Ishmael

"With Man gone, will there be hope for Gorilla?"

Daniel Quinn's book is one of the most thought provoking and challenging books that I have read in quite awhile. Not that the books I was required to read for my courses this past semester were not thought provoking, but when you are forced to have your thoughts provoked (so to say), it often occurs that they are less attentive than can be otherwise. I often find that when I read books for a class, my mind is subconsciously rebelling against the information and even wisdom that they are trying to give me through them. No matter how much I may agree with or enjoy or have an interest in the material, the stubborn rebellious part of my brain is saying, "I may want to read this, but I did not choose to do so at this particular point in time! Therefore, I will make it as if I have only half read it!" (which in many cases turns out true after the last page has been flipped.) Moving farther on.....After having finished it (Ishmael) about an hour ago, my mind is still trying to comprehend the vast amount of wisdom that seems to go so very strongly against everything we have ever been taught from pre-gradeschool. I will not go into it because I would not want to ruin it for those of you who have not yet read. I do, however, strongly recommend doing so. If I had any control over what you do whatsoever, I believe I would actually force you to read this book, and like doing it... even if this goes against what I said earlier about not wanting to learn something. Anyhow, This book holds precepts that may be (read almost without a doubt are) crucial to the survival of our very species. It at once gives you despair and hope. Of course, what would it matter if our own species was just one more that we knocked off the list of the living? How did we become such swaggering pretentious idiots to think that we deserve to rule the world?