Jonathan Livingston Seagull [1970]

A skilled flyer but very rebellious young seagull is kicked out of his clan. However, instead of being sad or lonely, he decides to enjoy and explore his newfound freedom.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an allegorical fable in novella form written by American author Richard Bach and illustrated with black-and-white photographs shot by Russell Munson. It is about a seagull who is trying to learn about flying, personal reflection, freedom, and self-realization. It was first published in book form in 1970 with little advertising or expectations; by the end of 1972, over a million copies were in print, the book having reached the number one spot on bestseller lists mostly through word of mouth recommendations.

In 2014, the book was reissued as Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition, which added a 17-page fourth part to the story.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an independent thinker frustrated with the daily squabbles over meager food and sheer survival within his flock of seagulls who have no deeper sense of purpose. Unlike his peers, he is seized with a passion for flight of all kinds, and his soul soars as he aerially experiments and learns more about the nature of his own body and the environment in achieving faster and faster flights. Eventually, his lack of conformity within the Flock causes them to officially banish him with the label "Outcast". Undeterred, Jonathan continues his efforts to reach ever-greater flight goals, finding that he is often successful. He lives a long happy life and is sad not due to his loneliness but only due to the fact that the rest of the Flock will never know the full glories of flying, like him. In his old age, he is met by two radiantly-bright seagulls who share his abilities, explaining to him that he has learned much, but that they have come to take him "home" where he will go "higher".

Part Two

″Jonathan transcends into a reality, which he assumes is heaven″

Jonathan transcends into a reality, which he assumes is heaven, where all the gulls enjoy practicing incredible maneuvers and speeds, like him. His instructor, Sullivan, explains that a few gulls progress to this higher existence, but most others live through the same world over and over again. The Elder Gull of the community, Chiang, admits that this reality is not heaven, but that heaven is the achieving of perfection itself: an ability beyond any particular time or place. Suddenly, Chiang disappears, then reappears a moment later, displaying his attainment of perfect speed. When Jonathan begs to learn Chiang's skills, Chiang explains that the secret to true flight is to recognize that one's nature exists across all time and space. Jon begins successfully following Chiang's teachings. One day, Chiang slowly transforms into a blindingly luminous being and, just before disappearing for the last time, he gives Jonathan one last tip: "keep working on love." Jonathan ponders Chiang's words and, in a discussion with Sullivan, decides to go back to his own home planet, to teach his original Flock all that he has learned. Returning there, he finds a fellow lover of flying, Fletcher Lynd Seagull, who is angry at recently being "Outcast" by the Flock. Jonathan takes on Fletcher as his first pupil.

Part Three

Jonathan has now amassed a small group of Outcasts as flying students, with Fletcher the star pupil, and tells them that "each of us is in truth... an unlimited idea of freedom". The deeper nature of his words is not yet understood by his pupils, who believe they are just getting basic flying lessons. For a month, Jonathan boldly takes them to perform aerial stunts in front of the bewildered Flock. Some of the Flock slowly join the Outcasts, while others label him a messiah or a devil; Jonathan feels misunderstood. One day, Fletcher dies in a flying collision. Awaking in another reality, he hears Jonathan's voice teasing him that the trick to transcending the limitations of time and space is to take it step by step — not so quickly. Fletcher is resurrected in the very midst of the flabbergasted Flock, some of whom fear and decry his supernatural reappearance, but Jonathan insists that he must learn to love the ignorant Flock. Jonathan's body suddenly begins to fade away, he requests that Fletcher stop others from thinking of him as anything silly like a god, and he gives a final piece of advice: "find out what you already know". Soon, Fletcher faces a group of eager new students of his own. He passes on Jonathan's sentiments that seagulls are limitless ideas of freedom...