People who make their own rules when they know they're right...people who get a special pleasure out of doing something well (even if only for them...
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Feb 06, 2011
Bird Brian
rated it: 
(fade in from commercial)
Oprah Winfrey (O): My next guest is an icon, and a source of inspiration for millions! Please welcome Mr. Jonathan Livingston Seagull!
(audience cheers … seagull flies in from offstage, loops around over the audience, and then alights on the guest chair next to Oprah)
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (JLS): Thanks for having me Oprah. It’s great to be here.
O: The pleasure’s all mine! I'm a huge fan; your message of individuali More...
Oprah Winfrey (O): My next guest is an icon, and a source of inspiration for millions! Please welcome Mr. Jonathan Livingston Seagull!
(audience cheers … seagull flies in from offstage, loops around over the audience, and then alights on the guest chair next to Oprah)
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (JLS): Thanks for having me Oprah. It’s great to be here.
O: The pleasure’s all mine! I'm a huge fan; your message of individuali More...
33 comments
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(64 people liked it)
Dec 15, 2011
Mrelia
rated it: 
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 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 More...
5 comments
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(25 people liked it)
May 21, 2008
Jonathan
rated it:
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 othe 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 othe More...
12 comments
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(41 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Ruth
rated it:
Puerile platitudes posing as wisdom.
5 comments
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(12 people liked it)
Aug 25, 2011
Keely
rated it:
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 so More...
Perhaps it should be unsurprising that the author would want to escape the everyday anxieties which mark the changing world. There is a so More...
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(6 people liked it)
May 18, 2008
Viraj
rated it:
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 t 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 t More...
0 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Mar 08, 2008
Janet
rated it: 
"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 hi More...
Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a hi More...
Apr 10, 2010
J.J.
rated it: 
Good book! It tells us to go beyond our limitations and don't give up intimes of failure.Richard Bach have shown that even the ordinary can make a difference.To do that we should enjoy whatever we are doing.Very different one.
I cried to this book.You must try to read it too.
I cried to this book.You must try to read it too.
3 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Sep 18, 2011
Antof9
rated it:
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 abo 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 abo More...
5 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 05, 2009
Janice
rated it:
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 b
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0 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jul 25, 2010
Lady Vale
rated it:
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.
2 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
W.
rated it:
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 mi
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(6 people liked it)
Mar 22, 2009
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, 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, More...
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 25, 2009
Sheree
rated it:
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.
3 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Kim
rated it:
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.
Aug 21, 2008
Benjamin
rated it:
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.
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(17 people liked it)
Dec 02, 2008
anne
rated it:
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 al 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 al More...
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(4 people liked it)
Nov 21, 2007
J.P.
rated it:
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 boa 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 boa More...
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(5 people liked it)
Sep 18, 2008
بشر دوست باید تا حدی متنفر از بشر باشد
جاناتان نماینده گروهی از انسانهاست که قصد دارند پااز مرز ترسیم شده زندگی فرا تر بگذارد وقدرت خود را بیرون از مرزهای تعین شده بسنجد.
جاناتان می خواهد ناممکنات را بیازماید تا شاید راهی برای خلاصی از چنگال این قوانین دست و پاگیر بیابد تا آنگونه که خود می خواهد زندگی کند نه آنگونه که مرغان دیگر طی طریق می کنند و با رسیدن به این کمال دیگران را نیز ترغیب کند که خودشان باشند
جاناتان ابر انسانیست که گوشه ازلت تنها مامن اوست More...
جاناتان نماینده گروهی از انسانهاست که قصد دارند پااز مرز ترسیم شده زندگی فرا تر بگذارد وقدرت خود را بیرون از مرزهای تعین شده بسنجد.
جاناتان می خواهد ناممکنات را بیازماید تا شاید راهی برای خلاصی از چنگال این قوانین دست و پاگیر بیابد تا آنگونه که خود می خواهد زندگی کند نه آنگونه که مرغان دیگر طی طریق می کنند و با رسیدن به این کمال دیگران را نیز ترغیب کند که خودشان باشند
جاناتان ابر انسانیست که گوشه ازلت تنها مامن اوست More...
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(3 people liked it)
Feb 11, 2009
KatieSuzanne
rated it:
I found a copy of this in a thrift store for a dollar and I'd heard so much about it for so long I figured it was time to read it. It reminded me a lot of Hope for the Flowers but with seagulls instead of caterpillars and the caterpillars only turn into butterflies while the seagulls turn into, as my friend puts it, demi-gods in the end.
May 25, 2010
Bennett ws
rated it:
jonathan livingston seagull is a gull who used his body for more than getting food all day he would be out at sea teaching himself how to fly.
untill he was outcasted and had to learn on the far cliffs away from the flock but that was were he really learned flight...
untill he was outcasted and had to learn on the far cliffs away from the flock but that was were he really learned flight...
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Sep 22, 2007
Irene
rated it:
The book was especially bought and sent to me by a cyber friend. That was the time when i really needed an overhaul of my personal belief system. i found jonathan the ultimate inspiration for our struggle for excellence, freedom and perfection. Everybody is perfect but the truth is veiled by the limitations of our thoughts.
"the trick, according to Chiang, was for Jonathan to stop seeing himself as trapped inside a limited body that has forty-two-inch wingspan and performance t More...
"the trick, according to Chiang, was for Jonathan to stop seeing himself as trapped inside a limited body that has forty-two-inch wingspan and performance t More...
Oct 27, 2007
Bethany
rated it:
Where do I begin? The positives? It has a good, albeit somewhat patronizing message about thinking outside the box and reaching for your dreams. Also, it was very short. There. That said, I must say that I just don't get the hype. I found the story simplistic and uninspiring- just a bunch of 70's, new-age psycho-babble... and don't even get me started on the Neil Diamond movie (pretty pictures... that's all it was). AARRRGGGHHH! Fingernails on the chalkboard. I wish I liked it more as a go
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Dec 17, 2009
با خواندن اين كتاب آدم احساس ميكند محدوديت كلمهايست بي معني و دلش ميخواهد تا افقهاي دوردست توان خود را به كار گيرد و از هيبت يك انسان عادي فراتر برود. ريچارد باخ با نوشتن اين كتاب به شهرتي عالمگير رسيد كه لياقتش را داشت و اين كتاب هم جزو زيباترين كتابهايي است كه به دوستانم پيشنهاد ميكنم بخوانند
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(2 people liked it)
Jul 04, 2009
Michael
rated it:
I read this originally when I was about 11 years old I think. I had never read anything like it.
I enjoyed the simplicity, and I think I identified with Jonathan more than a little—even at 11.
As I think about this book almost 30 years later, I wish that I hadn't sold my copy of it, as I have an urge to re-read it and refresh my memory of Jonathan's struggles to break through.
July 2, 2009:
Just re-read this for the first time in many years. " More...
I enjoyed the simplicity, and I think I identified with Jonathan more than a little—even at 11.
As I think about this book almost 30 years later, I wish that I hadn't sold my copy of it, as I have an urge to re-read it and refresh my memory of Jonathan's struggles to break through.
July 2, 2009:
Just re-read this for the first time in many years. " More...
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(3 people liked it)
Aug 01, 2011
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 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 More...
Feb 15, 2009
Allison
rated it:
This book is about Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a bird who wants to fly. Wanting to fly is unusual in this flock of seagulls, because apparently flying other than to get food is bad.
Whoa. A bird... that ISN'T SUPPOSED TO FLY.
Then it goes on and describes how he's outcast... for wanting to fly. Jonathan then dies after years of wanting to achieve perfection, then goes to the afterlife to acheive perfection.
Whoa. Perfection. With enough work, perfection w More...
Whoa. A bird... that ISN'T SUPPOSED TO FLY.
Then it goes on and describes how he's outcast... for wanting to fly. Jonathan then dies after years of wanting to achieve perfection, then goes to the afterlife to acheive perfection.
Whoa. Perfection. With enough work, perfection w More...
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(4 people liked it)
Jan 10, 2009
Kiwi
rated it:
I adore this book. In one sit and read, for it is that slim, it soared to one of my top favourites. This little story contains big messages. So big, to me, that they cover every message I ever want to remember. The story covers the rat race of life, being different, learning, living true to one's self, some important aspects of different religions, being Here and Now, teaching, and recognising that none of us is divine yet we are limitless and free. Though I would not consider myself limitl
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(3 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2008
jzhunagev
rated it:
I had read this book this summer and it profoundly changed how I see learning in all of its daily manifestations in our life. Summers are the days where you take everything else lazily; knowing that there will be a time tomorrow to do the things you hadn't done today. And with the triteness of each day you just yearns for that "something" to shake things up and get you movin'--that's the time for me to grab any book within my grasp. That' how I met Jonathan Livingstone Seagull. Hope
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 19, 2011
Shriya
rated it:
I'd like to steal Ray Bradbury's words about this book: This book gave me flight! Yes, for the half-an-hour in which I read this book, I actually felt as if I had been magically transformed into Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and was doing all the soaring and flying!
To those who accuse the book of plagiarism, I would only say that putting facts in the form of a fable to make it more interesting and to drive the message more deeply doesn't make any book contemptible! If we all More...
To those who accuse the book of plagiarism, I would only say that putting facts in the form of a fable to make it more interesting and to drive the message more deeply doesn't make any book contemptible! If we all More...
