Book Report : JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL

This book is called JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL, written by Richard Bach. It is a moral- fiction story and the lesson in this story is: if you want to do something really, really, really badly, nothing can stop you. The author uses the example of seagulls and the metaphor of flying to get his message through.The story is about a seagull named Jonathan Livingston Seagull and he loves to fly. But, his flock doesn’t take much notice in flying and are interested in flying only to be able to get food. This makes Jonathan Livingston Seagull different because none of the other seagulls learn and take flying seriously. One day, Jonathan is made an outcast because his flock sees him flying through the area and he crashes down into his flock. He is not allowed to live with his own flock anymore. Jonathan Livingston Seagull feels really shocked and sad because he thought that his flock would praise him. (This reminds of the Tale of Despereaux. Here is my blog report if you’d like to check it out. ) After a while, Jonathan practices flying again and he experiments with new techniques in flying! One day, two other seagulls come to take him to the next level where there would be other seagulls who thought like him. When he gets to his new flock he feels like he doesn’t know everything there is to know about flying and starts to feel like a student again. So with that, Jonathan Livingston Seagull keeps getting better at his flying skills. Once Jonathan Livingston Seagull reaches the top most level he flies back to his old flock and finds a few students who have the same dream and think the same about flying and begins to teach them. Jonathan Livingston Seagull had a choice to continue on and remain a master in his old flock but he chose to go back to his flock and support the gulls that want to fly. Fletcher Lynn Seagull is one of them and he didn’t know how, but, one day he was going to be able to fly like Jonathan and teach the other seagulls. Jonathan Livingston Seagull and his new students practiced in front of the flock everyday and slowly, more and more gulls wanted to be a part of Jonathan Livingston Seagull’s classes. Since this is a simple book on the outside, my summary is really short but the lessons in this book are complicated and deep.

What I like about the book is:

ð    It teaches us that nobody has limits. Nobody - not even a seagull! And that if you want to do something really, really, really badly – nothing can stop you.

ð    I like that Jonathan Livingston Seagull practices and practices and practices to get to the next level and then is happy for a while but then feels restless to get to the other level... It’s like a video game because you keep wanting to get to the other level and then the other and finally to the top level. LOL!

ð    The lesson in this is that if you want to fly high and show your talent you have to practice it and be committed to it. You can’t do it for two weeks then stop forever because that’s not being committed. 

ð    I like when his teacher shows him that he already has whoever he wants to be inside of him.... he only had to learn to let it out. I think that what the author was really trying to say was that all of us have a Jonathan Livingstone Seagull inside of us... we just have to let it out. Which means ... we all already have the best we want to be in us, and we need to practice and continue it to let it show through.

ð    While I was reading this book I started to wonder, why did Richard Bach use flight and the life of a seagull as his base? The obvious reason is because a seagull is a bird but the deeper reason is because it represents moving up and flying high in what you do best

ð    I like how the author used a lot of facts about flying, and the speed and height that Jonathan Livingston Seagull was going at. Did you know that Richard Bach was able to do such a detailed explanation because he studied flight and got injured badly once?!

ð    I like that in this book, instead of the format of Chapters, the author uses pictures to separate each piece of writing from the other

ð    I would recommend that if you’re a girl aged like me around 8-10, you might want to read this with your mum or dad to understand it. Like, how I read it. It helped me to understand what this author means and what his message is.

ð    This book has impacted me because as I’m a blogger, I sometimes get a little bit disappointed in my drafts if they are bad or I’m stuck. So, when my mum and I started reading this book, I learnt to try again and again and tell myself that that I can do better if I just try my best.

ð    This book has stuck with me for a long time and I think its good if a book sticks with you because that means that it is a meaningful book. I felt very proud when I finished reading this book because this is an adult book and it is difficult to understand.

I WOULD GIVE THIS A 10 OUT OF 10 RATING!!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL! YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON KINDLE FOR $11.31

Note : I want to thank Anu for gifting this book to me! This is for you :)