Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Thoughts on My Ishmael

Finished the third book in Daniel Quinn's Ishmael series, My Ishmael, this weekend, and literally found myself speechless at certain points. Quinn's (or should I say Ishmael's) arguments for "New Tribalism" are among the most provocative ideas I've seen in any of this series, and that's certainly saying something. As a teacher, I was both disturbed at my own ability to recognize the malaise that Quinn describes in our educational system, and refreshed to realize my evergrowing frustration with that system isn't a sign of laziness or delusions -- made me think deeply about what I mean when I call myself a "teacher" (a label I much prefer to "professor"). I can't imagine anyone in the political realm promoting anything a tenth as bold as the ideas in this book, so I guess it's up to us common folk to promote these ideas, to "be B..."

I don't have an account to sell books with any particular affiliate program, so I'll just link to a site I know that sells books -- buy it and read it. So many things are called "life-changing"; this book is the genuine article.