Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

I was given this book to read by an American friend called Bow, I watched him read the last third of the book, chuckling away to himself, he would say "Simon, you are going to love this book". Sure enough he was right.
The last few pages urge the reader to pass on the knowledge contained in the book to a hundred people and inspire them to do the same. And so with this review I hope to share some of the wonderful ideas, explored by Daniel Quinn and Ishmael the gorilla, with you.

The story begins with a man reading a advert in a paper.

TEACHER seeks pupil. Must earnestly desire to save the world. Apply in person.

Being of earnest desire the man answers the advert in person, only for his legs to turn to jelly and barely manage to reach a chair before collapsing, when he realises his teacher is ISHMAEL, a gorilla from the forests of equatorial West Africa.
It sounded strange to me as well, but as I read on it started to make sense why Ishmael was such a perfect choice of teacher. Who better to observe the relationship between man, the Earth and the gods? Who better to explore the different ways in which man has chosen to exist on the Earth? A being who is able to understand the human condition without being caught up in it. Ishmael is a great teacher because of his patience, he builds up a story based strongly in common sense and truth which delivers you effortlessly but somewhat dazed into a new world. A world in which the truths we take for granted now, no longer apply.
Throughout the book a number of searching questions are set by Ishmael, initially they seem abstract, the answers appear to swing between child-like simplicity and intellectual overload but as the answers unfold, their importance becomes clear.
-such as
Was man the ultimate goal of creation?
How should man live?
Why did God forbid Adam from eating from the Tree of Knowledge?
How did Man become Man?

The Leavers and the Takers
This is a theme that is developed throughout the whole book. No matter how diverse the cultures of the world appear to be, they can be divided into two groups. The Leavers have existed on Earth for 3 million years, from the time when man first walked the planet. The Takers have existed only for 10 thousand years and its beginning was heralded by the discovery of agriculture. The legendary birthplace of agriculture is an area of land historians call the Fertile Crescent, between the mighty rivers of the Tigress and the Euphrates in the Middle East.
Put simply, Leavers are the hunter-gathers or pastorists of this world, taking what they need from nature.
The Taker culture, with their unlimited food production, allows settlement, leading to division of labour, giving rise to technology, trade and commerce and all the rest. The peoples of the Western Europe are Takers and during the period of colonial expansion Taker culture was exported by us all over the world.

What is the main difference between these two ways of living?
In the Leaver story it's believed that they belong to the Earth.
In the Taker story it's believed that the world was made for us and it belongs to us.

This book invites the reader to completely reconsider the bases on which our society is built. One example of this is the story of Genesis. This immediately appealed to me as I enjoy considering the nature and relevance of all religions; it is apt that a historical religion such as Christianity (5000 yrs old) features in a story about the birth of agriculture and the story of how things come to be this way.
Consider these questions-
Why was God displeased with the offerings of Cain, the farmer, yet accepts Abel offering of the lamb?
Why is it a curse and punishment, that Cain should be cast out of the Garden of Eden and made to grow food by the sweat of his brow?
Is not farming and all that it brings at the very heart of our culture?
A fascinating and highly plausible explanation is offered by Ishmael, which will challenge some deeply ingrained ideas within all of us.
This example shows us how some ideas are so deeply embedded in our character that we no longer have the inclination to question them. Some of the most important of these ingrained beliefs concern the validity of the taker culture. In the following passage, Ishmael explores this with his student.

ISHMAEL : the people of your (taker) culture are captives of a story
STUDENT : I know of no such story
ISHMAEL : you mean you have never heard it?
STUDENT : that is right
ISHMAEL : that is because there is no need to hear of it. There is no need to name it or discuss it. Every one of you knows it by heart by the time you are six or seven.
You hear it incessantly, because every medium of propaganda, every medium of education pours it out incessantly. And hearing it incessantly, you don't listen to it. There is no need to listen to it. It's always there humming away in the background, so there's no need to attend to it at all. It's like the humming of a distant motor that never stops; it becomes a sound that's no longer heard at all.
STUDENT : this is very interesting, but also a little hard to believe.
ISHMAEL : belief is not required. Once you know this story, you'll hear it everywhere in your culture, and you'll be astonished that people around you don't hear it as well but merely take it in.

This passage impressed me as it shows how we have to constantly question our minds, get to know our minds, to be sure we are not blindly following an implanted, conditioned way of thinking.
This reminded me of a passage from - How to know God- the yoga aphorisms of Patanjali

page 171. 'Thence arises complete mastery of the senses' -
In order to control the mind, we have to get to know it. Few of us know, objectively, what the insides of our minds are really like. Our dominating fears and desires have become so familiar to us that we do not even notice them; they are like recurring drum beats going on in the background of our thoughts. and so, as a preliminary exercise, it is good to spend some time every day simply watching our minds, listening to those drumbeats. We probably shall not like what we see and hear, but we must be very patient and objective. The mind, finding itself watched in this way, will gradually grow calmer. It becomes embarrassed, as it were, by its own greed and silliness. For no amount of outside criticism is so effective and as penetrating as our own simple self-inspection. If we continue the exercise regularly for several months, we shall certainly make some advance toward mental control.
Both these passages concern the importance of an inquiring attitude towards the ever-present drumbeats, which if we lack awareness will limit the development of our spirit.

This book took me through extreme emotions, from dark despair to liberated heights, from the stark reality to visions of the beautiful world it should be. But for all that, it left with me with an overwhelming certainty that the reason why our western society has become toxic to itself and to the world is because we have become detached from God and so ourselves.
Ishmael says "One of the most striking features of the Taker culture is its passionate and unwavering dependence on prophets. The influence of people like Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad in Taker history is simply enormous"but "there is no tradition whatever of prophets rising up among the Leavers to straighten out their lives and give them new sets of laws or principles to live by".
After some discussion the student says
"Ash. OK, I see what your are getting at. We need prophets to tell us how we ought to live, because otherwise we wouldn't know".
I think this shows just how far we have grown away from God.
But I am an optimist at heart and so believe it is not too late, if we could swallow some pride and learn from the small scattered groups of people around the world that follow the leaver story. That does not mean we must give up all aspects of western living to live in a similar way to them, but we have to incorporate some of their ideas about our place on this planet.
Let me close with a question.
If the taker story began 10000 yrs. ago with the development and expansion of agriculture, when did it stop?
The answer is that it has not stopped, it continues today, all over the world wherever indigenous people or cultures are threatened.

P.S. I found it difficult to purchase Ishmael (ISBN 0-553-56166-9) as it was printed in America, but if you wish to contact me, I have names and addresses of bulk suppliers in the States.

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