Customer Reviews

The Story of B

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This is, at the very least, an interesting book to read whether you end up loving or hating it, agreeing or disagreeing with the arguments. After reading some of the other reviews, I have a few comments. First, it is a work of fiction and not a historical narrative. Quinn doesn't use too much data to support his assertions, but as a work of fiction the story is just as effective in my opinion. I thought the two most interesting ideas the book offered were (1) the realities of the population explosion and how our culture is prepared (or not prepared) to deal with it and (2) the notion that the "fall" depicted in the Bible corresponds directly in time with the use of totalitarian agriculture. Some have interpreted the book as very anti-Christian, but I think his point is that "dogmatic" or "doctrinal" Christianity has contributed to our cultural problems. Quinn is not really criticizing the Spirit of Jesus' message (or the message of any other founder of the world's major religions), but rather the institutions that have been formed that don't permit a vision of any other way of life. Also, I don't think the book paints a picture of doomed planet as some have suggested, but rather a doomed CULTURE. There is still hope for humanity through changed minds (not, as Quinn points out, through more programs perpetuated by the same culture already in place).

Quinn put a thousand scattered pieces I had in my head and put them into one incredible horrific jigsaw puzzle. The story is ok. It's the "public teachings" that are at the core of both this story and his purpose. We can't face the truth about ourselves. We have to believe that we are God's chosen, that which is removed and above nature. We wrote the history books, the bibles, the science books, the culture of human beings. It's all slanted in our favor and honor. Of course it is. How can we speak the truth without self-destructing as individuals and a culture? Too bad we can't face our place in the universe and upon the Earth. We're not so bad. Just full of ourselves. This book will shake you to your foundation. It will leave you a bit lost and empty. But what is lost and empty can be found and filled again. Intuitively I knew the truth before I read the book. A great thank you for putting it together so profoundly and so clearly.

This is the followup to Ishmael and if you've read Ishmael, you must continue with this. This is the story of a Laurentain priest who is assigned to investigate a man known only as B, who is spreading the word. The Laurentains have a special mandate: to identify and suppress the Antichrist. The story is fine but is secondary to the message of saving the world. What was revealed in Ishmael is brought into blinding clarity here. We're in big trouble folks. We may not realize it but I can guarantee after reading this you too will realize things must change regarding population growth or we will extinct ourselves. The increasing rates of population doubling over the past 10,000 years stunned me. Please please read this and pass it on to others. This is the most important novel you will read.

Story of B is probably Quinn's best book to date (I haven't read After Dachau yet). He is struggling with the conundrum of how we've managed to turn our feelings and senses off to the point where we think it makes sense to convert the diverse biomass of the planet into human biomass. Every ecologist knows that if you destroy what you rely on to live, you destroy yourself. It's a direct connection, though the consequences may take some time to filter back to you. In Story of B, he grapples with how monotheistic religions have gotten so buddy-buddy with the mindset that allows us to think that it's right and proper that humans should live at the expense of all other life on Earth. He does a particularly good job in pointing the root of human overpopulation of the earth. It's simple, he says: every ecologist knows that if you increase food production in a population, be it mice, cougars, ferns, or humans, you will be rewarded with a population increase. Intellectually, we know this. So why is it that we continue increasing our food, while at the same time bemoaning overpopulation and hoping that distributing condoms will do the job?

As I say, ecologists know all of these things. So would anybody else who is really paying attention to life--not life as in that interval of time between your birth and your death which is generally occupied by distractions like school, marriage, career, and retirement--but LIFE, the whole grand panoply of flora and fauna, earth and elements, who share this planet with us.

Quinn doesn't really know how we got so alienated from this knowledge, any more than I do. That's what he seems to be saying in Story of B. That's why at the end of the story, he informs the reader that having read the book, it is now your responsibility to continue struggling with this problem.

If you're interested in putting some more pieces of the puzzle together, I reccomend The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry and A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen, both of which are undoubtedly available from this fine, fine website.

This is the second of Quinn's books. It is thus a deepening of the issues discussed in Ishmael. In my opinion, this is the book that is the most fun to read, as it was written as a thriller. However, I think Quinn went too fast in writing it, and his arguments are not as strong and as developed as they should be. It nevertheless remains a must-read if you liked the first book. The main point of this novel is to make us focus on the issue of population growth. Indeed, it might be surprising to most of us that the human population is now doubling every thirty five years. It undeniably represents a very big problem because, as the Earth's resources are limited, we might not be able to support many more mouths to feed and accomodate. Our present understanding of population growth is that we need to generate more food in order to keep up with this incredible population growth. However, nobody really asks the most important question: Why is this poluation growing so fast suddenly, when it used to grow only very very slowly just a few thousand years ago? Quinn, who works in collaboration with Dr. Alan Thornhill in the Natural Sciences Department at Rice University, proposed an interesting point: We have been confusing the cause for the consequence the whole time! Indeed, making the comparison with the arm race during the Cold War, Quinn makes us aware that people are made of food, and that there would not be more people if there was not more food. Therefore, we are the ones fueling this incredible population growth by creating more food than we really need! This is very logical in terms of natural negative feedback loops that we find in the wild; that is, generally animals eat their food, which by consequence decreases, which leads to a decrease in population, leading to an increase in food, an increase in population, a decrease in food...etc... However, humans have extracted themselves from this negative feedback loop, which promotes balance, and have created a positive feedback loop, which is drawing us toward the collapse of the fragile equilibrium of the web of life. Quinn then moves on to make the distinction between salvationist religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam), whose followers are passively waiting for a miraculous Savior to come fix all our problems, and anismists, who are people who are aware of the laws of nature and lead their life in accordance to them. Thus, Quinn explains that when humans decided to "take their life in their own hands" they tried to design laws from scratch, which proved to be a disaster. Indeed, if natural laws evolved over many million years so that they reflect what "works," humans have been focusing on what is "forbidden" to do. In consequence, humans have faced great difficulties in trying to prevent people from doing what is forbidden, leading to the incredible mess of our present judicial system, as well as rebellious acts from the youngs who feel pressured to conform, so that we are now facing a cultural collapse of values. Quinn nevertheless ends the book on a note of optimism, as he says that instead of trying to implement new programs that never work to fight our social problems, we should instead adopt a new vision of human life within the entire community of life, so that people get more of what they really want (a sense of belongingness and fulfillment, for example) and stop acting crazy.

Thus far I have read three of Quinn's books - first "Ishmael," which I've read twice, then "My Ishmael," and now "The Story of B," which I can definitely say is my favorite of the three. However, I would advise anyone new to Quinn to start with "Ishmael," as it lays the foundation for his ideas. "The Story of B" takes the ideas from "Ishmael" further and looks at them in more depth. "My Ishmael," is one that you can either read or not. While it isn't a bad book, it's pretty much just a new way of packaging everything Quinn had already said in "Ishmael."

Those who are already familiar with Quinn will know that his basic message is that our culture (NOT to be confused with the entire human race) is slowly and blindly destroying itself. He describes our culture as a "monster that is literally devouring the world - and will end by devouring itself if it isn't stopped" (pg. 88). The story he uses to frame his arguments in this book is as follows: Father Jared Osborne is a Catholic priest sent to Europe by his superiors in order to investigate a man known to his followers as B. This mysterious B has been traveling throughout Germany, spreading ideas that have the Church concerned he may be the Antichrist. Osborne is instructed to break into B's group of followers and determine whether he is or isn't as dangerous as he seems.

I found it interesting that this book was written from the perspective of a Catholic priest, secure in his faith (initially, at least), whereas "Ishmael" was narrated by a disillusioned everyday citizen who already felt he had been "lied to" by "Mother Culture." This has the effect of presenting a direct challenge to doubting readers, whereas "Ishmael" more or less preaches to the choir (i.e. those who already suspect that something isn't quite right with the way we're living). While I'm afraid "The Story of B" may still, to some degree, preach to the choir, I do believe it is more powerful and convincing than "Ishmael" was (though I loved "Ishmael" as well).

"The Story of B" also takes great steps in making itself palatable to a broader audience. It combines "Ishmael"-style dialogue-learning with a series of lectures. These lectures are presented in a separate section at the end of the book, but should be read as the story progresses, whenever the reader is signalled to do so. The protagonist in "The Story of B" may also be more sympathetic for readers than the protagonist of "Ishmael." Osborne, unlike the narrator of "Ishmael," is clearly an educated and intellectual man. Many readers of "Ishmael" were turned off by the narrator's apparent dimness (though this was just a device Quinn used in his attempt to make his ideas more accessible). While Osborne still has his dim moments, "The Story of B" does put more responsiblity on the reader to analyze what they're reading and draw their own conclusions.

One thing I particularly like about Quinn's style of writing here is that he presents his ideas in "meal-sized" chunks. Each chapter is broken up into smaller sub-chapters, providing plenty of good stopping places if the reader needs time to sit back and absorb something they've just read. And even if you do read the whole thing in a few long sittings, the story is structured in such a way that you'll get the necessary "thinking breaks" anyway. Whenever Quinn thinks his readers need a break from the heavy idea-driven stuff, he gives the protagonist himself some time off in a more plot-driven series of events.

What really made "The Story of B" stand out for me, however, is that it calls the reader to action, whereas "Ishmael" merely got the reader thinking. This book starts off much as "Ishmael" did, with the protagonist simply taking in ideas and not generating many of his own, but halfway through it takes a drastic and somewhat shocking change of direction. I wasn't sure if I liked this at first, but as I read on it became very clear what Quinn was doing, and I think he's quite successful. Anyone who found themselves stimulated by the ideas in "Ishmael" will no doubt find even more material of interest in "The Story of B."

The fates conspired for me to read a book by Daniel Quinn. In the space of one week, three friends and a respected teacher independently recommended that I read something by him. They all said it would change my life. And it has.

The first book by Quinn that I read was Ishmael, which was fitting, as it was the first one he wrote. In this book, he presents his vision of the future of humanity. It is a dismal one, but not a doomed one. In the form of a didactic conversation between a silver-back gorilla and a middle-aged man, Quinn postulates that at a point in history roughly 10,000 years ago, the main branch of Homo sapiens struck out from the rest of the tree of life into dangerous territory. Ishmael, the gorilla, has a philosophy of teaching that revolves around the fact that knowledge means nothing unless it comes from within the student. Quinn shares that outlook, and through his use of parables and other literary teaching devices, draws out his message from within his audience. Quinn teaches us what we already know but have not placed in context.

I next read Quinn's second book, The Story of B, which does not follow from the end of Ishmael but instead expands on it in a different direction. The teacher in this book is not a gorilla, examining the human species from outside the flow of its history, but instead an itinerant preacher called "B," who is roaming central Europe. Quinn's style also varies, in that here he presents his message for the most part in the form of speeches, without as much concern for what the reader understands. This lecture is interspersed with moments of reflection on behalf of Jared, a Laurentian priest sent to infiltrate B's movement to determine if he is the anti-Christ. Quinn expands his message in this book in order to embrace a wider audience.

Quinn's most recent novel is My Ishmael, in which Quinn again uses the relationship between the gorilla Ishmael and a student to illustrate his points. His main purpose in this book, though, is to show his readers how to effectively change the society in which we live, so that humanity does not run out of time on the course it chose for itself 10,000 years ago. Quinn has Ishmael teach Julie, a twelve year-old girl, how to teach others what she has learned, and how to "save the world."

From my experience, The Story of B is Quinn's most exciting and intellectually engaging tale, and also the one that shows the most hope for the future. However, I would definitely suggest reading them in order, as his philosophy in each book builds on the prior ones, to some degree. But, as Ishmael teaches his students--each telling is different and independent of the others. Since Quinn cannot make you understand things that aren't already within you, cannot answer questions that you aren't ready to ask, you must enter each of his books keeping in mind the personal ad that begins both Ishmael and My Ishamel:

TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL. Must have a serious desire to save the world.

If you're the average uninformed American who is smart enough to question media hype but still takes the evening news at face value, who votes every year but hasn't heard of half the candidates on the ballot, who laughs at comic strips depicting environmentalists as tree-huggers, then reading this book is a good idea: you're who the author was aiming for. Daniel Quinn, with this and his other novels, is attempting to bring to light problems with Western civilization in a way that can be absorbed by those not in the intellectual/cynical community. Although the writing is at times sub par and Daniel Quinn will never be the world's greatest storyteller, the message is an important one to at least glance at; it asks (rather than forces) you to question your assumptions about our world and the way we think. The writing isn't fabulous and doesn't need to be: the ideas contained in this novel will be absorbed whether the writing is phenomenal or simply better than average.

If you're a cynic or someone who prides themselves on being part of the informed, intellectual community and are already very aware of the problems, arguments and ideas surrounding the collapse of Western civilization, you can safely skip this book. If you read it anyway and bashed it, shame on you: you know this wasn't written for you.

I've read them all. I've done a lot to get them all, since I'm from Germany and it's not that easy to get American books here. Since Quinn is, in my opinion, the most important author right now and here, I can only recommend this book to everyone (even if he/she's a Christian). Compared to Quinn's other work I think this is his best one. The issues he explains are the most interesting, the story is better than before and the speeches contain nearly everything that is need to be said. It's great written and wonderful mind-changing. You'll never be the same again. I'm not. If you look for hope for this world, read it. Maybe it's good to read 'Ishmael' first, but in the end it doesn't mind. Just read it.

The Story of B is the single most powerful book that I have ever read. As a novel it holds onto the readers imagination and interest like the best of suspense writings. As a social statement, it's message breaths life into what might seem an uninviting and pathetic future for our planet, and humankind. More than recomend this book, I challange everyone to read it, and TRY to come out without a whole new view of the world. A highly recomended and equally powerful book, though in a completly different voice is My Ishmael. How lucky the world is to have a thinker like Daniel Quinn.