![]() Flipping through the pages, I feel renewed admiration for Roger Ebert, who once remarked (quite against the tide of popular opinion) that Jonathan Livingston Seagull was a book “so banal it had to be sold to adults kids would see through it.”Īnd banal it is. Not only does Jonathan’s journey now seem overly simplistic to me, but the spiritual insights he gathers up along the way have clearly passed their expiration date, sounding less like timeless wisdom and more like bad life-coaching from a seagull who lives in a van down by the river. ![]() Recently though, I returned to the book and discovered much of its initial charm had worn off. Since 1970, Jonathan Livingston Seagull has sold over thirty million copies and been translated into nearly forty languages. Even the grainy, black-and-white photos of seagulls scattered liberally throughout the text manage to evoke a sense of artistic dignity and contemplative depth (a considerable feat for pictures of a bird that steals your Doritos at the beach). ![]() The themes of youthful idealism, self-discovery, and growing wise are compelling and relatable. The story has a forthright, fable-like quality. This slim volume tells the tale of a young seagull, Jonathan, and his quest to master both the art of flying and the depths of self. ![]() The first time I read Richard Bach’s beloved novella, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I was charmed. ![]()
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