Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
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- Create Date：2021-12-30 09:51:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Daniel Quinn
- ISBN：0553375407
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Summary
Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here
TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL。
Must have an earnest desire to
save the world。 Apply in person。
It was just a three-line ad in the personals section， but it launched the adventure of a lifetime。。。
So begins Ishmael， an utterly unique and captivating novel that has earned a large and passionate following among readers and critics alike—one of the most beloved and bestselling novels of spiritual adventure ever published。
TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL。
Must have an earnest desire to
save the world。 Apply in person。
It was just a three-line ad in the personals section， but it launched the adventure of a lifetime。。。
So begins Ishmael， an utterly unique and captivating novel that has earned a large and passionate following among readers and critics alike—one of the most beloved and bestselling novels of spiritual adventure ever published。
Reviews
H
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Ignorance and arrogance masquerading as wisdom。
Lourdes
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Tuve la fortuna de encontrarme con este libro por un querido amigo。 Comienza con una premisa interesante y el final comprime todo lo visto， cosa que aprecio mucho。 Si bien plantea ideas interesantes， tampoco son muy nuevas。 Banco igual eh， se lo recomendaría a alguien menor de 18 años。
Flora
，
This book made me go vegan （though I'm not anymore）。 I think it's a wonderful eye-opener， and shifted my ideas around spirituality and the accepted myths in our culture。 It gets easier to understand and more nuanced the more times you care to read it， but the main takeaways for me were always the human impact on environment， and arguments for breaking away from societal rigidity。 This book made me go vegan （though I'm not anymore）。 I think it's a wonderful eye-opener， and shifted my ideas around spirituality and the accepted myths in our culture。 It gets easier to understand and more nuanced the more times you care to read it， but the main takeaways for me were always the human impact on environment， and arguments for breaking away from societal rigidity。 。。。more
Julie Gaunky
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I found myself listening with an intent so close that I had to rewind the narration back for minutes at a time。 Also， I found myself speaking aloud in the role of the student， answering Ishmael’s questions as he posed them in the text。 The line about Adam beginning our cultural history， and not the history of all of humanity， is a truth that will stick with me for time to come。 Humanity’s need for control and preparation is a large theme in my own existence， and I’ve found myself journaling abou I found myself listening with an intent so close that I had to rewind the narration back for minutes at a time。 Also， I found myself speaking aloud in the role of the student， answering Ishmael’s questions as he posed them in the text。 The line about Adam beginning our cultural history， and not the history of all of humanity， is a truth that will stick with me for time to come。 Humanity’s need for control and preparation is a large theme in my own existence， and I’ve found myself journaling about how I can live more in accordance with the provisions given to all life by life itself。 I want to read other titles in this series， but I need time to digest all that was in this book。 Wow。 。。。more
Pierre Durrani
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One of the best books I ever read （in 2003）。 It changed my perspective of life。
NJ
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We are all captives of the history we are taught and the culture we accept as our own。 Never had a book make me think differently until Ishmael。
Pablo Medina Escamilla
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This books shows itself as that uncle that always has the need of telling you that you don't know about life when he himself is so deep into his bubble he doesn't even know his son's age。 Shallow， unimpresive， boring and pretentious。I bought it because mi middle name is Ismael。 Never read a book of D Q before， and now， I will never read another one。 This books shows itself as that uncle that always has the need of telling you that you don't know about life when he himself is so deep into his bubble he doesn't even know his son's age。 Shallow， unimpresive， boring and pretentious。I bought it because mi middle name is Ismael。 Never read a book of D Q before， and now， I will never read another one。 。。。more
Miss Canthus
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Interesting ideas， a bit superficial， way to much idealization of the „simple“ life of hunter/gatherers and I hate this question-answer style books that camouflage as literature。 Or what is the point？ And don‘t expect it to be a question-answer dialogue as Socrates。 ;）
Andre
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This is a feel good book。 Some people have commented that the book changed their lives， not sure how that is possible but if it makes some people feel better， then good for them。For me however， when a book starts early with a statement that the author puts down as a fact and it is not， then it is a good indicator that the book could be full of holes。 Let me explain one example of many in the book ， touted as fact:"Animals do not exterminate their competitors"。。。as quoted from the book。This is no This is a feel good book。 Some people have commented that the book changed their lives， not sure how that is possible but if it makes some people feel better， then good for them。For me however， when a book starts early with a statement that the author puts down as a fact and it is not， then it is a good indicator that the book could be full of holes。 Let me explain one example of many in the book ， touted as fact:"Animals do not exterminate their competitors"。。。as quoted from the book。This is not a fact。 The Gombe chimpanzee war is a good example， a quick Google search on that or Jane Goodalls work in the jungle with the apes will quickly dispelled that。 Chimps will murder their own， just like evil men do。 Oh， and Gorillas and Chimpanzee's frequently war in the wild as well and it is fully documented。 If you wanted some evidence outside of primates， then check out the measly meercats， who collect in tribes and war consistently with other tribes。 Killer whales， who just kill for the sake of killing when the urge arises。。。。there are really too many examples to cite to disprove this statement。 Humans just move it to another level due to their intelligence。 The author then creates 2 classes of humans: givers and takers， basically uncivilized or not。 Another non-fact。 The basis is that Mother Earth provides for all and the givers understood this， whereas the takers created agricultural revolution and exploded population and the givers （hunter and gatherers lived in utopia。 Agricultural revolution was an eventuality and not a choice， it is because humans gained knowledge。 Hunter and gathers have to roam and expand in search of food and was natures way to deploy humans across all regions of the globe， even the so called giver tribes that still exist in regions of the jungles， grow food today， and they have to。 If you doubt this choice， watch the TV show 。。。ALONE， where experienced survivalists try to live alone and on the fruits of Mother Earth。 These experienced people rarely make it just 90 days even given some modern tools！So， the givers of our past and present， lead a very dreadful life and a very short lifespan。As far as destroying earth， the earth is not worried about humans， it will always exist， with or without us。 It can shake us off like fleas anytime it likes and provides multiple ways of controlling the population， and it has done so since the beginning Summary ， there is good and bad in everything and nothing will ever be utopia or has it ever been， there is nothing we can do to correct this and man must continue to try to live its best life。 The end of the world comes for each man ， in about 80 years or so （individual lifespan，） a few more for some but the majority much less。 So， we have a very short time to enjoy our stay on the pale blue dot as Carl Sagan would say。。。 。。。more
Jordan
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AMAZING， 13/10 would recommend reading this book。
Lutfi Zakhour
，
Eye openingWasn’t expecting this。 Really makes you think on the hierarchy of our ecosystem and the misconception that man / human is on top， and particularly the implications of that versus the rest of the world， and habitats that we live in。 The problem I have with this book is that for someone that would like to do something with this new found discovery， it’s too abstract。 Where does advancement end and greed begin？ Brilliant book with an amazing “genesis-driven” thinking on sustainability！
Rachael Jadot
，
My favorite！
Hanna
，
It’s hard to begin to put into words what reading this felt like。 To use a metaphor from the book… maybe it felt like being in free fall in my attempt to invent an airplane， seeing the ground come closer， feeling doomed and helpless about the ground coming closer， realizing I have a parachute hidden in plain sight， using the parachute even though it feels so fundamentally wrong， and floating to safety。 And the safety is not the place I was trying to go with my airplane， but it is indescribably b It’s hard to begin to put into words what reading this felt like。 To use a metaphor from the book… maybe it felt like being in free fall in my attempt to invent an airplane， seeing the ground come closer， feeling doomed and helpless about the ground coming closer， realizing I have a parachute hidden in plain sight， using the parachute even though it feels so fundamentally wrong， and floating to safety。 And the safety is not the place I was trying to go with my airplane， but it is indescribably better than hitting the ground。“You’re captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order to live。”-“This is what we need。 Not just stopping things。 Not just less of things。 People need something positive to work for… They need more than a vision of doom。 They need a vision of the world and of themselves that inspires them。”-“‘But you must be inventive—if it’s worthwhile to you。 If you care to survive… You’re an inventive people， aren’t you？ You pride yourselves on that， don’t you？’‘Yes。’‘Then invent。’” 。。。more
Richard Conboy
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One of my favorites
Kaspars
，
Pārsteidza labā nozīmē。
Jon Walliser
，
Sleazy hitpiece on GermanyThe idea of the book was nice， but it quickly derailed into a hit piece on Germany。 I lose respect for people that when making a moral point， always reach for the Hitler meme， it just gets old。 Aside from the German bashing the book was ok。
Cameron
，
The worlds dumbest man teams up with the worlds most patient gorilla to save the world。 Pretty entertaining and relatively well written。 The ideas here， however， are super shallow and it was so dumbed down and slow in the name of convincing the reader that it lost a lot of substance。
Katherine
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At first it took me a while to get around the idea of a gorilla that could talk intelligently。 But， once accepting that， I found the story very entertaining， and also thought provoking。 It is a difficult book to analyze， but well worth reading。
What's the Genre？
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Book chosen by: KevinGenre: Impact Book
Esther Friedlander
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Masterpiece。 One of the best books ever written。 I think this should be worldwide compulsory reading。 Go read this right now。 Perfect book。
Meagan Magee
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This book made an excellent argument and I enjoyed learning its premise。 My one complaint is that I can tell it is very much a product of the 80s because of where the main character starts in his thinking。 He starts at such a different mindset about Man's destiny for the world than many of us do today。 It is a revelation for him to think about how man is killing the planet， when that is common knowledge now。 After we get over that， the results for how to overcome it， and how the "leavers" view c This book made an excellent argument and I enjoyed learning its premise。 My one complaint is that I can tell it is very much a product of the 80s because of where the main character starts in his thinking。 He starts at such a different mindset about Man's destiny for the world than many of us do today。 It is a revelation for him to think about how man is killing the planet， when that is common knowledge now。 After we get over that， the results for how to overcome it， and how the "leavers" view creation myth is quite interesting。 I have to say。。。 the idea that Caucasians are the mark of Cain， and that Cain's true sin was being an agriculturalist will definitely live rent-free in my mind。 。。。more
Zoe Haskins
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I had to read this for school， but it was a good read
Katie & Rae
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Please read。
Tautvydas Rasimka
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Interesting perspective， but might have come to conclusion faster。 Some of the points were same over the same over the same
Timothy Conklin
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Thought provoking book。 Great for a book club。 I don't agree with everything in it， but it has changed the way I think。 Ishmael is the Jellyfish。 Thought provoking book。 Great for a book club。 I don't agree with everything in it， but it has changed the way I think。 Ishmael is the Jellyfish。 。。。more
TheRealKgalid
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This book was recommended to me on TikTok， by a person who said it changed their perspective on life。I was looking for great books to read so hearing that， made me want to read it and see how life changing a book could be。 First of all it’s important to note that this is the first philosophy book I’ve ever read。The book had me hooked start to finish， and when I reached the end and saw that there are two more books in the series my mind was blown to pieces。 “WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY SAY！？？” w This book was recommended to me on TikTok， by a person who said it changed their perspective on life。I was looking for great books to read so hearing that， made me want to read it and see how life changing a book could be。 First of all it’s important to note that this is the first philosophy book I’ve ever read。The book had me hooked start to finish， and when I reached the end and saw that there are two more books in the series my mind was blown to pieces。 “WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY SAY！？？” was my reaction， and it was an appropriate reaction because seriously this book felt like it tackled almost all aspects of it’s field of study。I laughed out loud when I saw the reviews of this book， right after giving it a 5 star。 Because the book is nothing less to me than that。 。。。more
Gabriel Dibble
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I liked the insight of not assuming that we are the masters over nature， which [imo] is an arrogance of humans in our desire to control。 We really should evolve or maybe it's regress， back to allowing nature to work in its own harmony。 Humans are merely passengers on this planet which is like a starship traveling through space， and there are species here that maintain the life support systems that all Earthlings rely upon。I have but one criticism which to me seemed an unnecessary slight: Chapter I liked the insight of not assuming that we are the masters over nature， which [imo] is an arrogance of humans in our desire to control。 We really should evolve or maybe it's regress， back to allowing nature to work in its own harmony。 Humans are merely passengers on this planet which is like a starship traveling through space， and there are species here that maintain the life support systems that all Earthlings rely upon。I have but one criticism which to me seemed an unnecessary slight: Chapter 3， in the story of Cane and Able: “my fair， or maggot colored face”， “it doesn’t pay to mess with people with white faces”。 This 1） is an unscientific assumption （as we simply do not know） that in said era those people's skin color had changed， and 2） it's not right to make this bigoted statement about any skin color as history shows people from all regions at some time have conquered even those that look their same for means of power。 This one example aside， I still enjoyed this book and will reread it and reflect upon its core wisdoms。 。。。more
William Crosby
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A gorilla as guru。
Minimol
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Thought provoking and intriguingA fascinating read， one that gives you new eyes to look at the world with， or rather， all of humankind。 Definitely recommend to anyone who is open to that。
Anton
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