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    Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story
    Unavailable
    Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story
    Unavailable
    Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story
    Ebook127 pages59 minutes

    Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story

    By Richard Bach and Russell Munson

    3.5/5

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    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    The complete edition of a timeless classic, includes the recently rediscovered Part Four and ‘Last Words’ by Richard Bach.Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the most celebrated inspirational fable of our time, tells the story of a bird determined to be more than ordinary.

    ‘Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again,’ writes author Richard Bach in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. ‘For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.’ Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes this story soar.

    This bestselling modern classic is a fable about seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe or neighbourhood finds your ambition threatening (at one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock). By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan learns the meaning of love and kindness and gets the ultimate payoff – transcendence.

    The dreamy illustrations by Russell Munson provide just the right illustrations for this spirituality classic that has inspired thousands of readers to follow their own path in life and so fulfill their true potential.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateSep 17, 2015
    ISBN9780008162986
    Unavailable
    Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story
    Author

    Richard Bach

    Richard Bach, a former USAF pilot, gypsy barnstormer, and airplane mechanic, is the author of fifteen books. This, his fourth book, spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list and has continued to inspire millions for decades. His website is RichardBach.com.

    Read more from Richard Bach

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    Reviews for Jonathan Livingston Seagull

    3.5/5

    2,912 ratings82 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Enjoyable and thought provoking on my first read. I'll probably come back to it at some point. A fable, open to a few different interpretations.
    • 3/5
      More pictures than prose. Easy to read. Interesting concept for a book. Many themes for such a short book. I read it based on a recommendation on a list of great books, I do not think I would classify this as one.
    • 3/5
      I read this one quite late, so it's a little silly now. I really wish I could go back in time and read this book when I was maybe 12, I would've loved it then!
    • 1/5
      What all the deal is about,I don't understand...
    • 3/5
      new age parable about a seagull that finds transcendence.
    • 1/5
      Probably one of the dumbest books ever written. Well, ever published, then. Unfortunately it was also made a part of my catechetical "formation" in the early 1970s, just like it was for millions of other Catholic kids who suffered through the organized bungling known as "the spirit of Vatican II".
    • 4/5
      It was well worth how little time it takes to read, at least in the 70s when I read it. One of these days, I may even read it again.I saw the movie first. Somehow, the book wasn’t as poignant without Neil Diamond’s soundtrack.
    • 2/5
      I approached this book expecting to be astounded and moved by its aforementioned lyrical beauty.Perhaps my expectations had been built up too high, but I was very disappointed.The first half of this book, which was about Jonathan Seagull learning to fly, and then being banished from his flock, was very good. I loved the picture that Bach put in your mind, his descriptions, and the factual yet simplistically graceful way that he wrote.However, I was incredulous at the complete turn-around this book makes in the second half of the story.Abruptly, this book turns from poetic to sci-fi. An old seagull, who is apparently 1,000 years old, begins training Jonathan Seagull how to disappear and re-appear anywhere on earth, or even on other earths. Jonathan stands on the beach for days, trying to train his mind to be able to do it.The scene reminded me of Yoda training Luke to do magical/science fiction stuff with his mind in the swamp.And of course, eventually Jonathan (or, might I say, his Jedi mind tricks) succeed. He opens his eyes and is suddenly on another planet with three green moons!I laughed a loud here, thinking "What?!"The rest of the book tries to combine the earlier beautiful writing style with this new plot.Jonathan Seagull becomes a teacher himself, teaching other young birds that flying involves love, and a certain mindset. This part reminded me of yoga classes.I was even further amused when the author began introducing a Christian allegory into the story. Jonathan gathers followers (he is their teacher), including one in particular that is close to him (representing Peter). He goes back to his old flock to teach the birds how to fly. Some join him, but most criticize him. Rumors begin that he is the Son of the Great God. Eventually, the flock tries to kill him. Afterward, he preaches to his followers that they must go on, and continue loving the flock, even if they did just turn murderous. And he disappears - just like Jesus.I feel as if the author had three completely different book ideas here. A poetic, simplistic inspiring book about seagulls, the wind, and the ocean. A very nice idea!Or, a science fiction book?Or how about, a book about Jesus - except he is a seagull?How about all three?!As you can probably assume, I did not like this book. Even the photographs disappointed me. Many of them seemed to be the exact same as previous ones, or even the exact same as on the page before.I did not enjoy this scattered, preachy, and bizarre little book.
    • 5/5
      Great metaphor for everything. Simply put, easy read.
    • 2/5
      A short but well told allegory, with pictures. It is good. However, I find my enjoyment significantly undermined by disagreeing strongly with the philosophy and world-view behind it. Jonathan is an ordinary gull, outcast by his flock for his extraordinary interest in pushing the limits of flight rather than just focus on finding food. Life is presented as a spiritual journey towards enlightenment, which continues through many lives on different spiritual planes. Fair enough, this is a popular idea, what I did not like was the specific dig at Christianity:"Me? Jon, I'm just a plain seagull, and you're....""...the only Son of the Great Gull, I suppose?"then a few lines later"Don't let them spread silly rumours about me, or make me a god. O.K., Fletch?"
    • 1/5
      Asinine, even by 1970s pop culture standards.
    • 2/5
      It's easy to see why born again new agey Christians raised in the 60's and 70's would fall hard for the hippy-dippy messianic allegory that makes up this book. My low rating is not because it isn't written well, it's not horrible, but it's more that it represents a false metaphor. Jonathan, the anthropomorphic seagull, is nothing like the biblical Jesus. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is shunned by the idiot mob for daring to think outside the box. Christians like to think of Jesus as thinking outside the box too, which he reportedly did, but not in the same spirit as what Jonathan does in this book. As with all cults and religious fanaticism, the proof is never in the pudding. Jonathan figures out how to fly really fast and then eventually how to teleport himself within the space time continuum. The metaphor breaks down because Christianity requires faith. Jonathan's skills requires will, practice, and learning. Very different from faith. If the pastor down the street, or any religious guru or leader, wants to pop in at my house and explain how, I too, can teleport around the universe, than by all means, pop in right now. I would love to see a demonstration. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen any time soon though. Once your "miracle" becomes testable, repeatable, and measurable, it no longer exists as a "miracle", it has become science. And science is the antithesis of faith. I feel like Richard Bach wants Jonathan Seagull to be a avatar for faith but it just doesn't work. If you want to just see this book as just an uplifting story about the triumph of will that's fine too, but the messianic symbolism is a little too strong for me to stomach as such.
    • 2/5
      Part self-help, part reflection on the afterlife. It was a quick read, but pretty cheesy.
    • 5/5
      This book was my Bible growing up. Not literally of course, but I kind of wish it was...
    • 4/5
      I found this book on my father's bookcase and decided to give it a shot. I was 12 at the time and even then I was able to see changes I could make in my own life. Now In my 30's I have bought the book again. I still find it easy to read but it is much more meaningful. It is a short book with pictures included that enhance the story. Give it a shot and see what kind of gull you might be.
    • 3/5
      This book was quite interesting. It would definitely fall into the category of allegory. It reminds me of The Legend of Bagger Vance. This was a book club selection and I cannot wait for this discussion.
    • 1/5
      It starts out very promising, with a thinking individual cast out from a narrow-minded group. The rest is too biblical for me, with its "afterlives", each one more "perfect" than the preceding one (much like the final Narnia book), the comparison of flight with "salvation", and the teachers spreading the word of "faith" among their "disciples". Perhaps it could be viewed just as belief in one self, but to me it was in-your-face religious.Didn't like it, mostly just got annoyed by it. Also, the Finnish translation had poor language.
    • 3/5
      Don't always love the New Age vibe, but I did enjoy some of the commentary on mob mentality: "The price of being misunderstood, he thought. They call you devil or they call you god."
    • 5/5
      You should read this book at least twice, once as a seagull and once as yourself. As always Richard Bach allows his inner wisdom to shine through to inspire all who read his wonderful books, after all life is what we make it!
    • 5/5
      loved this when i was about twelve i guess,maybe younger. may have changed my life, probably did.
    • 5/5
      A great little read. The inspirational story of a bird who learns to trust his instincts and break away from society's conventions to discover his true self. Enjoy reading about Jonathan's journey from timid flock member to wise teacher of avian outcasts. It is easy to relate to Jonathan's tale and gather inspiration we can all use in our own lives.
    • 2/5
      This book is a response to the flawed and disappointing underbelly of humanity, revealed for Bach in Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination, the battles for Civil Rights and Feminism, and the Sexual Revolution. Unfortunately, it is not a work which embraces or explores those changes, but seeks to escape the conflicts surrounding them.Perhaps it should be unsurprising that the author would want to escape the everyday anxieties which marked the changing world. Certainly, there is a sort of optimism in Jonathan Livingston Seagull, though it is merely the sort you get when you take ancient and complex philosophy and distill it down into meaningless fluff. It is from this feel-good denial that the whole New Age movement springs, giving hope without guidance, and offering self-help for our self loathing.The surface of the pond seems calm and tamed from afar. The ripples almost insensible. It is tempting to hope that the whirling eddies of hate, the tumult of inequality, and the maelstroms of fear do not persist beneath it. We shall someday find, when we must navigate Scylla and Charybdis, whether we have melted down our statues and our cannons both to build a monument to those who will be lost.
    • 2/5
      This book didn't change my life. (SPOILERS?) So there's a seagull, and he likes racing. He finds ways to go as fast as possible. He dies. Or maybe not. Am I right so far?I'm not the quickest at spotting allegory, but I'm sure there's a life affirming message somewhere in this story. I just can't figure out what it is.
    • 4/5
      "We choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome." I don't entirely agree with the sentiment of this fable, at least the part about achieving perfection in your chosen passion at all costs. However, daring to continue to pursue what delights you in spite of close-minded opposition and then being willing to impart any useful knowledge gained to elevate society as a whole is admirable and essential to positive growth (individually and societally). Plus, I'm always a sucker for reincarnation and space travel.
    • 3/5
      Where to begin with this one? I read it in the 70;s and, while I found it a pleasant little allegory, much of he meaning was lost on me. At the time, it was lauded as "one of the most insightful books of the 20th Century" which I thought was going a bit far. I recently pulled it out of the stack and read it again. It's very short. You can read it in less than two hours. What I found was that there were layers that I had missed 40 years ago. I still don't think it's the most insightful or most helpful book I've ever read but there's a bit more there than I initially realized. In the meantime, the reading audience, and particularly today's young people, have become infinitely more sophisticated, often more cynical, emphatically more skeptical and less patient with contemplating what they read. Were it not a bit of a classic, I doubt this book would recoup its publication costs if put on today's market. Don't miss the review that recounts Jonathan's appearance on Oprah. It's hilarious.
    • 4/5
      I hadn't thought about this since I read it probably 40 years ago, but I recently saw it on the shelf at a really nice massage studio in Berkley (MI) and decided to give it another spin. It was . . . interesting. Even though it's a very short book (not much over 100 pages, with half of those devoted to pictures), I read it in two sittings separated by 5 or 6 days.The first half seemed to be okay. Richard Bach has a real knowledge of and love for flight, but there didn't seem to be a huge amount of substance to it. But when I picked up the book to finish it tonight, the second half seemed to be totally different. There was a spirituality to it and some depth. (Not earthshaking depth; after all, it IS a story about a seagull).Anyhow, it was well worth rereading.
    • 5/5
      Simply an enjoyable read that can be as simple as a child's tale or as profound as profound as a guide book to living. One of my favourites and I return to read it and contemplate about the deeper more shidden and ubtle message it contains often
    • 1/5
      We had to read this for year eleven English. I hated it. That's not to say I would hate it now, if I read it of my own volition.
    • 3/5
      A quaintly told modern gnostic fable revealing a few practical spiritual principles once you strip away most of the nonbiblical frou-frou. I liked it as a pma/self-help inspirational tract, but not as a devotional guide for spiritual growth.
    • 5/5
      When I read this book, I feel like I can do anything. And the soundtrack by Neil Diamond is awesome. The movie was released by the way. I heard someone say, it was about a seagull. Too bad some people just never learn to fly.