Per my last Fiction Friday, I spent two days picking one-night reads while waiting for my library books to come in. This is the second of those books. I went to my shelves of unread books, looking for the skinny ones and found this book. The odd thing is, I have no recollection of ever acquiring this book, or even seeing it before. I have no idea where it came from, but there was a Ray Bradbury quote on the back that says this book gave him flight, and made him young. That was enough for me.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
(Avon, 1973)
Jonathan Seagull is not like the other birds in his Flock. He believes life is more than scrambling and fighting for crumbs. He believes life is the art of flying. He seeks the perfection of flight, beyond the physical limitations of being a gull. He seeks freedom.
This is one of those meditative stories in the tradition of The Little Prince, Siddhartha, or The Prophet...all books that I have loved. It's a story whose meaning lies beneath the surface story of a bird that travels through planes of existence on a path toward something spiritual. It's about community, about loving those who scorn higher pursuits or reject the herd mentality.
Beautifully sublime and moving. Illustrated with black and white photographs by Russell Munson, the pictures work with the story to give you a sense of weightlessness. One of those little gems that takes only an hour or two to read, and stays with you much, much longer.
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