23rd - Ignatius and Ishmael
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn is very thought provoking fable about a teacher (Ishmael) and his student (The Narrator). Heavily focused on a the idea that human beings act based on the cultural premise they believe. TAKERS and LEAVERS are the two divergent points of view that culture has created.
I took a pic from Ishmael dot ORG which shows the original listing the author worked through to decide on the name for his main character and venerable teacher. The ANSWER to why here.....
Ishmael develops the narrative that leads the student to understand how the majority of humankind are TAKERS, enacting a story that will destroy the world. Additionally, although the LEAVERS have become a tiny minority, they continue to live in communion with nature and natural law. They are now in a position where they can and should point mankind toward a brighter future. He unfortunately lumps together any mythology, beliefs, and ideals together, virtually ignoring God and any religious point of view.
It became difficult to read and absorb, since Daniel Quinn uses language that was reminiscent of Joseph Campbell and his Power of Myth studies. For people who know little about him, he focused on the universality and evolution of myths in history. He mixed in a Hodge-podge fashion, stories from his personal experience and mythology from different and somewhat divergent cultures and civilizations throughout the world. The conclusion of his thesis was that modern society is going through a transition. The culture will discard or evolve the existing mythologies and traditions and develop a more global, inclusive mythology.
Ishmael develops the narrative that leads the student to understand how the majority of humankind are TAKERS, enacting a story that will destroy the world. Additionally, although the LEAVERS have become a tiny minority, they continue to live in communion with nature and natural law. They are now in a position where they can and should point mankind toward a brighter future. He unfortunately lumps together any mythology, beliefs, and ideals together, virtually ignoring God and any religious point of view.
It became difficult to read and absorb, since Daniel Quinn uses language that was reminiscent of Joseph Campbell and his Power of Myth studies. For people who know little about him, he focused on the universality and evolution of myths in history. He mixed in a Hodge-podge fashion, stories from his personal experience and mythology from different and somewhat divergent cultures and civilizations throughout the world. The conclusion of his thesis was that modern society is going through a transition. The culture will discard or evolve the existing mythologies and traditions and develop a more global, inclusive mythology.
I've read many interesting novels that try to tell a philosophical or profound story that is intended to be illuminating for the reader. This unfortunately leads you to a despairing ending, where little or no good can be found in the TAKERS story, Ishmael is dead, and you are left with a troubling point of view about everything. It would be a good discussion book for a group perhaps just too much for me by myself.
The author, Quinn, and many of his followers believe that Ishmael is a story about hope. "I think we have a much finer and more exciting destiny than conquering and ruling the world," he says. "This book shows that we can learn about what that destiny is from the life around us -- and in Ishmael it just happens that life speaks with the voice of a lowland gorilla."
**Saint ** Links are to Orthodox Wiki.
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| Preceded by: Methodius I | Patriarch of Constantinople 847–858 | Succeeded by: Photius I |
| Preceded by: Photius I | Patriarch of Constantinople 867–877 | Succeeded by: Photius I |
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