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Die Möwe Jonathan
by
Richard Bach
Richard Bach ist einer der meistgelesenen neuzeitlichen Schriftsteller der USA. Seine zahlreichen Bücher sind in allen möglichen Sprachen erschienen und ausnahmslos Bestseller. Wer auch nur Eines gelesen hat, weiß, warum. Bach schreibt mit Liebe, Humor und aus Erfahrung. Trotzdem ist er kein Lehrmeister -- eher der wohlmeinende Freund an der Tür des Kranken. Einmal hereing...more
79 pages
Published
1989
by Ullstein
(first published 1970)
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I read this book after hearing for years that it was great and life-changing. I expected at worst that it wouldn't be quite as good as advertised. Boy was I in for a surprise!
What I read was the biggest load of self-indulgent, pseudo-inspirational tripe I've read in my life!
Apparently, the moral of the allegorical tale is that being "ordinary" is bad, ignoring practical needs to pursue your passion is good and if others don't understand you it's because you're a misunderstood genius/spiritually...more
What I read was the biggest load of self-indulgent, pseudo-inspirational tripe I've read in my life!
Apparently, the moral of the allegorical tale is that being "ordinary" is bad, ignoring practical needs to pursue your passion is good and if others don't understand you it's because you're a misunderstood genius/spiritually...more
Oct 12, 2012
Jonathan
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
popularity-contest,
books-with-films
The dismissive review of this text: What an absolute waist* of time! I mean OMG how bad is this!
The intellectual review of this text: Well, um, I do believe that, um, this is positively remarkable. With only 87 pages Mr Bach produces a fable of such monumental importance to all humanity. He discusses the idea of alienation, provides a subtle sense of xenophobia and highlights the hamartia of humanity.
The unsure student's review of this text: I think it was, like, sort of good. I mean I like the...more
The intellectual review of this text: Well, um, I do believe that, um, this is positively remarkable. With only 87 pages Mr Bach produces a fable of such monumental importance to all humanity. He discusses the idea of alienation, provides a subtle sense of xenophobia and highlights the hamartia of humanity.
The unsure student's review of this text: I think it was, like, sort of good. I mean I like the...more
31 likes · like · see review
May 21, 2008
Jonathan
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who smell like patchouli
Recommended to Jonathan by:
my birth certificate
Shelves:
contemporary-fiction
Basically, you've got a seagull who just can't fit in with other seagulls. If this was written within the last decade, Jonathan would be coping with his outcast status by wearing a black trench coat and rolling 20-sided dice for fun. He would also achieve a loyal following of other socially awkward birds by totally kicking ass in Guitar Hero.
Sadly, this was written in the halcyon days of the 70's, so Jonathan goes on a soul searching quest and learns how to fly better than any other seagull. Gra...more
Sadly, this was written in the halcyon days of the 70's, so Jonathan goes on a soul searching quest and learns how to fly better than any other seagull. Gra...more
62 likes · like · see review
Puerile platitudes posing as wisdom.
22 likes · like · see review
This book is a response to the flawed and disappointing underbelly of humanity, revealed for author 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 an escape from the difficult questions of the world.
Perhaps it should be unsurprising that the author would want to escape the everyday anxieties which mark the changing world. There is a sort of blind...more
Perhaps it should be unsurprising that the author would want to escape the everyday anxieties which mark the changing world. There is a sort of blind...more
10 likes · like · see review
May 18, 2008
Viraj
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
a few
Recommended to Viraj by:
Swanand
Shelves:
god-religion-etc
I was told that everyone who reads this book, find something different in it and it is an eye opener and what not. I found nothing great in this book. It is a simple story which could be an analogy at best. Look in old Marathi or other language literature for good analogies which are better eye openers or help thought process...
Here is what I wrote immediately after reading the book.
The best thing about this book is that it gets over quickly as it is pretty small and of the 127 pages, about 27...more
Here is what I wrote immediately after reading the book.
The best thing about this book is that it gets over quickly as it is pretty small and of the 127 pages, about 27...more
Ode to the Paper Book: Holding a paper book in yours hands,smelling it ,feeling the pages as you flip them.Touching the cover.Looking back as you pass the bookshelf at an old friend.No, a computer can never replace that!A machine, cold ,impersonal,dead!As long as there are people in this crazy world of ours , the paper book shall survive!-Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a different kind of bird.He would rather fly as high as possible,than catch a fish.Recklessly diving,for fun, he cheats death ma...more
11 likes · like · see review
Mar 08, 2008
Janet
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who are inspired by Abraham Lincoln
Shelves:
life,
spirituality
"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 the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if yo...more
Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if yo...more
34 likes · like · see review
I read this when I was a kid just because it was lying around the house and it was a short, easy read. If you were alive in the 1970s you were basically issued it. It would come in a little bag with the Sunday paper like samples of breakfast cereal. I don't remember much about it; something about a seagull.
7 likes · like · see review
This reminds me of Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist (the only one of his I've read). It's self-consciously "beautiful" and spiritual, but doesn't really have much depth. I enjoyed it in my late teens, when I had delusions of profundity, but I don't think it has much to impart to adults.
It has 2* for nostalgia. If I read it now, I expect I'd only give it 1*.
It has 2* for nostalgia. If I read it now, I expect I'd only give it 1*.
5 likes · like · see review
Jan 23, 2010
Sonia Gomes
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Cannot think who
I am so glad, I got to know how other people feel about Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.
All these years I was under the impression that some great philosophy and inner meaning had flown past my head, I was one of the very few who had missed it all.
Seems I was right, there is no great philosophy. Phew ! I am not a dumb idiot after all.
All these years I was under the impression that some great philosophy and inner meaning had flown past my head, I was one of the very few who had missed it all.
Seems I was right, there is no great philosophy. Phew ! I am not a dumb idiot after all.
Fact: Seagulls are stupid.
Fact: Richard Bach seems to have a fetish for birds.
Fact: People who call this book inspirational are also the most delusional and whose lives have no meaning at all.
Bare fact: Photos in books are for kids.
Fact: Richard Bach seems to have a fetish for birds.
Fact: People who call this book inspirational are also the most delusional and whose lives have no meaning at all.
Bare fact: Photos in books are for kids.
4 likes · like · see review
Well, this definitely fits in to the "short books" category! I read it yesterday morning while my husband was packing for a trip :)
This book has it all -- The Power of Positive Thinking, Transcendental Meditation, reincarnation, The Little Engine that Could, aerodynamics, with a little bit of Mr. Miyagi thrown in for good measure.
The inside of the front cover says 1970, but it also says the first printing is 1973. Which explains to me why I was so confused about this book "in my youth". I was on...more
This book has it all -- The Power of Positive Thinking, Transcendental Meditation, reincarnation, The Little Engine that Could, aerodynamics, with a little bit of Mr. Miyagi thrown in for good measure.
The inside of the front cover says 1970, but it also says the first printing is 1973. Which explains to me why I was so confused about this book "in my youth". I was on...more
2 likes · like · see review
Jan 05, 2009
Janice
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone wanting to see further by flying higher
Recommended to Janice by:
The Love of My Life
Shelves:
religion
Ethan just finished reading this book to the kids, and I had to update my rating from a three to a four. I guess this book just meant more to me right now than it did when I read it in the past. And I think the fact that it is one of Ethan's favorite books and he read it with so much adoration kind of helped it to grow on me. I feel like there is so much going on in both our lives that is exciting, but that personally I have become a little stagnant with where I am going. It is like I have becom...more
Loved this one. This is a fast, easy read. A wonderful lesson to learn about friendship, freedom and the value of things that really matter.
In it you'll follow Jonathan's travel around the world and see everything through his eyes. I know it seems you could not learn anything from a seagull, but you really do. This is a wonderful tale. I really do recommend it, specially while you're at holidays.
In it you'll follow Jonathan's travel around the world and see everything through his eyes. I know it seems you could not learn anything from a seagull, but you really do. This is a wonderful tale. I really do recommend it, specially while you're at holidays.
4 likes · like · see review
بیشتر ماها خیلی به کندی راه را پیمودیم.ما از یک جهان به جهانی دیگر شبیه به آن سفر کردیم. فراموش کردیم که از کج آمده ایم.اهمیتی ندادیم که به کجا خواهیم رفت. در لحظه زیستیم.فکر می کنی پیش از آن که برای نخستین بار به این اندیشه که به جز زیستن ،خوردن و جنگیدن و یا قدرت یافتن در فوج هدف والاتری هم وجود دارد برسیم،چند بار باید زندگی کرده باشیم؟
I'm a sucker for this book. Throughout early Christianity, and especially in the second and third centuries, it was commonly believed that Jesus was just a really exceptional guy that God "adopted" and put to use as a redeemer of sins. Even after the Mark and Q Gospels were written and the circumstances of Jesus's birth were decided, the vote at Nicea was pretty slim that made Jesus the only begotten of the Father. Well, here's a book that goes back to the roots; any gull with a mind of his own...more
12 likes · like · see review
I confess to enjoying this book more than I like it. The writing is often heavy-handed, and the story is a generic hero epic. But who, if you dream of adventure, can deny it?
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an outcast member of his flock. Unlike other gulls, he is not content flapping around and squawking and scavenging for food. He wants to fly and hunt like hawks and eagles. He wants to break out of the static mould and old ways of the elder gulls. His brazenness earns him exile, and that is whe...more
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an outcast member of his flock. Unlike other gulls, he is not content flapping around and squawking and scavenging for food. He wants to fly and hunt like hawks and eagles. He wants to break out of the static mould and old ways of the elder gulls. His brazenness earns him exile, and that is whe...more
4 likes · like · see review
A timeless inspirational story (published in 1970) about Johnathan Livingston Seagull, a seagull bored with the limitations of 'seagull life'. What sets this book apart is its simplicity in conveying thoughts on life and what the reader takes away depends on their personal perception. Motivation to seek a higher purpose, follow your dreams and not be held back by conventional limitations.
6 likes · like · see review
J'aime beaucoup les goélands. Ils m'inspirent un sentiment de liberté. J'adorais être réveillé le matin par leurs chants. Et tout ça pour dire que, même si je suis sans doute pas très objectif, Jonathan Livingstone le goéland, lui, je n'ai pas beaucoup aimé. En fait, j'avais déjà lu quelques commentaires négatifs à propos de cette histoire, mais comme je l'avais en audiolivre et c'est toute petite, j'ai voulu l'écouter quand même. Il faut dire que j'ai apprécié la musique et les chants des oisea...more
Mar 28, 2007
Kim
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone.
Shelves:
favorites
I don't even know what to say about this book. One of my favorite books ever. It's very short and extremely easy to read. Great for children, even better for adults. JLS is my hero, pretty much.
Our copy of this book no longer resembles a book so much as a stack of papers.
Our copy of this book no longer resembles a book so much as a stack of papers.
12 likes · like · see review
Just didn't get this.
ETA - that four word review has gotten two likes. I wonder why. Maybe they're from folks who are glad to know they're not the only ones who rode that bandwagon back then?
ETA - that four word review has gotten two likes. I wonder why. Maybe they're from folks who are glad to know they're not the only ones who rode that bandwagon back then?
Don't read this. Go look at a seagull and think about life on your own if you must. What you come up with will be better than this.
23 likes · like · see review
I really only read this book for the hype surrounding it (and because it is mercifully short), suspecting that I wouldn’t be taken in as so many others have. I was right. Essentially a self-help book in disguise, this is the inspirational short story of Jonathan Seagull, a bird who is shunned and cast out by his flock for daring to fly for pleasure rather than food. His exile takes him on a great adventure, in which he discovers his perfect self and learns the true nature of being. The themes he...more
قراءتي عن العمل:
http://akenh.blogspot.com/2011/06/blo...
هل أنت خائف ؟. هل الخوف يحيط بك من كل إتجاه؟ . نعم .. أنت خائف.. وأنا خائف. الخوف من باب المستقبل الموصد. إني اهرب من يقظته فيّ حين يستيقظ. الخوف من الماضي الذي بات لا شيء. لا نستطيع أن نحرك فيه لحظة .. ولا نسترجع منه أدنى شيء. الأمس ..الذكرى التي تؤلمنا وتُفرحنا في آن واحد. إن كل ما يتوفر لدنيا الآن هو ( الآن .. وهنا ) فقط. هذا المكان وهذا الزمان، والذي علينا أيضاً أن نبتعد رويداً عن فهمها بهذه الكيفية التي يقيدنا حتى نلامس الحرية. النورس...more
http://akenh.blogspot.com/2011/06/blo...
هل أنت خائف ؟. هل الخوف يحيط بك من كل إتجاه؟ . نعم .. أنت خائف.. وأنا خائف. الخوف من باب المستقبل الموصد. إني اهرب من يقظته فيّ حين يستيقظ. الخوف من الماضي الذي بات لا شيء. لا نستطيع أن نحرك فيه لحظة .. ولا نسترجع منه أدنى شيء. الأمس ..الذكرى التي تؤلمنا وتُفرحنا في آن واحد. إن كل ما يتوفر لدنيا الآن هو ( الآن .. وهنا ) فقط. هذا المكان وهذا الزمان، والذي علينا أيضاً أن نبتعد رويداً عن فهمها بهذه الكيفية التي يقيدنا حتى نلامس الحرية. النورس...more
Io questi libri così non li ho mai capiti, giuro. Partiamo dal fatto che questo è sì e no un centinaio di pagine, di cui quaranta solo fotografie e altre venti utilizzate a scopo di impaginazione. Ma, si potrebbe obiettare, la brevità non pregiudica per forza il contenuto. Sono d'accordo a metà, ma ok, prendiamola per buona. Allora partiamo dal fatto che nelle quaranta pagine restanti la cosa più emozionante che succede è l'adepto di Jonathan che si schianta sullo scoglio. E resuscita (ahahahah...more
2 likes · like · see review
Dec 02, 2008
anne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Tweens and Teens in small towns
Recommended to anne by:
Matt Young
ok, like I just wrote in a comment . . . this is probably one of those books that you have to read at a particular moment in your life.
for me I was 15, had just run away from home and was in utter despair that the entire world was as mean, strict and narrow-minded as my peers seemed to be at that time. I longed for a friend, I longed for a sense of the world being more than what was drowning me.
the friend who put this book in my hands also gave me Blind Melon's first album - and together these...more
for me I was 15, had just run away from home and was in utter despair that the entire world was as mean, strict and narrow-minded as my peers seemed to be at that time. I longed for a friend, I longed for a sense of the world being more than what was drowning me.
the friend who put this book in my hands also gave me Blind Melon's first album - and together these...more
If only the blurb hadn’t already used the word delightful. This is the exact adjective that I would have used myself to sum up this little, but gorgeously written, novella.
Fewer than 100 pages long, and that includes some drawings and photographs of seagulls, this tells the story of Jonathan Seagull, a bird who is determined to learn the art of flying - despite strong objections from his flock, which eventually see him ostracised by the rest of the group.
But rather than be dejected, Jonathan st...more
Fewer than 100 pages long, and that includes some drawings and photographs of seagulls, this tells the story of Jonathan Seagull, a bird who is determined to learn the art of flying - despite strong objections from his flock, which eventually see him ostracised by the rest of the group.
But rather than be dejected, Jonathan st...more
I read this years ago. I've dipped into it a few times since then. I just don't. . .get it.
I was aware of SEAGULL's considerable reputation when I did read the book. I was hoping to be knocked on me arse by some incredibly profound, "HEA-VEEEEE, man!" allegorical experience. What I got was a fairly pleasant, tolerably written tale about---a bird. I suppose one could make a connection between JLS and Jesus, but that seems a bit too easy. I mean, this book sold in boatloads in the 1970's. There m...more
I was aware of SEAGULL's considerable reputation when I did read the book. I was hoping to be knocked on me arse by some incredibly profound, "HEA-VEEEEE, man!" allegorical experience. What I got was a fairly pleasant, tolerably written tale about---a bird. I suppose one could make a connection between JLS and Jesus, but that seems a bit too easy. I mean, this book sold in boatloads in the 1970's. There m...more
U'ill like the book EVEN THOUGH u'ill find the author (metaphorically)telling u nothing that u are not aware of.... or that you've not thought of before... that's because of the sheer simplicity of this piece of work.... its a short... very short read.... so no harm grabbing one copy, even if at the end of it you find yourself disagreeing with me..:)
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i read this four times... and twice of its sequel | 23 | 178 | Jan 28, 2013 11:52am | |
| شاعرانه ، عارفانه، و تامل برانگیز | 11 | 58 | Dec 28, 2011 11:54am | |
| The DVD is out today | 2 | 52 | Jul 03, 2008 08:58pm |
Richard David Bach is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely appearance. He claims to be a direct descendant of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is noted for his love of flying and for his books r...more
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“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”
—
322 people liked it
“You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way".”
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