed. I would recommend this book to any one; in fact, I have already. I recommended it to one of my co-workers due to the fact he is always talking about recycling (though I have never seen him do it) and religiously checking the news over the internet. I have written him off as one of those all talk, no action type of people. Overall, I would give the book five stars because it was also a challenge for me. Not just with vocabulary but also due to writing style. The book brings up many different points, good or bad; Ishmael gives no answers but does raise many questions. Now I have one, is it our duty as the superior beings and rulers of the world to find and identify answers, or can we? After all, we are flawed.

Rating:
Summary: Good, Not Great
Review: Ishmael is a very powerful book. It makes a call to action on the part of its readers. The ways to do this are very vague however. "So what," you ask, can we do to change this. I may be a pessimist but I have accepted the fact that we can do nothing.
My daily life did not change because of the book Ishmael, but my outlook onlife in general definitely has. After hearing the convincing arguments of Daneil Quinn I thought about what was said everyday. Even though I thought about the sad state of our civilization, my everydaylife did not change. I did not stop going to school just because i now believe in Daniel Quinn's argument about how our civilization is in freefall and his other more complex arguments. I wish there was a way for this to affect my life without totally making a fool out of myself, there just isn't. My outlook on life is a little darker because i now know i really can do nothing about this and maintain my normal life at the same time. That upset me.
I would recommend the book Ishmael to anyone who has the ability to read. it seems like the things that are talked about are very important to life in general and therefore should be very important to anyone who cares about life. That's the whole point though, there will never be enought people that care enough to enact any kind of plan othere than the one that is going on right now. There are too many non-believers in the world for anything to be fully accepted. I would still recommend the book however becauss even if it's small I would want to do my part to make the world right.
On a scale of one to five stars i gave ishmael a three. The incredible concepts of Quinn's arguments are reason enough to read it. but some people would think it was crazy which is why i gave it a lower rating. Just thinking of other ways to stop our race from enacting this plan can drive you insane. If you try and teach 100 more people that would then be willing to teach a hundred more people, would take decades. There's just no one human being who has such patience. Not to mention you couldn't get paid for it.
so the book is great no doubt, but is doesn't get a five-star rating from me because the problems they encounter really have no answers.

Rating:
Summary: Take It Or Leave It
Review: This is one of the most interesting books I have read in a long while. I had trouble putting it down and couldn't wait to get to the next chapter. The fact that the narrator, who is nameless, is talking to a gorilla, Ishmael, soon becomes irrelevant. Once the teacher begins to instruct the pupil that is all that remains; a teacher/pupil relationship.
Since reading Ishmael, I have a renewed hope for the world. I was ecstatic to finally read a book that was so closely in line with my way of thinking. Without being too preachyor telling you what to think, the author Daniel Quinn, instead questions how you think and why. Quinn readily addresses many issues that face every generation such as why we're here and why do humans do the things we do. Ishmael makes you stop and take a look at the state of the world and question yourself and your culture. From the destruction of the rain forests, to the extinction of species on a daily basis, Quinn questions each and every person's role in the world. He uses truth and has an uncanny knack for pointing out the obvious, however painful.
I believe this book should be read by every one, and have been promoting it as such. I have told everyone of my friends that this is one of the greatest books I have ever read and that they, too, would agree with me. I have been pushing this book hardest to my friends that seem close-mindedor strictlyset in their ways. I believe Ishmael may just lighten the tint of their rosey colored glasses and open their eyes to the world.
Out of five stars I would rate Ishmael a five. I think it is well written, Quinn gets his point across quite simply. Using a gorilla as an alternate viewpoint seems quite intellegent. Whatever you feel abjout this book, the themes and morals are universal and help to enlighten the reader and you can take it or leave it.
there are many ways to interpret this book as with ant literature. What you get out of it is entirely up to you. One thing I do believe everyone will get is that we as a species need to take a minute to rethink our flight path.

Rating:
Summary: Pure literary bliss...
Review: When I first heard about the premise of this book (a philosophical gorilla as a teacher), I have to admit that I was skeptical. However, after finishing this book, I have to say that this is one of the best books I have ever read. It attempts to give a brief history of mankind in order to explain how civilization evolved into what it is today, and why we live in such a consumeristic society. Some will dismiss Quinn as some radical, anarchistic Luddite, but those who do are completely missing the point of the book. Hopefully, it will cause you to reflect on some of your core beliefs and reevaluate how you live your life and how you see the world. I'm not saying this book will change your life, I just hope that it will make you look at it differently. You may not agree with what this book says, but I hope you will approach it with an open mind.

Rating:
Summary: With Ishmael as a teacher, will there be hope for man?
Review: Ishmael was truly an adventure for the mind. After reading the book, not only did I have a new view of life ahead of me, but the past also had a different light on it. After completing the book, I suddenly understood everything I had wondered about before. The book provides what could be called "enlightenment."
Ishmael is a book with no equal.

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS AMAZING
Review: no words.. only that it should get more than five stars..

Rating:
Summary: DO YOURSELF A FAVOR- READ IT!
Review: Dear all of you,

When I first picked up a copy of Ishmael, I saw that some book critic had written on the front cover "I will now divide the books I have written in two groups: those I read before Ishmael, and those I read afterwards."
I remember thinking, Oh, pleaaaaaase.

And then I started reading. And much as I hate to admit it, the reading of Ishmael has kind of become a landmark in my life, too. Talk about making me see things in a larger perspective!
Reading Ishmael has given me guidance many times when I was at a crossroads, and I never regretted following its advice.
Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A different view of our role on the planet
Review: If someone recommended this book to you, take their advice. The story of a naive student and his wise teacher is told here in a way that makes most readers reevaluate the world they live in. The plot is short and simple: a green, simple minded young man is learning about the cycles of life as they were, are and possibly should be from a gorilla with the ability to communicate. The most enjoyable part is the progression of logic in the lessons. It is by no means an emotional argument about "bad humans" versus "good mother nature", though I found myself feeling that way about the book a few times before I got to the end. I can add offer one criticism about the writing; more specifically about the student. Mr. Quinn tends to make his character unbearably simple minded, such that you will find some of his questions to be placed there only as a means to end. That is, his question is not realistic in that any young adult would know the expected response, and therefore would never bother to ask it. This it makes the reader feel as though it were put there just to give Ishmael a platform on which to speak on the desired subject - just as an instructional video for children would do. Besides this small thorn, I say that the book is well worth the time, and has earned its reputation as a mind opening work.