Ishmael by Daniel Quinn The titular Ishmael is a gorilla who learns to communicate with humans (telepathically) and seeks to teach humanity how to see the unde

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn The titular Ishmael is a gorilla who learns to communicate with humans (telepathically) and seeks to teach humanity how to see the underlying cultural narratives that we are captive to, and that define our entire worldview. It's set up as a Socratic dialogue so the character of the pupil can be a bit annoying in his boneheadedness (a device used by the author to advance his points) but otherwise an excellent read. Its main lesson is that culture tells us there is only one way for civilization to act in the world and that we cannot examine this imposition -- because of the "fish asks 'what's water?'" situation we're in -- until we really unpack what narratives are driving people to act and think in the ways they do. These narratives were never independently developed by the people acting through them but rather largely inherited from what is said (how topics are conceptualized) and what's not said (how topics are avoided) that keeps these narratives self-propagating through society.