Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
Book Review: The insolvable conclusion to every problem that ever existed
Summary: 5 Stars
If everybody in the world read this book an awful lot of things would be better. There is now a huge line between peoples in the world, those who have read this book and those who haven't. It is the answer to all of our mind quizzes. It would be impossible for me to explain how much this book has changed me and my thoughts on the world, because of the whole philosophy in itself. Ill probably sound crazy, but thats because you are one of the people who hasn't read the book, and this is the gap it has created. If u ever do anything ever in your life, READ THIS BOOK! if i was rich i would post a copy to every house in the country.Book Review: It will change your life, if you let it
Summary: 5 Stars
Buy this at the same time as "The Story of B" and "My Ishmael" becuase they form a kind of unofficial trilogy - "Ishmael" laying the ground foundations of Quinn's theory, "The Story of B" expanding and adding to those ideas and "My Ishmael" completing the set by showing how the decline of our culture can be averted.It would be too hard to outline Quinn's theory about why our society (and only our society) works so badly, but if you have ever thought that there must be something better than living a life working hard to gain things which are free, such as food, then this book is for you. If you have ever felt hollow or unfufilled by your life and the way you live it, then this book has one important message for you - it is not your fault. I hope my enthusiasm for this book will encourage you to read it, because I can honestly say it has changed my life. Everywhere I look I see elements of Taker culture and I want to scream at the top of my lungs and show everybody what is wrong. I want to open their eyes. I'm sure you don't understand what I'm talking about unless you've read the book, but if you buy it then you will.
The revelations I had whilst I was reading this book, "The Story of B" and "My Ishmael" were so amazing I felt sick, elated, depressed but mostly a sense of enormous relief. It is not every single human in our culture that is wrong, there is nothing wrong with us. It is our society...our society that imposes laws that it knows will be broken and then is suprised when they are, our society that thinks humans are God's over other animals, out society that has abandoned the way Tribal societies lived and survived with for hundreds and hundreds of years, our society...Please, I urge you to buy this book, there is nothing more I can say. Buy this book.
Book Review: We can thank Dan Quinn, and Ted Turner for a real first!
Summary: 5 Stars
There are two stories of Ishmael. The first is how it came about. Ted Turner, the outrageous but relentlessly original `mouth of the south' expressed disgust with the pap he was reading on book stands, and offered a substantial prize for a story that took on serious social issues, but was also a good read. Daniel Quinn worked for one of the big publishing houses, and was disgusted with the pap he was seeing, so dropped out, and decided that he would write something meaningful. His book (one of 2500 entries) won the Turner Prize. I have read books in english for more than fifty years, and have never been so affected. Daniel Quinn will give a new meaning to your relationships with this planet, and with animals, especially large ones. For example - this is going to sound weird - I wandered by a circus tent in Stamford, Ct. soon after my first reading of Ishmael, and saw an elephant, chained to a concrete post, swaying gently in that monotonous, sad, autistic endless figure-eight minidance that is common to all captive wild animals. I thought of the Oklahoma song... the corn is as high as an elephant's eye, and my gaze wandered up, and met with the elephant's. What I believed I saw was the other, and the main, unforgettable story of Ishmael.Book Review: worth a read
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have not read this book, you might be wondering why so many reviewers would characterize it as "life changing" and why the rest of them seem to be so ticked off. This book will ask you to reconsider everything you've ever been told. Even if you don't agree with everything Quinn says, it must cause you to think.
There are very few books that I can say have changed me, and this is one of them. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor by reading it.
A Must Read for every fantasy fan is THE PRICE OF IMMORTALITY by C.M. Whitlock
Book Review: good not great
Summary: 3 Stars
The ideas in this book are nothing new to any person who has taken the time to step back from society and realised the worthlessness of the "takers" life. However the book does lay these ideas down in a structered way and may get many who still live a "takers" life to take stock of there lives, and so Ishmael is well worth a read.I my opinion the book dismisses many beliefs such as God or religon (which if you study more then Genesis also says that we should live in Gods world and not abuse the land or get caught up in the belief that we control the world)which are worthy ideas in themselves.
If like myself you like to listen to new ideas and contemplate them, read this book. If on the other hand you like a good read with a bit more than just a basic plot try "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.