This is going to be my first of many reviews i will probably do on this site. Occasionally i find things that i really love, and i like to share them with others to see if they may be able to find something special in them like i did.
Ishmael is an amazing piece of work. I first read this about 3 years ago. It was leant to me by a co-worker but i had to return it quickly so i sped through the book a little bit, but even at the time i was very moved by the message within. It took a lot of my scattered thoughts and feelings about what exactly is going on in the world, like pollution, global warming, deforestation and overpopulation, and really helped focus my thoughts into one single idea.
Although Quinn deals with a very heavy subject, one which would make most people throw this book right into the trash, he approaches it from such a logical and scientific angle that once read it is difficult to just forget. Using sociology, anthropology, evolution, theology, ecology and population demographics he paints a very clear picture of exactly what has been going on with our civilization since the Agricultural revolution.
The best part about the book, i would say, is how he doesn’t actually blame any specific race, sex, reigion, industry, government or country. He deals purly with population size, and does not make an effort to break it down into regions or classes, and thus laying the blame on all of us as a whole.
Of course he lays out a clear path of exactly where we are headed, but unlike most works of our time that talk about the demise of the human race and the destruction of the world, he manages to end it on a more postive note, showing how we can change to possibly avoid the catastrophe ahead.
The book actually has two more that follow it in the series(The Story of B, My Ishmael), which serve to reiterate his main ideas, and then to develop them a little more in depth. Reading the entire series h
as left me forever changed, and as well solidified a lot of the views i have about what we are doing to this planet as a civiliaztion, and where we are headed as a result.
