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MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES IN PRINT
The narrator of this extraordinary tale is a man in search for truth. He answers an ad in a local newspaper from a teacher looking for serious pupils, only to find himself alone in an abandoned office with a full-grown gorilla who is nibbling delicately on a slender branch. “You are the teacher?” he asks incredulously. “I am the teacher,” the gorilla replies. Ishmael is a creature of immense wisdom and he has a story to tell, one that no other human being has ever heard. It is a story that extends backward and forward over the lifespan of the earth from the birth of time to a future there is still time to save. Like all great teachers, Ishmael refuses to make the lesson easy; he demands the final illumination to come from within ourselves. Is it man’s destiny to rule the world? Or is it a higher destiny possible for him—one more wonderful than he has ever imagined?
Now available in paperback for the first time, Ishmael is the winner of the Turner Tomorrow Award--a prize for fiction that offers solutions to global problems. When a man in search of truth answers an ad in a local newspaper from a teacher looking for serious students, he finds himself alone in an abandoned office with a gorilla named Ishmael.
The first time I read the ad, I choked and cursed and spat and threw the paper to the floor. Since even this didn't seem to be quite enough, I snatched it up, marched into the kitchen, and shoved it into the trash. While I was there, I made myself a little breakfast and gave myself some time to cool down. I ate and thought about something else entirely. That's right. Then I dug the paper out of the trash and turned back to the Personals section, just to see if the damn thing was still there and just the way I remembered it. It was.
TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.
An earnest desire to save the world! Oh, I liked that. That was rich indeed. An earnest desire to save the world--yes, that was splendid. By noon, two hundred mooncalfs, softheads, boobies, ninnyhammers, noodleheads, gawkies, and assorted oafs and thickwits would doubtless be lined up at the address given, ready to turn over all their worldlies for the rare privilege of sitting at the feet of some guru pregnant with the news that all will be well if everyone will just turn around and give his neighbor a big hug.
You will wonder: Why is this man so indignant? So bitter? It's a fair question. In fact, it's a question I was asking myself.
The answer goes back to a time, a couple decades ago, when I'd had the silly notion that the thing I most wanted to do in the world was . . . to find a teacher. That's right. I imagined I wanted a teacher--needed a teacher. To show me how one goes about doing something that might be called . . . saving the world.
Stupid, no? Childish. Naïve. Simple. Callow. Or just fundamentally dumb. In one so manifestly normal in other respects, it needs explaining.
It came about in this way.
During the children's revolt of the sixties and seventies, I was just old enough to understand what these kids had in mind--they meant to turn the world upside down--and just young enough to believe they might actually succeed. It's true. Every morning when I opened my eyes, I expected to see that the new era had begun, that the sky was a brighter blue and the grass a brighter green. I expected to hear laughter in the air and to see people dancing in the streets, and not just kids--everyone! I won't apologize for my naïveté; you only have to listen to the songs to know that I wasn't alone.
Then one day when I was in my mid-teens, I woke up and realized that the new era was never going to begin. The revolt hadn't been put down, it had just dwindled away into a fashion statement. Can I have been the only person in the world who was disillusioned by this? Bewildered by this? It seemed so. Everyone else seemed to be able to pass it off with a cynical grin that said, "Well, what did you really expect? There's never been any more than this and never will be any more than this. Nobody's out to save the world, because nobody gives a damn about the world, that was just a bunch of goofy kids talking. Get a job, make some money, work till you're sixty, then move to Florida and die."
I couldn't shrug it away like this, and in my innocence I thought there had to be someone out there with an unknown wisdom who could dispel my disillusionment and bewilderment: a teacher.
Well, of course there wasn't.
I didn't want a guru or a kung fu master or a spiritual director.
I didn't want to become a...
A reviewer of this book once wrote that she defines all the many books she's read into two categories: those "before Ishmael" and "after Ishmael". I agree, but with more muscle...I tend to define my entire worldview (yes, it is THAT provocative!) into ideas I had Before/After Ishmael. I've given away over 20 copies of this book to friends and family with the hope that it will touch the people I love with the same kind of grace I felt when I read it. Truly remarkable.
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 14, 2002
I was given this book by a friend and told that it was a must read. This is going to be a very unpopular star rating, but... Daniel Quinn is spot-on in saying that Mother Culture has brain washed the masses, even the more enlightened ones.
5 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 27, 2007
I will agree with those who said this book was hard to get through. It was. I didn't enjoy the style of writing or the tone of the book and I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters. Normally those points would not allow me to enjoy a book at all. The strange thing is that I HAD to get through this book - because the ideas Quinn wanted to convey were so powerful. I always tell people that this book is worth getting through to get the background information and then move on to a much more well written book by the same author, 'The Story of B'.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 9, 2007
I read this book as an agreed-upon title for discussion in a book club, otherwise I don't think I could have finished it. The author droned on and on in a simplistic and didactic imitation of the classical and biblical philosophy motifs: dialogue and allegory. In the process, he subverts dialectic and intellectual epiphany into his own personal megaphone for propaganda. He presents tired armchair renditions of Marx and Rousseau, whining for the redistribution of wealth, condemning the great religions, and with a sycophantic paean to the 'noble savage'. Quinn spends the whole book lamenting the development of agriculture and impuning white males as carrying the 'Mark of Cain' in a crudely racist attack. He goes on to extol the dismal falacies of Malthus as inevitable, and longs for his fantasy of everyone returning to a hunter-gatherer 'paradise'. Like all utopians, Quinn is insufferable and is happy to offer a Jacobin solution to famine- let the bastards starve. If these obtuse premises were not bad enough, the writing itself is awful: overextended metaphors,inaccurate historical, anthropological, and philosophical references, and the incredibly annoying voice of the author stroking his own ego through the dialogue. In a world where time is so precious, I resented wasting mine on such pap. I had anticipated hearty 'food for thought' based on recommendations, but ended up instead with a bag of pork rinds. Yeccccch!
4 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 25, 2011
Ishmael will challenge the way you think and live, in a very good way. After reading this book you will want to do anything and everything to save the world.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 8, 2011
I read a lot of reviews on this book before buying, and most of them talked about a life changing experience. Well, I completely agree. This is the story I've always wanted, and it has confirmed the way I've always felt about humanity and the world as a whole. This book well forever change the way you look at the world. By the end of the book I was on the verge of crying. GET THIS BOOK.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 21, 2010
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At one point in the story, Ishmael, the gorilla, discusses the Bible story of Cain and Abel. Ishmael says that Cain was a group of people at the beginning of the agriculture revolution around 8,000 B.C. that started farming and Abel was the pastoralistic Semites, the ancestors of the Hebrew people. Ishmael goes on to say that Cain kills Abel for the land and that Abel wrote Genesis 4 to show that God was on their side. But, in Genesis 4, Cain is the pastoralist, or animal herder, and Abel was the farmer. This completely contradicts what Ishmael is attempting to say.
2 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I have never come across something that has changed my outlook on life so drastically.
This is a must read.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This books seems a bit silly whenever I try to describe it: "Well, you see, a gorilla teaches a man how to save the world." That doesn't do it any kind of justice. What this book will do is change the way you see the world and the people in it. You might start acting a bit differently, start thinking of third-world countries with a bit more respect, and you might start up a conversation with the gorilla at the local zoo. Read this one just to get yourself questioning the world a bit, if for nothing else.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 30, 2008
This is a phenomenal story that, while fiction, sets your mind in motion. I have bought several copies because I felt that the people I love just had to read it. All students would benefit from this book as well as the recreational reader.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 12, 2008
This book changed my perspective on life, opended my eyes to ideas and enlightenment I never knew existed.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 15, 2007
Reading through the back cover, the first few pages of this book, and at some of the reviews for 'Ishmael' gave me hope that this assigned reading was somewhat inspiring or at the very least, thought provoking. It was none of this. Yes, a gorilla and a man converse telepathically about the fate of the world, human destruction of the environment, and how the world came to be this way. Yes, it gives historical and biblical context as to the Big Bang, human evolution, and the mindset that humans are superior to any other species on this planet. But if you are a human and have been living in the past century in any developed nation and have had spare time to think or ponder on the horrors of the world, of the problems that plague this nation and ravage humanity, then you already know all of this. Quinn writes in this annoyingly pretentious and self-righteous tone when describing the story of the 'Leavers' and 'Takers' that it is hard not to fall asleep or balk at his audacity in treating his readers like five-year-olds. On another note, Quinn's views on global population control and food production are discussed and he suggests birth control and restraint from developed nations to aid nations suffering from famine. On a biological and completely clinical diagnosis, yes, we could cut Mother Nature some slack and slow down the population growth and let people starve to death. Quinn, of course, notes that humans are not the ones who dictate what happens, but the gods. It seems completely contradictory that this book is meant to inspire people to save the world at the expense of human lives, at the cost of the human heart and our own souls. So sue me if I want to help Third World nations reeling from famine and poverty. There are, in the real world and outside of Quinn's fantasy land of gorilla-speak, organizations like Heifer International that seek to end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance and sustainability. How this book has inspired people is beyond me. It shows us what humans are capable of, what we have already destroyed, and what we will end up destroying. It is nothing new. What angers me the most is that Quinn offers no real guide or solutions to even aiding this idealistic cause that he so highly regards. Ishmael tells his pupil to teach others what he has learned from these discussions, but this is reality. This is a world where the human race, as Quinn points out, is so flawed beyond belief that we wage wars against the most innocent and undeserving of enemies. It takes more than teachings to change the world and save it from ourselves. It takes real plans, goals, and fresh ideas enforced by a body that is recognized on an international level. This book is idealistic at best, and at its worst, with its nonexistent plot line and boring recount of human history and time, is too optimistic and simplistic to be real. Call me a cynic, but the world did not get to be this way because everyone listened to each other and played nice. What makes Quinn think that saving the world from ourselves should be this easy?
2 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 22, 2013
This book will make you want to scream shout laugh and sing.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 10, 2010
Book Review on "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn
This book review is on the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. In this book a man reads a newspaper article that describes a teacher who is seeking a student with an earnest desire to save the world. The man gets very angry and mad for some reason and throws the article in the trash. The next day he goes to the address written in the newspaper just out of curiosity to see if anyone came. But when he realized no one is there he goes inside and finds a Gorilla. For the rest of the book the Gorilla is teaching the man philosophical material on how mankind is destroying the world. I don't recommend this book for readers like me, teenagers, or anyone younger. But I would recommend this book to adults interested in philosophy.
The book "Ishmael" is a very slow going and long book. From the side it may not look very large, but when you start reading, it seems much larger than it really is. When I was reading this book I found myself not even paying attention to what was going on. After that I had to go back and start reading at the part where I had just the slightest idea of what was happening, and only after that would I read on.
The book was very slow at getting to the points that the Gorilla wanted to teach the student. I got the impression the student was not the smartest person around, because I was answering, in my mind, the questions asked by the Gorilla pages before the student even had the closest idea of what the teacher was talking about.
However, this book does have some good parts to it. For example, the ideas Daniel Quinn is talking about make a lot of sense. Unfortunately I can not give you one of those examples because I would have to put in five pages to get to the point of what is going on.
So, if you are a teenager like me, I would not recommend this book for the reasons described above, but if you are willing to try to pay attention to what the author is talking about, feel free to read this book. You will only get smarter.
1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Ishmael was recommended by a friend, and I am very glad it was. What an utterly unique and thought provoking book this is. If you like an intellectual challenge, if you like to have your thoughts and beliefs challenged, then you will enjoy this story.
A teacher, unlike any other, is looking for a student. The student he is looking for needs to have a strong desire to save the world. The student he gets thinks he knows what he is getting in to, but after his initial shock, he is challenged into having to find the answers buried deep within his own subconscious and in mankind's own history. There are so many interesting facts and ideas brought up in their interactions.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 23, 2009
Some people believe that the world was created for man, however other species believe that the world was created not only for man, but for all species and creatures; and that man is just a part of the world's species. Will other species continue to evolve and in the future pass the evolved species of man? As our world continues to change and evolve, what will become of man? How can man stop destroying the world?
"TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person." (Daniel Quinn, P 4) In the beginning, there was man, in the end, no one can predict what lies ahead for the world and all of it's inhabitants. The question is always asked in our society how did man come to be, along with the story that was told by mankind's ancestors? There are many different versions of how mankind came to be in a world full of growth and development. Some believe in the theory of evolution through the rapid development of primitive species. Others seek and find comfort in the story of the gods and the meaning behind Adam and Eve. Many are unsure how man came to be, and no one can really prove who is right in a society filled with opposition and variety.
The readers of this book will find "Ishmael" not only intriguing but persuasive as well. "From now on I will divide the books I have read into two categories-the ones I read before Ishmael and those read after" (Jim Britell, Whole Earth Review Front Cover) Many readers of Ishmael will find themselves questioning their own beliefs on how man came to be, and how Ishmael has altered entirely the way they view their own actions on this Earth. Readers will be very intrigued by the appearance Ishmael portrays in the book and how the pupil is just a normal human on Earth has his whole life changed due to how Ishmael portrays mankind, him not being human. Ishmael is suspenseful and inventive. The world seeks to fix the flaws that have been caused by mankind however only mankind can fix these flaws in order to survive and continue to conquer in peace with all other species around them.
Daniel Quinn, the author of Ishmael was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1935, and went on to study at the St. Louis University along with the University of Vienna in Austria, and Loyola University of Chicago. However in 1975, he abandoned a long career in publishing to become a freelance writer which included later writing Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael, Providence, and Beyond Civilization. (www.ishmael.org) Ishmael was originally written in 1977. It ended up being written six different times until the final copy was published in 1990. Daniel Quinn has written over a dozen books, and Ishmael was the inspiration and plot behind the 1999 film, Instinct starring Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding, Jr. This film received the Genesis award in 2000.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 20, 2007
It takes a particular kind of outsider to be not only insightful but also critical of mankind as a culture. The novel Ishmael is a series of dialogues between a confused and unhappy man and a gorilla, Ishmael. Each dialogue is different than the next and each dives a little deeper than the last. The concepts that drive Ishmael are intriguing: suggesting that mankind is the main problem on the earth, a culture which has been labeled 'the takers.' However, the quality of ideas in Ishmael is neither matched with a richness of language nor a convincing, persuasive argument. The reader needs to be willing to genuinely ponder these ideas, because an understanding is hardly provided within the text. Overall, Ishmael provides compelling ideas but not a delight to read.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 19, 2007
Quinn brings up ideas that society has been recycling for ages. Although the basis of his ideas are not unique, he portrayed them in a way that left readers thinking. The reader can easily tell that the purpose of Quinn¿s book was to ¿help save the world¿. Although this idea sounds ridiculous, he offers information that is socially significant. While his ideas present positive solutions to universal problems, he tends to ramble. He never reaches past the foundation of the ideas to make the fiction piece more organic. However, it seems that Quinn¿s purpose was not to make an artistic story, but to plainly help humans relate to their world. This book points out the flaws in society, and easily changes the way the reader views the world¿s situation.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 7, 2007
I picked this book up at a thrift store. I love to think and I spend a lot of time wondering about the world and my place in it. I question my existance daily. I read the first five chapters or so and then skipped to the last chapter. I found it tedious to read and ideas he puts forth are not new or inspiring. I was so disappointed. I guess it might be an ok book for those people who were forced to read it and had never thought about these things before.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 18, 2004
This was supposed to change my life. If this book seems like high philosophy to you then I'm sorry to say you haven't spent much time in that area. I'm not trying to sound smart, it just seemed a bit weak. Didn't really change my mind about anything. But it did make me wonder about the people whose life was changed by this mediocre work.
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES IN PRINT
The narrator of this extraordinary tale is a man in search for truth. He answers an ad in a local newspaper from a teacher looking for serious pupils, only to find himself alone in an abandoned office with a full-grown gorilla who is nibbling delicately on a slender branch. “You are the teacher?” he asks incredulously. “I am the teacher,” the gorilla replies. Ishmael is a creature of immense wisdom and he has a story to tell, one ...