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Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
 

Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit

by Daniel Quinn

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... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  philosophy,  spirituality,  anthropology,  environment (all tags)

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Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
stacylynnj
  • Rated 5 stars

“The plot is simple: Teacher seeks man. Man finds teacher. Teacher turns out to be a century-old gorilla (Ishmael), who can not only talk, but has deep and powerful insight into Man's destruction of the world and how change is possible.

To pinpoint each aspect of this book that gave me chills or (as Oprah would say) made my brain go "Aha!" or made me cry or anything else that is usually tied to revelation would be impossible. Quinn tells this story in the simplest fashion: a...”

stacylynnj’s full review »
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Didn’t Like It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
viki k
  • Rated 1 stars

“Lost all possibility of relevance when the gorilla opened his mouth.”

viki k’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 4.103448 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Rajaram V

    rajaram v said:

    “Hmmm... well, I woul'nt quite call it philosophy but an idea that challenges us to question the path our species has taken and why the planet earth had 3 billion humans in 1960 and 6.6 billion now and growing... For more meaningful philosophy that puts it in its right place as nothing more than just another concept as the rest of this.... read Ramesh Balsekar..”

    posted 4 weeks ago
  • tracey s

    tracey s said:

    “Dyetay, I bought my copy of 'My Ishmael' on Amazon.com. It's interesting, when reading it you almost feel as if it should have been read before Ishmael. All of us who procreate should read this and think about the life we leave behind for those who will inherit the earth after we're gone.
    Extremely thought provoking. Love them both equally.”

    posted Thursday, May 15 2008
  • DyeTaY

    dyetay said:

    “yeah, I really like and love this book, I read it for a school paper for my philo class and I'm really thankful to that professor because it opened my mind a good deal about life and mankind. I didn't know there was a sequel, I doubt if they are for sale here in the philippines”

    posted Saturday, May 10 2008
  • Kiki68

    kiki68 said:

    “Maybe the idea of this book is admirable (although I would question that as well), but I found it quite dull and very poorly written. Not a good book or read. Everyone is entitled to their opinion! I don't consider myself a "negative nancy" at all--I am a very positive person who did not like this book, that's all. This book is though!”

    posted Saturday, May 10 2008
  • nutmegballs

    nutmegballs said:

    “If you liked "Ishmael", try "My Ishmael" and "The Story of B", both by Quinn. They are "sequels" in the sense that they further explore the ideas laid out in the first book, and they are excellent, whether read for philosophical reasons, or simply for enjoyment.”

    posted Saturday, May 10 2008
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