challenging informative inspiring medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Read this book in a little under 24 hours it was so good. It's beautiful, sad, and hopeful.
reflective fast-paced
reflective medium-paced

Strongly indoctrinating book which I kinda enjoyed (even with all it's noble savage problems and talking as if authors truth is the only right one) but at the part about letting poor nations starve out to not breed I stopped enjoying it, because I realized what a privileged guy the author is. He also has kids himself, but the ones at Africa should die because it's bad for the environment. Disgusting.

Great book! Quinn makes some very insightful points on today’s society, the retardation of natural selection which leads to the halting of evolution is my personal favorite.
informative inspiring reflective fast-paced
Loveable characters: Yes
challenging hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I feel validated after reading this. Growing up, I asked a lot of questions but the reply was usually “just because”. Ismael explains why it always played out that way in better structure than I can muster.

It's been probably 15 years since I read this, and for some reason, it feels like time to revisit. The tragedy here is that I can't find my copy, although I know I owe(d) it - likely a loaner I don't remember that was never returned (grrrrrr!!). Trying to decide if I should get an e-copy, or just get another hardcopy - will decide soon.

"And when you're on the brink of extinction and want to live for a while longer, the laws governing life might conceivably become relevant."

The reason I did not like this book is because it felt like the author had a number of thoughts that could form into a manifesto of sorts, but he lacked proof to back up his theories. So instead of writing a philosophical work of non-fiction, he turned it into a novel where a talking gorilla just speaks his thoughts. Everything was so dumbed down and simplified that it felt like I wasn't reading something meaningful. I would rather read so many other works of philosophy.