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111th out of 173 books
—
485 voters
One
by
Richard Bach
Under the spell of quantum physics, Bach and his wife Leslie are catapulted into an alternate world, onein which they exist simultaneously in many different incarnations. First they encounter themselves as they were 16 years ago on the day they first met. In this version of their lives, they do not marry, and never achieve the happiness Bach assures us that their real unio...more
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Published
May 11th 2001
by Pan Books
(first published 1988)
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Jul 16, 2008
Samantha
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those seeking
Shelves:
spiritual-journey-empowering
This is so far my favorite of Bach's books. The ideas portrayed are so incredibly powerful and touching, they really speak to that core within.
Richard and Leslie (AKA RiLesChardlie) are flying to LA to attend a conference at Spring Hills where other unique thinkers of the time are gathering there to discuss their ideas. As they come in to approach LA in their rainbow seaplane something extraordinary happened and they find themselves ripped from the world they were in and in a dimension of sorts...more
Richard and Leslie (AKA RiLesChardlie) are flying to LA to attend a conference at Spring Hills where other unique thinkers of the time are gathering there to discuss their ideas. As they come in to approach LA in their rainbow seaplane something extraordinary happened and they find themselves ripped from the world they were in and in a dimension of sorts...more
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I began reading this with my deep love for Illusions simmering in the back of my mind. To say that this was a let down is an understatement. Firstly, Bach mentioned that he either co-wrote this with his wife or she had considerable input; it shows. The writing is atrociously amateur, and I do not say this lightly. The novel reads like a poorly written fan-fiction or a daydream. Bach uses pet names for his wife that are sickeningly emotional and the inside jokes between them are not endearing, ju...more
If you've ever seen yourself in someone else, or felt how they bring something out in you...if you've ever wondered what a world without war would be like, or a world that bombed instead of blinked to "end" the Cold War...if you've ever wondered how life would be if you'd met your soulmate at a different time in your life, or felt like your soul is connected with everyone else's...this book is totally for you. Simply open your mind a little, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Oct 25, 2009
Eric
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
teens, young adults
Shelves:
philosophy,
fiction
This is my first novel by Richard Bach. One is an easily digested novel that takes the familiar concept of visiting alternate versions of yourself, and adds some philosophical underpinnings. The plot focuses on a husband and wife pair who mysteriously travel to parallel dimensions while in their small float plane, changing scenarios at the same frequency as the chapters. All of this scene shifting robs the novel of any real weight or substance, although there were a few poignant moments. The phi...more
One is about husband and wife’s journey to their parallel lives. As they are flying in an airplane they come across an opportunity to experience what their lives would be like if they made different decisions in their lives. There were thousands of alternatives for them to observe. I enjoyed the first part because it shared some excellent ideas about building your life. I liked this idea, “We are given a block of marble when we begin a lifetime, and the tools to shape it into sculpture. We can d...more
Not one of the best books of Richard Bach. Actually, too simple in the way he would like to express the theme of the story. What would it be like to meet oneself in the future, or to encounter oneself in the past before making a life-altering decision? What if there were not simply one reality, but many concurrent realities where each of the possible paths one could take were all played out? What might one learn from an encounter with these different selves? These are the questions posed.
Unfortu...more
Unfortu...more
Even the love between soul mates can be mortal...it's all about us,we must struggle to be deserved for being an eternal soul mate...
هر چه اوج می گیریم، چشم اندازمان گسترده تر می شود و گزینش ها و دو راهی ها و میان برها را بهتر می بینیم وهر چه فرود بیاییم، چشم اندازمان را از دست می دهیم و هنگام فرود، درک و دریافتمان از گزینش های دیگر بر باد می رود. حواسمان پی جزئیات می رود: جزئیات روزمره ی ساعت به ساعت و دقیقه به دقیقه و به این ترتیب زندگی های همتا را فراموش می کنیم.
هر چه اوج می گیریم، چشم اندازمان گسترده تر می شود و گزینش ها و دو راهی ها و میان برها را بهتر می بینیم وهر چه فرود بیاییم، چشم اندازمان را از دست می دهیم و هنگام فرود، درک و دریافتمان از گزینش های دیگر بر باد می رود. حواسمان پی جزئیات می رود: جزئیات روزمره ی ساعت به ساعت و دقیقه به دقیقه و به این ترتیب زندگی های همتا را فراموش می کنیم.
An enjoyable novel based on metaphysics. Of particular interest to me was the questions the traveler Richard asked one of the other Richard about being lovable:
Are you loving to her?
Understanding and supportive?
Open and sensitive to her feelings?
Caring and compassionate? Communicative, a good conversationalist (entertaining, interesting, enlightening, enthusiastic, inspiring)?
Are you romantic?
Thoughtful? Do you do sweet little things for her?
Are you a good cook?
Are you orderly around the hou...more
Are you loving to her?
Understanding and supportive?
Open and sensitive to her feelings?
Caring and compassionate? Communicative, a good conversationalist (entertaining, interesting, enlightening, enthusiastic, inspiring)?
Are you romantic?
Thoughtful? Do you do sweet little things for her?
Are you a good cook?
Are you orderly around the hou...more
Jan 12, 2011
Julie Ehlers
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No one
Shelves:
books-that-are-terrible
It's tough to know where to begin. First, this is ultmately a cynical work, written, or at least published, to make a lot of money in the wake of the success of Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
Second, I would much prefer that hacks like Bach write nonfiction treatises rather than novels, because they can't write fiction at all, and have no respect for the form of the novel. It's excruciating and uninspiring--dulling--to read. No wonder Bach thinks we'll eventually move past language.
Third, there wer...more
Second, I would much prefer that hacks like Bach write nonfiction treatises rather than novels, because they can't write fiction at all, and have no respect for the form of the novel. It's excruciating and uninspiring--dulling--to read. No wonder Bach thinks we'll eventually move past language.
Third, there wer...more
Honestly, I am not sure how to rate this, or describe it. It revolves around the idea that there are an infinite number of alternate realities where a different version of ourselves is making every decision that we *didn't* make, taking the paths we *didn't* take. I read it as a young adult, at a rather impressionable time in my life. I was already a fan of the author, and I think I rather took this a bit too literally. Richard's idea about alternate realities just completely blew me away - so m...more
I took this book on recommendation & prior book by the author Richard Bach inspired by Jonathan Livingston seagull. But this is entirely disappointing. It give a perspective on alternate lives, but the story revolves around the author and his wife so much that the story is woven more around the characters than the concept that needs to be highlighted. The couple meeting their own selves in the past is nice, but they keep meeting so many of them that it goes off track. Anyways, i could not co...more
Too over-simplified to give me the impact I was really wanting.
Favorite part: When the priest they meet goes on about how you can only tell the truth to the people who already believe it. Which, to me, pertained to the whole damn book. So, if you're only really getting through to the people who already believe this way, what's the point of over-simplifying, ay?
I dunno. I just thought it was funny that Bach seemed to recant the usefulness of writing this book, within a scene in the book. I find m...more
Favorite part: When the priest they meet goes on about how you can only tell the truth to the people who already believe it. Which, to me, pertained to the whole damn book. So, if you're only really getting through to the people who already believe this way, what's the point of over-simplifying, ay?
I dunno. I just thought it was funny that Bach seemed to recant the usefulness of writing this book, within a scene in the book. I find m...more
One of my favourites. The book draws you in with ideas of parallel worlds, alternate pasts, crossroads... you are taken on an exploration with Richard and Leslie of whether choices could really change our destiny and it all ties together strangely...
"We fly up high," I said trembling with insight, "and we have perspective!" We see every choice and fork and crossroad. But the lower we fly, the more we lose perspective. And when we land, our perspective on all the other choices is gone! We focus o...more
"We fly up high," I said trembling with insight, "and we have perspective!" We see every choice and fork and crossroad. But the lower we fly, the more we lose perspective. And when we land, our perspective on all the other choices is gone! We focus o...more
خیابان ها و شاهراه ها جایی را به جای دیگر وصل می کنند، اما راننده ها خودشان مسیر را انتخاب می کنند
می توانند جای خوش آب و هوایی را انتخاب کنند یا قسمت شلوغ و بد آب و هوای شهر را، می توانند با احتیاط برانند و یا ماشین خود را داغون کنند، می توانند برنامه ریزی کنند و یا با هر پیچ جاده شگفت زده شوند
هر راهی را که انتخاب کنند، قبل و بعد از آنکه کسی در آن براند، وجود داشته و خواهد داشت
امکان هر سفری از قبل هست و راننده با همه آن امکانات یکی است، تنها کاری که او باید انجام دهد این است که هر روز صبح مسیر ر...more
می توانند جای خوش آب و هوایی را انتخاب کنند یا قسمت شلوغ و بد آب و هوای شهر را، می توانند با احتیاط برانند و یا ماشین خود را داغون کنند، می توانند برنامه ریزی کنند و یا با هر پیچ جاده شگفت زده شوند
هر راهی را که انتخاب کنند، قبل و بعد از آنکه کسی در آن براند، وجود داشته و خواهد داشت
امکان هر سفری از قبل هست و راننده با همه آن امکانات یکی است، تنها کاری که او باید انجام دهد این است که هر روز صبح مسیر ر...more
Mar 16, 2009
Irene
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Teenagers; people self-exploring philosophy for 1st time
Recommended to Irene by:
Picked it up after reading other Bach books
Shelves:
fiction
I bought this book many years ago, after reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions. I tried several times to read the book, but never got past a few pages. Finally, I vowed to read it: If I liked it, it would stay on my shelf; if I didn't like it, I'd donate it.
I'll be donating this book to the library tomorrow.
If I were a teenager, with most of life's major choices ahead of me, this book would probably offer some lessons worth learning. If I were not a thinking, self-aware person, the i...more
I'll be donating this book to the library tomorrow.
If I were a teenager, with most of life's major choices ahead of me, this book would probably offer some lessons worth learning. If I were not a thinking, self-aware person, the i...more
I read this just to see how bad it was, back in high school. The answer: painful. Oh, man. Whine whine whine oh daddy never loved me, my parents drank alcohol, I don't think the world understands my hippy love for flying airplanes. I like airplanes as much as the next person but this book nearly killed that love.
Brief synopsis: Richard Bach is back. He and his wife go on a plane ride and get visited by an interdimensional being who is a cross between them. She is a young Polynesian girl for some...more
Brief synopsis: Richard Bach is back. He and his wife go on a plane ride and get visited by an interdimensional being who is a cross between them. She is a young Polynesian girl for some...more
The writing style is fairly simple. The book is a one-day read. Sometimes the conversations get nauseating. However, my personal favorite was Richard's conversation with his other self whom Leslie had left for obvious reasons. The way he changes his mind was interesting. Also, the concept that everything is already present and it just waits to get discovered was inspiring. I liked how ideas have been treated in the book - like they come out from a steel mill.
This book is about a couple, deeply in love, who are taking a ride in their own private small plane. Thehusband is the pilot. They are older with grown children in a time in their lives where it is just the two of them.
They cross into an "alterate parallel universe", if you will, that allows them to see their lives in a completely different light. This "alternate parallel universe" shows how their lives would have changed had little things throughout their lives had not happened, the most impor...more
They cross into an "alterate parallel universe", if you will, that allows them to see their lives in a completely different light. This "alternate parallel universe" shows how their lives would have changed had little things throughout their lives had not happened, the most impor...more
Jul 03, 2010
Karen Jett
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those who are interested in the metaphysical, who have trouble with time being linear
This was my second time through this book. It is still one of my favorites from Richard Bach.
I love the idea of alternate lives all being lived at the exact same time. This book takes it to a large picture. But even on the small level, that there is a me out there who did not quit my job and start my own business. It may or may not have any basis in reality, but I love the IDEA of it. It reminds me that even today I can change the course of my life by the decisions I make today.
I love the idea of alternate lives all being lived at the exact same time. This book takes it to a large picture. But even on the small level, that there is a me out there who did not quit my job and start my own business. It may or may not have any basis in reality, but I love the IDEA of it. It reminds me that even today I can change the course of my life by the decisions I make today.
Just finished reading One by Richard Bach - a great book on a strange twist to multiple dimensions and realities taking place simultaneously; instead of reincarnation, it's continual-carnation.. Imagine meeting multiple you's, ones you don't remember experiencing.. Would you make different choices? Have those choices become different realities, existing simultaneous, with no time in the conventional sense..
'One' is about ....nothing. Richard Bach gets into some time space shift and goes into his past life. He meet his younger self and analyses what could have been done better, how things should have shaped better, what was wrong, what can be right blah blah. I read 137 pages and lost my faith into Bach'��s sermon. Everything seems so mundane and boring that I dropped off. Don't go anywhere near this.
I think the scariest thing about this book is that I made a comment about this book proves that Einstein, Hawking and Ghandi are all saying the same things in different ways... And then the book suggested that Attila the Hun might have been saying the same thing as well. Synchronicity rises, as you read this book. Incredible. Just push the throttle forward, folks, just push the throttle forward.
Dec 18, 2012
Greg
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
philosophical,
spiritual
What if all time is now. The past, present and future, all accessible to us in this very moment, all we have to do is make the switch. What if you could give a message to your past self, what would you say? What if you could receive a message from your future self, would you accept it? Richard Bach looks at these questions and more in this spirit touching work. Get ready to have your perception expanded.
A difficult book to categorize,
One
is a look at the author's view of alternate pathways and choices he's made in his life. Using a combination of "press the magic button" and elements of Dicken's
A Christmas Carol
, Bach takes the reader on a journey in his floatplane into the "what if" questions that haunt us all and the unexplored threads of life's choices. There are some lines in here that are worth returning to from time to time.
I couldn't say enough about this book. The writer really just guides the reader through basic terms in life that could be associated with spirituality. He is focused on love, hope, happiness and existence without relying on anyone, but yourself. " An easy life doesn't teach us anything. In the end, it's the learning that matters. What we've learned and how we've grown."
I think, in my young adult years, this book, more than any of the Bach books that I poured over, affected the way I looked at the choices that I might make in my life and how they would affect my future. In this timeless classic, Bach discourses on the endless divergence of roads not taken and the endless possibilities of self that must arise upon personal reflection.
Another book that's been on my bookshelves for 20 years or so. Talked to a freind last week who is reading all his books and thought I'd read this one. Not crazy about his writing style. Good ideas -- love, One, we create our reality, making choices, alternate universes. Thought provoking...if you can read through the 'sappiness' (my opinion).
Quick, simple read. I think I got everything I was going to get out of it before I was halfway through, and otherwise found his "literary style" kinda narcissistic and simplistic. But I would like to spend some time really imagining how different my life could have been, or could become, because I am not sure I am living the right life, or that it's possible for me to change to the right life.
despite being a bit dated (1980s) i really loved this book. picked it up at a guesthouse in bangkok not sure what it'd be like. all about alternate realities, alternate lives based on choices we make, good exploration/reminder of lots of theories/truths i hold in common with richard bach. fun quick read but has some depth!
I love this book! It is by Richard Bach, author of Johnathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions. It manages to be wonderfully philosophical and thought-provoking without being overly weighty or hyper-intellectual.
The main themes that I got out of this book are:
-The infinite possibility of every life every moment
-All possibilities existing simultaneously (the very same idea behind quantum mechanics, though there is no mention of such science in this book)
-Since all possibilities exist and exist...more
The main themes that I got out of this book are:
-The infinite possibility of every life every moment
-All possibilities existing simultaneously (the very same idea behind quantum mechanics, though there is no mention of such science in this book)
-Since all possibilities exist and exist...more
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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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“Bad things are not the worst things that an happen to us. NOTHING is the worst thing that can happen to us.”
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