Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.94 You Save: $6.05 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.10 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Book Review: Johnathan Livingston Seagull
Summary: 5 Stars
For anyone who always seems out of step with the people around him. This one is a keeper.Book Review: A true Must Read for a young seeker
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read this a long time ago, I think if you seek you will enjoy this.Book Review: Mental Workout
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want to give your imagination a little workout, this is a fun read.Book Review: Here's To The Beauty of Our Dreams
Summary: 4 Stars
Who would have thought that a fictional seagull named Jonathon Livingston could have become such a timeless hero of the modern self-discovery movement? Here I am thirty-eight years after the first publication date reviewing this powerful classic. Why is this little story about a seagull such a powerful read? What makes this tale of a nonconforming gull so timeless?
I'll confess, I read Jonathon Livingston Seagull when it was first released in 1970. Part of me "got it" and the other part was trying to figure out why there were so many pictures of seagulls? Then, came the movie sound track written and recorded by Neil Diamond. That was it - I was a "believer!" I got the message big time. I realized that with effort and belief, I could potentially conquer the world. Jonathon gave me permission to spread my wings and become my own person.
Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is a short read - in the 2006 edition it is 91 pages including many filled with photographs of seagulls. It's not about how long this book is, it's about the power of the message. This is a tale of one bird striving to live his life's mission, no matter the effort.
There is a Jonathon in all of us . . .
** The one that wants to not blindly follow the flock but fly out on our own
** The one that wants to discover our greatest talents and live our "bliss"
** The one that doesn't care what other people think
** The one that knows that there is something great to be learned by trying new things.
** The one that believes in being the best by loving and living our life's passion.
In order to really "get this book" be ready to appreciate the beauty of your dreams and the power of persistence. You'll get out of this book what you're ready to learn at this moment in your life. If you're at the place in life where you truly believe you can make a difference, find happiness and live a life filled with self-satisfaction - this book could very well have a powerful and emotionally uplifting impact on your life.
My suggestion: Pour yourself a glass or cup of your favorite beverage, put on the Neil Diamond sound track and curl up in your most comfortable chair. Get ready to immerse yourself in the beauty of Jonathon Livingston Seagull. Fly to new heights, perfect your talents and never, ever give up on your passion. Be prepared to enjoy the most celebrated seagull in literary history - Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.
"Jonathon Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull's life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed."
From page 26 of Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Book Review: Jonathan Livingston Chicken Schmaltz
Summary: 4 Stars
JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL was such a cultural phenomenon when it was first released in 1970 that it is hard to fairly evaluate the book. This simple (notice I said "simple" and not "deceptively simple") fable about a seagull who loves flying more than he cares to troll in the wake of the herring boats, was an explosive best-seller. Tens of millions of copies and a movie later, it's still in print.
Bach's next book, 1977's Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, is actually a better book. But JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL came at a time when it was the perfect vehicle to represent the last gasp of the Woodstock Era, the birthing cry of the Me Decade, and was the grandpappy of New Age commercialism. An easy book to digest, it seems to offer the reader a glimpse of profundity but without requiring effort on anybody's part. In other words, J.L.S. is a perfect mass market sop to the idea of spiritual materialism.
Aye, there's the rub: For although J.L.S. is hokey beyond belief, it's also a book that can change lives, or at least set one's feet on the Path With Heart. Hardly deep (the writing has been described as "Kahlil Gibran Meets Captain Kangaroo"), the book's sincere message of transcendence over the mundane life can touch a chord inside the reader, especially if the reader has not been exposed to Kahlil Gibran (or Captain Kangaroo, for that matter). Every garbageman a guru.
There are far greater examples of poetical writing (try Gibran for example, or Rumi, Peter Matthiessen, or Loren Eiseley), and the reader who comes to JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL after first finding The Prophet will probably roll his eyes. This is definitely a "starter" book. It rates THREE AND THREE QUARTER STARS, (but possibly FIVE if you're at where it's at). Otherwise, J.L.S. is just a curiosity.