Rating: Summary: A great book for those who usually read science fiction Review: This is the only book by this author I have read. I can only conclude that this book is atypical for the author, because his regular readers are unhappy. Nevertheless, I can reccommend this book as a clever and subtle alternate history. The book left me feeling wrenched; The first 107 pages tricked me into thinking the book (which I found in the sci-fi section of a local bookstore) was mis-filed. At page 108, I made strange noises, and reread the beginning of the book with an eye for the details. The horror of the world he creates is in what you don't notice. That said, character development is a little weak, which is par for the course in science fiction. The protagonists in science fiction are rarely the characters, and they arn't here. The protagonist here is an idea, an argument, a question: why arn't you outraged over genocides that happened more than a few decades ago? Who the heck cares about neaderthals anyway? I get the feeling that Mr. Quinn does, or wishes he did. And I, not given to senseless sentimentality, have to pause for a moment.
Rating: Summary: Quinn does it again! Review: I don't know how he does it, but he's done it again; another thought-provoking, chilling, absorbing book by Daniel Quinn that left me reeling. Right up there with the works of Orwell, Bradbury, and Huxley--After Dachau is a brilliant look at a world gone worse. A beautifully written, gripping, and compelling story. Read this book!
Rating: Summary: Holy cow! Review: All right. First thing. Holy Cow. I love this book! This is so much better than Ishmael. No, it's different. VERY different. My friend who introduced me to Ishmael said that this book changed his life and now he's going to live on a commune and stop talking to his family and friends, and I read it and it was enlightening: my friend was an idiot. I've read this book and I've read Ishmael and I can tell you that Daniel Quinn is all about one thing: FLIPPING THE SCRIPT. THis book is amazing. Quinn makes you turn every which way. But the way he does it causes you to reevaluate the way you look at the world. It was intense to read this book having the knowledge that most of my family was killed during the holocaust. It asks a simple question: What makes us any different from Hitler? The answer: You tell me! I couldn't go to sleep while I was reading it. Like 1984--ONLY BETTER!!!!
Rating: Summary: Not Ishmael, but fun nevertheless Review: Quinn's other books are life-changing critiques of our culture. After Dachau is just a novel. But judged on its own its a very good novel with great surprises and thought provoking ideas.Going in I did not expect another opus, just a novel. I was not disapointed. It was a quick read and I, for one, enjoyed the story a great deal. Perhaps this will encourage more mainstream folks to investigate Quinn's other books. Only good can come of that. I hope he continues. In between life-changing books of course! Someone else here compared this to a good episode of The Twilight Zone. Nothing wrong with that.
Rating: Summary: A surprisingly apathetic offering... Review: Daniel Quinn has said that he has said what he has to say as a "cultural critic" with the Ishmael trilogy and Beyond Civilization. If After Dachau is any indication, it certainly does seem he's finished. In a nutshell, After Dachau comes across as a good idea for an Twilight Zone episode, put together by staff writers on a deadline. There are two or three painfully long, tedious passages full of boring action (how many pages are spent describing the protagonists climbing down dark shafts?), contrived suspense (the "true" identity of Mallory and her miraculous recovery is ultimately disappointing and pointless) and generally bad editing (it's always annoying when periods are simply missing at ends of sentences--don't publishing houses do grammar checks?). The big "surprise twist", which drives the second half of the story, is puzzling coming from Daniel Quinn. The guy who brought us Leavers' "other story to be in" now constructs a wholly conventional Taker world, with the inexplicable power to stay exactly the same indefinitely. Negative utopias (a la 1984) are compelling because the power that drives them is brought to life in the story. Here we have a young, boring, rich white guy with no perceptible personality, muddling his way through an assignment he seems to be taking on out of sheer listlessness. Mallory, the accident victim, is hyper and tense, rarely given the room to contribute anything more than factual information to her guardian. After writing several of the most mind-blowing books of the 20th century, Daniel Quinn kicks off the 21st with a story that basically serves as a shrugging of the shoulders to everyone eager for insight into Ishmael's "New Tribal Revolution". After Dachau does nothing that 1984 doesn't do better, from someone I thought capable of so much more.
Rating: Summary: Quinn's best book Review: Daniel Quinn is one of our most important novelists, working with the most important theme of today: how can we survive the insanity that is civilization? And this is Quinn's best book. I read it in one sitting, and for the last thirty pages I couldn't stop crying, even though I was on a crowded airplane. It's an extraordinary, and extraordinarily moving, book.
Rating: Summary: Very Interesting Review: I have read all of Daniel Quinn's books. Ishmael (the BEST), My Ishmael, The Story of B...I must say that the elements of this book from a thematic point of view is along the same lines as his earlier works. This book was kind of hard to keep up with though in my opinion. Different revelations about the setting and other elements that were not clear earlier in the story come at a rapid pace. I would suggest being prepared to read it twice...which is really the typical strategy to use when reading Quinn. He is very cerebral and you have to give his books maximum attention. Which is a good thing I might add. This book is not as ground breaking as his first books but I would definitely suggest this one for all readers. The only thing I would suggest is that if you haven't read Ishmael FIRST.....please do........the ride may not be as smooth as it could be if you don't........PEACE...........
Rating: Summary: Makes you wonder... Review: This new novel by Daniel Quinn is certainly unlike any of his previous books in that it isn't a work of cultural critique, but is still thematically connected to his past works, such as Ishmael and The Story of B. This is the story of a young man who is obsessed with reincarnation, who finally finds what he believes to be the real thing, and how this discovery shatters his view of the world and sends him on a daunting mission to share what he's found with others. If you've read Daniel's other books, when you finish this one you'll see that we have much in common with the young man at the end of this book. This book was enjoyable, readable, and thoughtful. I would recommend it to any Quinn fans as well as anyone who simply wants to read a great book.
Rating: Summary: 1984, Brave New World, and now After Dachau Review: This book is quite an imaginative work. I'm really into nightmarish utopian novels like Orwell's 1984, and After Dachau fits this category. I really don't want to give any of the plot away (I'll just say that the book's major surprize really jolts you and makes you think about...well...about ourselves and the way we live day to day and perceive our history and our role in that history) and so this is really just a cry for other people to read this great novel.
Rating: Summary: A very creative and excellent novel. Review: Quinn really thought outside the box on this one. If you like dumbfounding moments of realization, for example, like you experienced if you watched the movie The Sixth Sense, you'll love this book.
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