Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
insightful yet overlooked, 10 Jun 2009
Despite a mildly frustrating Q&A format, this is a deep and (beneficially) mind-altering work that can re-shape how you think about almost everything. So, why so few reviews for this masterful work over here, when there are over 800 on Amazon.com?
Quinn synthesises numerous schools of thought - primarily anthropology, history, biology, and theology - in such a way as to paint a truly all-encompassing portrait of how we got here. The basic premise is as accurate as it is appalling: a classic catch-22:
A. Father Culture teaches us to produce more food that we can use.
B. We reproduce in direct correlation with the amount of available food.
C. The more we reproduce, the more food we need.
Yes, it is an over-simplification but it's still truth. This work uncovers our cultural myth that it's OK to keep consuming, destroying the environment, producing more food and multiplying our population at insanely unhealthy levels.
In several later books Quinn takes this further. "My Ishmael" is basically a repeat of "Ishmael" and slightly disappointing because of that but "Story of B" explains that our current focus on agriculture is basically at "war" with nature and only really became that way with patriarchy. Many open-minded archeologists are telling - off the record - of more and more clues that patriarchy suddenly, about 6,000 years ago, came in from nowhere, overwhelmed, and radically changed our direction from, the peaceful lifestyle enjoyed for hundreds of thousands of years previously. Ancient times were by no means brutal and backwards, as we've been brainwashed to believe.
For instance, dating of the "pre"historic Jomon culture has been regularly pushed back over the last decade and is currently identified as having begun at least 100,000 years ago and having lasted for well over 50,000 years, maybe double that, in an astonishingly stable manner. They enjoyed a comfortably abundant, healthy, and aesthetic lifestyle involving stunning pottery, trading, travel (very possibly global) and commmunal co-operation - within groups (no "chiefs"), with neighbouring societies (no defensive fortifications), and with nature (such as a regular "harvesting" of fruit and nut orchards but not intensive farming). We CAN choose a different way from the current "dominate and destroy" culture, a transformation to a world of harmony, diversity and flexibility, in partnership with all living things, not least our earth.
Some complain that Quinn is stating the obvious. For me, it was an exciting new angle on our culture, another veil lifted.
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wanted: one hundred emailers!, 6 Mar 2006
Critics, commentators, writers [and theologians?] assert that fiction reflects life. If so, you will look long and hard to find a grander image of life than Daniel Quinn offers in Ishmael. He isn't interested in building synthetic characters or weaving intricate plots. He has a message to convey to every human on this planet. If fiction reaches more people than plain instructive writing, then that's the path he's chosen. And he's chosen well, providing a vivid scenario of human thinking on how we view life. How we view life depends on our role - Ishmael divides humanity into two populations, the Leavers and the Takers.Would you answer the newspaper advert seeking a pupil who desires to save the world? Note the singular - not "pupils" or "students." Just one. Are you the one? As you read this stunning fantasy it's impossible not to place yourself in the teller's mind as he confronts a massive lowland gorilla. Ishmael is the teacher seeking a student because he has a question: "With man gone, will there be hope for the gorilla?" Keep this question in mind. As you follow Ishmael's "course" you will gain fresh insight into what he considers the fundamental question: "how did things come to be this way?" Ishmael is no pedantic scholar or medieval disputant. He coaxes, teases, almost seduces response, but your answers must be carefully thought through before offering them. He's asking that you search the roots of your own cultural heritage to form your reply. Before long the perceptive reader will pause before simply accepting the author’s responses. Quinn’s aim, after all, is elicit reaction from you – his fictional “student” is only a mechanism to that end. In his dialogue with his pupil [you!], Ishmael repeats the question of "how things came to be this way." As you ponder his question, think about the figures dominating our heritage. Ishmael names Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad and others as "Prophets" - the key figures in Taker history. What have they taught us about the world we inhabit? Who are the Leavers' prophets and what are their teachings? Ishmael's response will surprise many. Quinn's building dialogue throughout this book is skillfully presented. His innovative style is straightforward, unpretentious and nearly flawless. It would be easy to criticise his prose as "too simple," but the urgency of his message and the novel form of its presentation is purposely designed to attract the widest possible audience. The story may not be complex or convoluted, but Quinn has given us a gem. Remember, diamonds are composed of but one element - anything added is impurity. Ishmael's "course" pre-requisite is "an earnest desire to save the world." No-one can question the enormity of that task, least of all Ishmael himself. He doesn't expect an environmental messiah to answer the question of whether there's "hope for the gorilla"? There's a need for more "pupils" to answer that question. So if your local newspaper doesn't have an advert stating "Teacher seeks pupil," please inquire at the email address listed at the top of this review. The first one hundred responses will be answered. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yup!!, 5 Jan 2005
By A Customer
I read this book a few weeks ago. Great read! simple as. Never read anything like it before. Daniel Quinn must have an incredible mind to be able to think about things like this. Its an eye opener and def worth the read. I recommend this right here
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