Thom reviewed Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Review of 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Didn't read this as a youth, thought it would be interesting to experience with my daughter, who loves animals. We read one part per night, including the fourth part recently discovered and published. The parts are, briefly:
1) Jonathan lives to fly, even when exiled from his Flock.
2) Heaven (or something like it) where Jon becomes a better flier
3) Returning to teach the joy of flight to others and overthrow the Flock
4) Organized Religion distorts and destroys the message
Definitely a connection to the religion of the 70s that I remember. The whole story forms a sort of loop, as the young gull of part 4 rediscovers the message. Without that part, this wouldn't be as good a story by far. The book concludes with an authors note about how part 4 was returned to print very recently.
A lot of reviews criticize the pictures. I think …
Didn't read this as a youth, thought it would be interesting to experience with my daughter, who loves animals. We read one part per night, including the fourth part recently discovered and published. The parts are, briefly:
1) Jonathan lives to fly, even when exiled from his Flock.
2) Heaven (or something like it) where Jon becomes a better flier
3) Returning to teach the joy of flight to others and overthrow the Flock
4) Organized Religion distorts and destroys the message
Definitely a connection to the religion of the 70s that I remember. The whole story forms a sort of loop, as the young gull of part 4 rediscovers the message. Without that part, this wouldn't be as good a story by far. The book concludes with an authors note about how part 4 was returned to print very recently.
A lot of reviews criticize the pictures. I think they add a bit, and mostly occur during breaks in the action. Other reviews criticize Jonathan breaking from the flock, flying instead of eating, etc. These are the same people that look for bathrooms on science fiction shows, methinks. It's a story, people!
My takeaway - push against your boundaries, strive for excellence, and look for the truth behind the message.
