Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
By Richard Bach
Published in 1970
144 Pages
Thibault’s Score: 2/5


Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an incredibly pretentious book. In the 1970s it was the darling of American left wing intellegencia; but the only people that have hear of it today are boomers who had to study it in school. I had never heard of it.


I found it because I was looking for books that didn’t have violence to read to my 3 year old daughter, that had animal allegories. It was completely boring, and also completely nonviolent.


The book has very, very, very long - interminable - descriptions of seagulls flying. Boring


In case you want to read it, I wont spoil the admittedly very surprising twists and turns in the plot. But there are many - and they are unpredictable. Its just that they’re boring.


I finished it, but my daughter had me stop because it was too boring. I’m reviewing this as a grown up book, not a kids book, and still don’t recommend it. This is the kind of book that’ll be completely forgotten in a decade or two once the last boomers who were forced to read it die.