Ishmael

Daniel Quinn

The book propounds the view that the world is on the threshold of an ecological disaster. The gorilla explains how each civilization lives according to certain unsaid assumptions, or as he puts it, "lives out a story". And how our civilization lives a story which is not ecologically viable. He claims that our civilization has an unspoken assumption that man is the center of creation, and is above the laws that hold the system. He presents alternate "stories" which have been followed by other civilizations and are more viable. The hypothesis is that it is not necessary (and not possible) to conquer nature, but to live in harmony with it.

I agreed with a lot of what the book says. I've read some other material by Daniel Quinn, and he comes across as a person with cogent arguments. The book may seem alarmist, but I think some of it is inevitable when the author chooses to focus on a single aspect in isolation.

Having said that, I think that the book could have been a lot thinner. The dialogues often get monotonous as Quinn chooses to hammer a point to death, in an effort to make it absolutely clear.

In short, a book with a great point of view, though repetitive at times. Recommended.