Currently Reading . . .

The title of this post is a lie. I've actually finished reading this book and have moved on to it's sequel. As the picture shows, I've recently finished reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

David and his mom have suggested this book to me multiple times, but for some reason I always put it on the back burner and chose something else. I am SO GLAD that I finally made time for this book.

The story is about a modern author who feels disillusioned with the current state of the world. He feels that he and the rest of the world are being lied to, but he doesn't know by whom or what the lie is. One day he sees an ad in the paper:

"Teacher seeks pupil, must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person"

The narrator answers the ad only to find himself in a room with an overwhelmingly large gorilla named Ishmael. Even more surprising than being in a room with a gorilla is when the gorilla begins to communicate telepathically with the narrator.

I know this sounds kind of weird, but stay with me.

The narrator decides to look past the fact that he is able to communicate telepathically with Ishmael (which suggests that the reader must also suspend disbelief) and proceeds to have a series of discourses about the origins of our culture and about what Ishmael describes as the reason things are the way they are.

I'm really glad that I decided to finish this book before doing a post about it. About halfway through the book, once I had delved into Ishmael's explanations of what drives the two cultures described in the book, the Takers and the Leavers, I began to feel as though the world is spiraling out of control and that there is no way to fix it. I felt that the book was telling me that we've passed the point of being able to heal the planet and that this dismal fate is all due to our unwillingness to see ourselves as ONE of God's creations, a helper in taking care of the earth, rather than as the creation that has the right to destroy any other creature or environ, mistaking wants for needs. After finishing the book, I still agree with the second part of the above statement, but Ishmael's final lessons in the novel reveal a possible course to changing the way we view our role in the world. I ultimately left the novel feeling hopeful, yet concerned.

There is so much more to the book than solely what I've mentioned above.

The author provides a wonderful explanation of the agricultural revolution and our culture's movement away from the more sustainable methods of food gathering, such as the hunter/gatherer tradition, and many, many others. He also discusses the correlation between an increase in food production and unrestrained population growth. I had never really thought about those two together in the way that the author presents them.

This novel has changed my perspective on so many ideas. I don't want to misrepresent the ideas in this novel. The above thoughts are merely my interpretation of the author's words. I wanted to share my thoughts on this novel, because I feel that generating dialogs about ways to improve the life of the planet must be one of Quinn's goals in writing the novel.

I have started the sequel to Ishmael called My Ishmael and it is equally as thought provoking as it's mate. Once I get a little more into it, I'll try to remember to do another post.

I hope many, many people will read both books.