Richard bang seagull illusion. Richard Bach: Illusions of a Seagull

Reading time: 12 min

How Richard Bach surprises himself and why “The Seagull” received 18 refusals - Alexey Kurilko and Anastasia Belousova sorted it out.

Descendant of Johann Bach

Richard Bach: “We choose the next world according to what we have learned in this one.”

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Знаю, Алексей Леонидович: ты не очень любишь этого писателя. Хотя с ним как минимум всегда весело. Например, если спросят, как зовут автора «Чайки по имени Джонатан Ливингстон» или «Иллюзии», можешь спокойно ответить — Иоганн Себастьян Бах. Поверь, найдутся те, кто скажет: «Да? Спасибо!» Им будет все равно, что между композитором Иоганном и писателем Ричардом пролегает небольшая пропасть — веков эдак в пять… Хотя, конечно, что такое пять веков по сравнению с вечностью? Гугл все сам найдет, покажет и расскажет.!}

By the way, Richard Bach also tells his own legend about this. Like, when he was five or six years old, Uncle Martin, a traveler, came to their house. He sat Richard on his knees and asked with a serious look: “Do you know that we are distant relatives of the great Johann Sebastian Bach?” The kid almost fell off his knees in surprise, but answered in the spirit of any self-respecting American: “Wow, that’s what I thought!” That’s why I like his music so much!” Richard Bach is not only a military pilot, writer and journalist, he is also a joker. The mystery of Uncle Martin has remained a mystery, or rather, a legend. Moreover, Johann Sebastian had more than 10 children...

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

"data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=276%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=750%2C815&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1221 jetpack-lazy-image" src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%BA% D0%B0-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C109&ssl=1" alt="Alexey Kurilko" width="100" height="109" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=276%2C300&ssl=1 276w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=768%2C834&ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?w=890&ssl=1 890w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C109&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Ну, постольку-поскольку… Есть любимые произведения из классики. Бах — вернее, ни один из Бахов — не входит в число моих любимых композиторов. Но о его жизни я кое-что знаю, так как интересовался ею, когда готовился играть Баха в пьесе «Ужин в четыре руки». Это единственный спектакль в нашем театре («Черный квадрат». — Авт.), где мы практически не импровизируем, а играем строго по тексту. Там всего два героя — Бах и Гендель. Они жили и творили в одно время, были почти земляками, и каждый по-своему, что называется, выбился в люди. Но Гендель был обласкан славой, его музыка приносила ему баснословные деньги, он считался самым «высокооплачиваемым композитором» того времени. Тогда как о Бахе мир даже не знал ничего, хотя в родном городке, Лейпциге, его уважали. Тонкие ценители музыки предрекали ему всемирную славу лет этак через двести, когда человечество оценит сложность его композиций.!}

That's almost what happened! Just a little earlier. His sons, also musicians, tried to popularize their father's work. They performed his compositions, published his works... But their own popularity, they were also gifted with talents, almost eclipsed the fading glory of their father. Such geniuses as Mozart and Beethoven highly valued the works of that particular Johann Sebastian Bach. But he was awarded worldwide fame only at the beginning of the 20th century.

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

Speak in parables

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Да, запутаться можно. Но! Как говорил мой любимый Шерлок: «Когда артистизм в крови, он приобретает порой причудливые формы. Вопросы крови — самые запутанные вопросы в мире!» Да и какая нам разница — родственник он или просто однофамилец? От этого его «Чайка», «Мост через вечность», «Иллюзии» не станут лучше или хуже. Потому вернемся к твоей нелюбви к Ричарду Баху. Лично я этого писателя люблю. И, надеюсь, ты не собираешься меня разубеждать, что это новый вид литературы — расширенная повесть-притча или роман-притча… Притчами говорили восточные мудрецы. И что еще для меня ценнее — притчами говорил Христос. А в ХХ веке притчами заговорил Ричард Бах.!}

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

"data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=276%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=750%2C815&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1221 jetpack-lazy-image" src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%BA% D0%B0-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C109&ssl=1" alt="Alexey Kurilko" width="100" height="109" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=276%2C300&ssl=1 276w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=768%2C834&ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?w=890&ssl=1 890w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C109&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Различие в том, что Иисус Христос говорил с людьми притчами, чтобы люди лучше поняли его. Тогда как Бах, напротив, пишет притчи, чтобы каждый понял его по-своему! Да, и чтобы люди вернее усвоили его незнание… Это самая существенная и концептуальная разница между ними. И вот поэтому я его и не люблю. Вернее, ты не совсем точно выразилась — любовь или нелюбовь моя тут абсолютно ни при чем. Просто я не считаю его великим писателем. И даже хорошим писателем я бы его не назвал. Да он, собственно, и не писатель…!}

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

“The meaning of life is to achieve excellence and tell others about it”

writer Alexey Kurilko

The only thing that is more or less well done is “Jonathan a Seagull” - it can still be read. But everything that follows sucks! And if Paulo Coelho, as snobs joke, is a philosophy for the poor, then Richard Bach is a philosophy for the same poor, but not in terms of money, but in terms of intelligence and education. Note: not the beggars, but the poor. His readers have intelligence, but, alas, it is clearly lacking.

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Алексей! Что ты такое говоришь? Он меня именно своим интеллектом и подкупил. То, что он пишет, многим помогает найти себя в жизни! Эти люди далеко не глупые, но им нужна литература, способная подтолкнуть их в верном направлении…!}

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Это называется «мотивационная литература». В вопросе мотивации, жизненных советов и стимулов для меня, например, «Чайка» — намного важнее и ценнее, чем «Анна Каренина», уж прости. Или даже наш предыдущий герой, . Я ищу в литературе легкость и желание идти дальше, зашитые в истории, которые помогут мне преодолеть трудности. В этом смысле Ричард Бах для меня очень дорог.!}

Engine of progress or consumer goods?

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Его «Чайка по имени Джонатан» как бы говорила на том языке, который заставляет меня подняться и идти дальше. Чайка не жует сопли. Он не сдается, он медленно, но верно идет к цели — к поиску своей уникальности и сути.!}

Richard Bach: “Your only responsibility in this life is to be true to yourself.”

“I wanted to write something even remotely similar, but I didn’t have such an interesting story as Tolstoy,” said Bach. “And then the inner voice that had previously helped me in flying said: “I will whisper them to you in your sleep, but what will you do with them, Richard?” So he began to write... And he likes to repeat one more phrase.

Richard Bach: “A professional writer is an amateur who has not given up writing. When you want to learn something, you just need to practice that skill as often as you can - and you will become a pro at it. By claiming that you cannot do something, you deprive yourself of omnipotence.”

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

"data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=276%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=750%2C815&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1221 jetpack-lazy-image" src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%BA% D0%B0-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C109&ssl=1" alt="Alexey Kurilko" width="100" height="109" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=276%2C300&ssl=1 276w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=768%2C834&ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?w=890&ssl=1 890w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C109&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Нет, извини, не все мы, а большинство! И потом, кто его сравнивал с Иисусом? Я вот, когда узнал, что ты прочла, помимо «Чайки», «Иллюзии», и тебе понравилось, был в растерянности. Скачал «Иллюзии». Начал читать. И сразу начал скучать. Господи, на первой же странице начал скучать! Мог бы возникнуть вопрос: почему так? Как вообще такое возможно, что на первой же странице у меня пропадает к тексту интерес, потом я начинаю скучать, а потом — из-за этой скуки злиться…!}

“Every problem contains a priceless gift. And you create problems for yourself, because you need these gifts.”

But why ask these questions if the answers are given on the same ill-fated first page: “I don’t like writing at all. If I have the strength to abandon an idea that has not been fully developed, then I will not even pick up a pencil.”

Yes, he doesn't like to write! And you can feel it! And if it weren’t for the need, he wouldn’t have written... I don’t understand it anymore, I feel it... He thinks that in other words he explained Chekhov’s law, according to which he will be considered a writer: write only when you can’t help but write. But in fact, he let it slip out of incredibly strong vanity and didn’t even notice it!

Richard Bach: “I don’t like writing at all. If I have the strength to abandon an idea that has not been fully developed, then I will not even pick up a pencil. But from time to time the wall of my house explodes with sparks, glass and broken bricks; someone makes their way through the rubble, grabs me by the throat and politely says: “I won’t let you out of here until you put me on paper.”

Thus I came to “Illusions”. Vanity forced him to write the next book after a successful one and continues to force him to continue. You don't know what the meaning of life is? Who you are? Where should you go? What to do, how to live? Calm down! Make yourself comfortable! I'll explain everything to you! I will take you to your destination! Don't be afraid, the crew commander, an experienced and happy aviator, is speaking to you! And so will you! It's not difficult, it's easy and pleasant. Just relax. The flight time will be extended...” Etc. Is everything clear?

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

Richard Bach: “My heart bleeds when I see people who don’t know what they want, don’t know their path... If we don’t know what we love, how can we see the path in front of us?”

Unanswered Questions

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Перестань, Алексей. Меня поражает, что он на вершине мастерства, на пике военной карьеры, в звании майора, вдруг оставляет ВВС, чтобы отдаться иному полету — писательству. Его вдруг заинтересовало, как черпается вдохновение, творческие силы. «Надо писать, веселиться и ни о чем не думать», — эти слова он прикрепил на свою печатную машинку.!}

writer Alexey Kurilko

"data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=276%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leshka-site.jpg?fit=750%2C815&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1221 jetpack-lazy-image" src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%BA% D0%B0-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C109&ssl=1" alt="Alexey Kurilko" width="100" height="109" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=276%2C300&ssl=1 276w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=768%2C834&ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?w=890&ssl=1 890w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i2.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Лешка-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C109&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Хотя думать-то и не мешало бы… Например, подумать: а вдруг меня будет читать не только большинство, не знающие основ истории и развития философии, но те, кто читал до меня много других книг? Вдруг они расскажут, что ничего нового я не придумал? Что ни одна из моих мыслей не смеет претендовать на звание оригинальной? И что вся моя литература слишком деланна и вторична! Что тогда? Меня перестанут читать? А потом издавать? И я вернусь к тому, с чего начинал…!}

Letters from readers and 18 rejections from The Seagull

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Кстати, да, Алексей: поначалу его печатали, он приобрел некий вес. А вот «Чайку по имени Джонатан Ливингстон» не брался печатать никто. Ему отказали 18 издательств!!! У другого бы опустились руки, но Бах говорит так:!}

“If you love something very much and want to give it to the world, something strange will happen to you. An idea always gathers around itself those who will help it come true. And it works with the help of... Coincidences. Coincidences always come to the rescue."

“If I even once tell someone something from the book, I become uninterested in writing,” admitted Richard Bach. — The book should be interesting. And for this she must surprise me, otherwise she will not be able to surprise anyone. But I don't write for everyone, only for those who have curiosity. Who works on his life like a sculptor on marble.”

Richard Bach has a whole theory about coincidences and accidents. After 18 refusals, Bach wrote to the editor of one of the “refused” publishing houses with a request to look at his manuscript. After reading, she flew into the office of the publishing house’s general director with the manuscript in her hands. In the end, she was approved. But the author had to work hard to get the book sold out.

writer Alexey Kurilko

Richard Bach: “For thousands of years we have been searching for fish heads, but now it is finally clear why we live: to learn, to discover new things, to be free!”

And I would like to ask Bach: if this is so, then why don’t you try to discover something new and be free from public opinion? Because he needs public attention! He needs the interest of this most despised gray Flock, that’s all! Your cheekbones are aching with indignation and disgust at how easy he makes all of you!

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Знаешь, Алексей, ты напоминаешь мою учительницу русской литературы. Когда мы принесли ей «Чайку», она пообещала ее прочесть, а на следующий день вернула: «Хорошая книга для подростков. Но я достаточно взрослая, чтобы восторгаться этим». Когда недавно мне нужно было перечитать «Иллюзии», я отчасти тоже боялась, что не смогу… Но мне снова понравилось.!}

writer Alexey Kurilko

LifeRead journalist Anastasia Belousova

"data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=219%2C300&ssl=1" data-large- file="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Nastya-site.jpg?fit=727%2C998&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-1217 jetpack-lazy-image" style="margin-right: 1em; float: left;" src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1 %8F-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="Anastasia Belousova" width="100" height="100" data-recalc-dims="1" data-lazy-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=60%2C60&ssl=1 60w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=30%2C30&ssl=1 30w, https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?zoom=3&resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 300w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" data-lazy-src="https://i1.wp.com/liferead.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Настя-сайт.jpg?resize=100%2C100&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"> Твои слова мне напомнили, как Бах рассказывал о злых письмах от читателей. Как-то он вскрыл конверт, а там его «Чайка», изрезанная на мелкие кусочки, с запиской: «Вот что я думаю о вашей книге!» Так что да, и такое бывает.!}

“This book by Richard Bach works in two directions at once. She gives me the feeling of flight and restores my youth.”

Ray Bradbury

The most important book by Richard Bach. He didn't come up with The Seagull. He heard it in its entirety and wrote it down, and it completely changed his life, and now you can read this wonderful fairy tale.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull can change your life too.

There is no more captivating, brighter, and sadder book in the world than “Illusions” by Richard Bach.

It is probably no coincidence that you are holding this book: perhaps there is something in these adventures to bring you here and remember. I choose to think this way. And I prefer to think that my Messiah ascended to some other dimension, and this is not a fiction at all, is watching us and laughing with pleasure that everything happened as planned.”

Richard Bach - Seagull Jonathan Livingston - Illusions

Transl. from English - M.: LLC Publishing House "Sofia", 2005. - 224 p.

ISBN 5-9550-0077-1

Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull

When the sun rose, Jonathan was training. From five thousand feet the fishing boats looked like splinters of wood thrown onto the water, and the breakfasting Flock looked like a barely noticeable cloud of swirling pollen.

Jonathan felt that he was alive, he trembled slightly with a joyful feeling of satisfaction and was proud that he had conquered his fear. Without much preparation, he folded his wings, straightened the short sharp tips of his wings and dived down to the surface of the sea. By the time the altitude of four thousand feet had been passed, he had reached maximum speed. The oncoming flow turned into a dense, solid wall of sound, through which there was no possibility of breaking through. This was the limit, Jonathan could not move faster, he was rushing vertically down at a speed of two hundred and fourteen miles per hour. He swallowed his saliva in tension, knowing that if he spread his wings at such a height, he would be gone, but only a million tiny pieces of a seagull torn apart by the explosion would reach the surface of the ocean.

However, in speed there was Strength, and joy, and pure beauty.

Jonathan began to emerge from his dive from a height of a thousand feet. The tips of the wings trembled with a humming sound in the furious oncoming flow, the ship and the crowd of seagulls rushed before his eyes and grew with the speed of a meteor, and they were directly in its path.

Jonathan couldn't stop and couldn't turn aside either. He simply had no idea how it was done at that speed.

Any collision meant instant death.

And he closed his eyes.

And then, that morning, just after sunrise, it so happened that Jonathan Livingston Seagull burst into the very middle of the feeding Flock. At two hundred and twelve miles an hour he whistled through the Flock, eyes closed, a projectile of feathers and wind. And only because the Seagull of Fortune smiled at him this time, no one died.

When the dive was completed and his beak was pointed skyward again, Jonathan was still racing forward, flying at sixty miles an hour. And when it decreased to twenty and he was finally able to fully spread his wings, the ship from a height of four thousand feet again seemed to him like a splinter thrown onto the water.

It was a triumph. He understood this. Speed limit! Two hundred and fourteen miles into Chad. The greatest moment in the history of the Pack - a true breakthrough. And for Seagull Jonathan Livingston, this moment meant the beginning of a new era.

And he headed to the place where he usually practiced flying. And when he folded his wings into a vertical dive at eight thousand feet, his goal was to master a high-speed turn.

He found that when a single feather at the very tip of the wing is displaced by a fraction of an inch, the body describes a smooth curvilinear trajectory at enormous speed. But before Jonathan realized this, he discovered something else - the displacement of more than one feather at such a speed causes the body to rotate around the longitudinal axis like a rifle bullet... So Jonathan became the first seagull on earth to comprehend the basics of the art of aerobatics.

That day he did not have any free time to communicate with other seagulls. He trained until the sun went down. He discovered a loop, a half-barrel, a barrel, a slide, and a vertical wheel.

When Jonathan joined the Pack resting on the beach, it was already deep night. He was terribly tired and dizzy, but he was happy and, before landing, described a wide circle over the beach, and just before touching the ground, he performed one full rotation of the barrel with lightning speed. When he tells them everything, when they learn about the Breakthrough, they will be overjoyed, Jonathan thought. How much richer life will become now! After all, if before it all consisted of a dull bustle - shore - ship - shore - now it will make sense!

We have the opportunity to get out of ignorance; we need to realize our own exclusivity and rationality. We are able to find freedom. And we can learn to fly!

Years of joyful life opened up ahead, dizzying possibilities and prospects sounded in every way and shimmered with a rainbow radiance.

Upon landing, Jonathan discovered that he was at a general meeting of the Pack. Moreover, apparently, the event did not just start. Moreover, Jonathan was definitely expected.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull! - The elder said these words in a tone that he spoke only on especially solemn occasions. - You are volunteering to join the Circle!

A call to the Circle meant either universal censure and the greatest shame, or the greatest honor and universal recognition.

It’s clear, Jonathan thought, this is about what happened this morning during breakfast. They saw a breakthrough! However, I don't need honors. And I don’t want to be a leader either. I guess I just wish

Jonathan Livingston Seagull! - continued the Chairman. - Please go out into the Circle and be reprimanded, which all your fellow members of the Flock must witness.

It sounded like a bolt from the blue. Jonathan suddenly felt as if he had been hit over the head with a board. My knees buckled, my feathers sagged, and an unimaginable noise arose in my ears. A shame? To the Circle - to be reprimanded?! But this is impossible! After all, this is a Breakthrough! They didn't understand something! There's definitely some kind of mistake here! Well, yes, they are wrong, they are clearly wrong!

For your carelessness and irresponsibility deserve the greatest shame, as well as the trampling of the worthy traditions of the respectable Seagull Family...

Censure at a general meeting. This inevitably follows the expulsion of the gulls from the community. Separation from the Pack and exile to the Far Rocks, where the lot of the exile becomes complete loneliness.

And you - Jonathan Livingston Seagull - will one day understand what a thankless thing irresponsibility is. We are not given the opportunity to comprehend the meaning of life.

Richard Bach - Illusions

One evening in late October, after getting scared and flying away from a crowd in some town in Mississippi, I landed in an empty field just big enough to land Fleet. And again, before falling asleep, I mentally returned to that last moment... Why did he die? There was no reason for this. If what he said was true...

There was no one to talk to, as we talked to him, no one to learn from, no one to track down to attack with words, on whom to focus my new clear mind. Me myself? Yes, but I didn't have half as much fun as Shimoda, who taught me, always knocking me off my feet with spiritual karate.

Thinking about this, I fell asleep. I slept and had a dream.

He was kneeling in the meadow with his back to me, repairing the hole in his Travel Air where the bullet had gone through it. At his knees lay a roll of Grade A percale and a can of aviation varnish. I knew that I was dreaming and dreaming, and I knew that all this was also happening in reality.

He slowly stood up and turned to face me, smiling at my sadness and my joy.

Hello, friend, he said.

I couldn't watch because I was crying. There is no death, there is no death at all, and this man was my friend.

Donald, YOU'RE ALIVE! What are you trying to do? I ran up and spread my arms, hugging him, and he was real. I could feel the skin of his flight jacket, squeeze his hands under that skin.

“Hello,” he said. - Do not mind? What I'm trying to do is fill this hole right here.

I was glad to see him, nothing seemed impossible.

Biturate with percale? - I said. - Are you trying to attach it with biturat and percale?.. So you won’t do it. YOU CAN SEE PERFECTLY THAT THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE!.. - And, saying these words, I passed my hand, like a screen, in front of the torn, bloody hole, and when my hand passed by, the hole disappeared. There was just a clean side of the plane, painted to a mirror shine, and no seam - from nose to tail.

So this is how you do it! - he said. His dark eyes shone with pride for the stupid student who had finally learned to create reality with the power of imagination. I didn’t find it strange; in a dream, work is done this way.

The morning fire was burning not far from the wing, with a frying pan hanging over it.

Don, are you cooking something? You know, I've never seen you cook anything. What do you have?

Flatbread,” he said without any expression. - One last thing I want to do for you in this life is to show you how it's done.

He cut two pieces with a pocketknife and handed one to me. Even now, as I write, I can still smell the aroma... the aroma of sawdust and old office glue heated in lard.

So how? - he said.

“Phantom’s revenge,” he grinned. - I made it out of plaster. - He put his part back on the frying pan. “To remind you that if you ever decide to teach them, do it with your knowledge, not with your cakes.” OK?

No! If you love me, love my cakes too! This is our daily bread, Don!

Very good. But I guarantee your first dinner with someone will be your last if you feed them this crap.

We laughed and fell silent, and I looked at him in silence.

Don, you're okay, right?

Do you think I'm dead? Come on, Richard!

Isn't this a dream? Will I forget that I see you now?

No, it's a dream. This is another space-time - that is, this is a dream for any sane inhabitant of the Earth, which you will be for some time. But you will remember, and it will change your thinking and your life.

Will I see you again? Will you come back?

I think no. I want to penetrate beyond time and space. In reality, I have already penetrated, but there is this connection between us, between you and me, and others from our family. If you get stuck on a problem, keep it in your head and go to bed with it, and we'll meet here at the plane and talk about it if you want...

Why a gun? Why did this happen? I don't see any power or glory in allowing yourself to be shot in the heart with a gun.

He sat down on the grass near the wing.

Since I wasn't the Messiah from page one, Richard, I didn't have to prove anything to anyone. And since you need practice in not being intoxicated by appearances or saddened by them,” he added forcefully, “you might as well use some bloody appearance for your training.” And for me it is also entertainment. Dying is like diving into a deep lake on a hot day. There is shock from the sharp cold, pain from it for a second, and then acceptance - this is swimming in reality. But after so many repetitions, even the shock wears off. As time passed, he stood up.

Very few people are interested in what you have to say, Richard, but that doesn't matter. Remember, the quality of a Master is not determined by the size of the crowd of his students.

Don, I'll try, I promise. But I will run away forever as soon as I stop enjoying work!

No one touched the Travel Air, but its propeller suddenly spun, the engine released blue smoke, and its empty sound filled the meadow.

The promise was accepted, but... - he looked and smiled, as if not understanding me.

Accepted, but what? Tell. In words. Tell me. What's wrong?

“You don’t like crowds,” he said.

Yes, I'm not attracted, I like to talk and exchange ideas, but the pressure, the worship you went through, and the addiction... I hope you're not asking me... Consider me already running away...

Maybe I'm just a fool, Richard, or maybe I don't understand something that goes without saying that you understand very well. But what's wrong with putting it all down on paper? Is there a rule that the Messiah cannot write down what he believes to be true, those things that are interesting, that work for him? And then maybe if people don't like what he says, they can burn his words instead of shooting him. They will burn his words and scatter them to the wind, and if they like them, they can read the words again, or write them on the refrigerator door, or play with any ideas that make sense to them. What's wrong with writing, Richard? But maybe I'm just stupid.

Once upon a time there was a Teacher who came to earth, born in the holy land of Indiana...

There is no more captivating, brighter, and sadder book in the world than “Illusions” by Richard Bach. "What if someone came who could teach me how my world works and how to control it? What if Siddhartha or Jesus came in our time with power over the illusions of the world, for they would know the reality behind him? And what if I met him in person, if he flew a biplane and landed on the same field as me? What would he say, what would he look like?
It is probably no coincidence that you are holding this book: perhaps there is something in these adventures to bring you here and remember. I choose to think this way. And I prefer to think that my Messiah ascended to some other dimension, and this is not a fiction at all, is watching us and laughing with pleasure that everything happened as planned."

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The last time I saw the Messiah Pocket Guide was the day I threw it away. I used it the way Donald taught me in Illusions: ask a question in your head, close your eyes, open the book at random, choose the right or left page, open your eyes, read the answer.
For a long time this worked flawlessly: fear was drowned in a smile, doubts scattered away from an unexpected bright insight. I was always touched and entertained by everything these pages conveyed.
And on that dark day, I once again trustingly opened the Directory. “Why did my friend Donald Shimoda, who really had something to say and whose lessons we needed so much, why, why did he have to die such a senseless death?” I open my eyes and read the answer: Everything in this book could turn out to be a mistake...

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This is Richard Bach's most important book. He didn't come up with "The Seagull". He heard it in its entirety and wrote it down, and it completely changed his life, and now you can read this wonderful fairy tale, like no other book in the world, answering the questions “Who are we?”...
“Most seagulls do not strive to learn anything about flight other than the most necessary: how to fly from the shore to food and return back. For most seagulls, the main thing is food, not flight. Jonathan Livingston loved to fly more than anything else in the world. But such a passion, as he realized , does not inspire respect for the birds. Even his parents were alarmed that Jonathan spent entire days alone and, while doing his experiments, glides over and over again over the water itself."
Translation: Uni Rodman

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The book "The One and Only" is written in the genre of fantastic and mystical revelation. The ideological basis for the work is the idea of the Power of the Human Mind. "But the ghost mind never sleeps, and I hear the rustle of pages turning in my sleep."
"The walls that separated us have disappeared, and we, like twins separated since childhood, rush into each other's arms, laughing and crying with joy. We are together again! How much we have to say to each other! And all - right now, in this the very second, because already a lot of time has been wasted in vain, and words are too leisurely to express with them how glad we are to finally touch each other.
We wrote “the one and only”, hoping that this day would someday come, but we were completely amazed to learn that the book had been translated into Russian - our dream came true!”
Translation from English: Mikhail Shishkin

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Dragons today wear official costumes and hide behind masks of inspections and services. The demons of society rush at us with a shrill cry, as soon as we lift our eyes from the ground, as soon as we turn right where we were told to go left. Appearance has now become so deceptive that it is difficult for knights and princesses to recognize each other, it is difficult even to recognize themselves. But in our dreams we still meet the Masters of Reality. They remind us that we have never lost our defense against dragons, that the blue flame flows into us, allowing us to change our world as we wish. Intuition whispers the truth: we are not dust, we are magic!

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Just because something happened within a split second doesn't mean it didn't happen. Every skeet shooter will tell you this. That single shot blew me into pieces like a saucer. No, I wasn't wrong. I was told that we lose the perception of random objects when we see them for less than half a second. If these are geometric objects, one fiftieth of a second is enough. But the perception of a smile remains, even if it lasted only one thousandth of a second - such is the sensitivity of our brain to the image of a human face.

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The story of this book is as follows: more than twenty years ago, a little girl named Ray Hansen, who was about to turn 5 years old, invited her friend Richard Bach to her birthday party. She was sure that he would come, despite the fact that her guest lived on the other side of mountain ranges, deserts and storms. How he arrived and what gift he brought for Ray is told in this parable book.

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"Despite his best efforts, the upward swing could not be achieved. He tried ten times, and each time, as soon as the speed exceeded seventy miles per hour, he turned into an uncontrollable stream of ruffled feathers and fell like a stone into the water. The whole point, Jonathan finally realized , when you are wet to the last feather - the whole point is that at high speeds you need to keep the open wings in one position - flap until the speed reaches fifty miles per hour, and then keep it in one position.
He rose to two thousand feet and tried again: as he entered the dive, he extended his beak down and spread his wings, and when he reached a speed of fifty miles an hour, he stopped moving them. It took incredible effort, but he achieved his goal. For ten seconds he rushed like an elusive shadow at a speed of ninety miles per hour. Jonathan has set a world record for the fastest flight for seagulls!"
Translation: Uni Rodman

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My truth has undergone a long process of processing. Relying on intuition, I hopefully explored and drilled for its deposits, filtered and concentrated it in long thoughts, then carefully tried to feed it into my engines and see what would come of it. There were a few exhausts, a detonation or two, and I realized how capricious my homemade philosophical mixture could be. Covered in soot but wiser, it was only recently that I realized that I had been running on this strange fuel most of my life.

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After Jonathan Livingston Seagull was published, I was asked more than once: “Richard, what are you going to write next? After Jonathan, what?”
I answered then that I didn’t need to write further, not a single word, my books had already said everything I wanted to say with them. At one time I had to go hungry, and sell my car, and all that other stuff, so it was quite interesting that I no longer had to sit until midnight at work. However, almost every summer I took my venerable biplane sailing over the emerald seas of the grasslands of the American Midwest, giving rides to passengers, and began to feel the same tension again - there was still something I didn't have time to say.
Translation from English: Mikhail Shishkin

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It was meant that I should write an article about this man, and not at all finish him off, turning him into a cold corpse. But for some reason I could not make him believe it - a rare case of meeting with a creature frightened to a pathological state. I stood before him completely helpless, and all my attempts to explain something to him looked as if I was speaking in the ancient language of Urdu. I was disheartened by how, it turns out, words can in some cases be devoid of meaning and make absolutely no impression on a person. The man who was to become the central figure of the story told me directly that he saw right through me, that I was a fool, a hillbilly, an ungrateful boor, and a whole gang of dubious characters hiding under the worn leather of my flight jacket.

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This is a story about a knight who was dying and about a princess who saved his life. This is a story about beauty and beasts, about magic spells and fortress walls, about the forces of death that only seem to us, and the forces of life that exist. This is a story about one adventure, which, I am sure, is the most important at any age.
In fact, in life everything was almost as described here. In several places I took liberties with the chronology, some characters are made up of a number of real people, most of the names are fictitious. I couldn’t come up with the rest even if I tried - the reality was so incredible that it did not fit into the framework of any fiction.
You, as readers, will, of course, see, by looking behind the writer's mask, what made me put these words on paper. But sometimes, when the light shines just like now, the writer can also look behind the reader's mask. Maybe, in the rays of this light, you and I will meet somewhere on the pages of this book - me and my love, you and yours.

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I can't be silent anymore. After all, someone should tell you, airplane pilots, how tired those who do not belong to your circle get from your endless conversations about how pleasant it is to fly, and invitations to come on Sunday in the middle of the day to fly with you a little and feel, what is flight? After all, someone must categorically tell you “NO”.

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There were two moments in my life when I seemed to see the light. One of them was at night. I looked at the stars and in front of me it was as if there was a curtain that actually wasn’t there. The curtain moved aside, and I understood everything... Another time I experienced a feeling of boundless light, which was love. The light was so strong that I prayed for it to go away, I could not bear it. For me it was like a nuclear flash. She, like an insight, gave me strength, gave me knowledge of who we are and what our home is, and that this is great beauty. I realized this and then tried to communicate it through a little game.

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It's like the first night of a new life - only this is the first day; and instead of a majestically sliding velvet curtain in concrete tracks, corrugated tin hangar doors creak and rattle, in which there is much more obstinacy than grandeur. Inside the hangar, still damp from the darkness that gathered under the wings in two large black puddles, evaporating as the high doors slide apart, there is new life. An ancient biplane.

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When the name Bach is mentioned, everyone usually thinks of the great composer. Meanwhile, the direct descendant of Johann Sebastian - Richard Bach - achieved no less success than his musically gifted relative.

Seagull named Jonathan Livingston

Remember the philosophical fairy tale about a seagull named Jonathan Livingston? This work is now published in school literature textbooks and is required reading. Since Richard Bach is seriously passionate about aviation, the theme of flight became central to the story of the seagull, which brought him worldwide fame. Jonathan is small but wise, learns the intricacies of flight, learns the right attitude towards life.

“Grey boredom, and fear, and anger are the reasons that life is so short” - putting this thought into the head of his feathered hero, Richard Bach himself tried to live without boredom and fears. Those who sincerely love the sky know no fears.

Aviation and writing “torn” Bach from two sides - in parallel with his military service, he worked as an editor in several publications, and soon, having started writing books, he stepped away from editorial work and completely immersed himself in literature. His writing debut took place in 1963. The novel “Alien on Earth,” in which airplanes play an important role, shows the reader that it would be possible to overcome any doubts and fears, storms and winds...

But, nevertheless, it was “A Seagull Called Jonathan” that contributed to significant changes in his life. On the set of the film adaptation of this work, he met his wife Leslie Parrish. She inspired the writer to write several new books - thanks to Leslie, “Bridge Over Eternity” (1984) and “The One and Only” (1988) appeared. The couple separated in 1991, and since then Bach has not married anyone else, not seeing the point in it.

And his brave seagull still inspires everyone to believe in the triumph of justice and that meaning can be found everywhere and always. This fairy tale-parable has such a strong inspiring energy that to this day performances are staged based on it (at the “Saturday” theater and the theater under the direction of V. Spesivtsev). A restaurant in Novosibirsk was named in honor of Jonathan, and one of the St. Petersburg young rock bands is called “Chaika Jonathan.”

Illusions

The work “Illusions” is similar in energy to “The Seagull”. This novel is about a pilot who, for a certain amount of money, is ready to help people get off the ground. He is burdened by the fact that people have become too down-to-earth, that they are overcome by fears. Together with his friend, the messiah Donald Shimoda, the pilot tries to understand why this happened; talks about his successes and failures. The writer himself once admitted: “What if suddenly someone appeared here who really was a master of this matter, who could tell me how my world works and how to manage it?” He dreamed of a mentor, an older friend. And he realized this dream on the pages of his novel.

“By asserting your limitations, you deprive yourself of omnipotence” - this quote can be called the leitmotif of Bach’s “Illusions”. With the help of his heroes, he seems to be trying to wean the reader from the habit of fear. Break the shackles of circumstances.

The passion for flying reflected in the books symbolizes freedom and courage - what lives in each of us. Of course, for Richard Bach himself, the words “freedom” and “courage” are also not empty words.

Quotes from books by Richard Baz

Richard Bach "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

Understand what you would like to do more than anything else in the world - and do it.

“There are no mistakes. The events that we attract into our lives, no matter how unpleasant they may be for us, are necessary for us to learn what we need to learn. Whatever our next step may be, it is necessary in order to reach the place where we have chosen the path.”

“You don’t have to fight to live the life you want. Live the way you want and pay the price required for it, whatever it may be.”

“We are not given the opportunity to comprehend the meaning of life, because it is incomprehensible, we know only one thing: we are thrown into this world to eat and stay alive as long as we have enough strength.”

Richard Bach "Illusions"

“Every person who appears in your life, all the events that happen to you, all this happens to you because it was you who attracted them here. And what you do with all this next, you choose yourself.”

“Don’t turn away from a possible future until you are sure there is nothing there for you to learn.”

“You get used to loneliness, but it’s enough to disturb it even for a day, and you’ll have to get used to it all over again, from the very beginning.”

“Live in such a way that you will never be ashamed if something you do or say becomes known to the whole world, even if what becomes known is not true.”

“The simplest questions are actually the most difficult. Where you were born? Where is your home? What are you doing? Where are you going? Think about it occasionally and watch how your answers change.”

Every dream is given to you along with the strength necessary to make it come true. However, you may have to work hard for this.

Richard Bach, "Bridge Over Eternity"

“The best way to pay for an amazing moment is to simply enjoy it.”

“The only thing that destroys dreams is compromise.”

To attract something into your life, imagine that it is already there.

“If you want someone to remain in your life, never treat them with indifference.”

If you want magic to come into your life, give up your defenses.

“A soul mate is the one who has the keys to our locks, and whose locks our keys fit. When we feel safe enough to open our locks, then our most authentic selves come out to meet each other and we can be fully and authentically who we are. Then we are loved for who we are, and not for who we try to be. Each brings out the best sides of the other. And despite everything that makes us suffer, with this person we feel well-being like in heaven. A soul mate is someone who shares our deepest aspirations and our chosen direction of movement. If the two of us are moving upward like balloons, there is a very high probability that we have found the right person in each other. A soul mate is the one through whom you begin to live an authentic life.”

RICHARD DAVIS BACH

(born 1936)

Inspired by the sky

American writer Richard Bach was born in Oak Park (Illinois, USA). He avoids publicity, so little is known about the writer’s life - only what he talked about in a few interviews. In the early 1950s. Richard attended California State University, Long Beach. In 1956-1962 Served in the United States Air Force, piloting the F-84F fighter-bomber. Having been demobilized from the army, R. Bach did not part with heaven. At first, he held the position of junior editor of the Flying magazine, which published materials on the topic of aviation. And from 1965 to 1970 he worked as a civil aviation pilot, aircraft mechanic and stunt pilot, demonstrating aerobatic maneuvers at air shows. During the same period, R. Bach made his debut as a writer. His first books, “Alien on Earth,” “Biplane,” and “Nothing by Chance,” are devoted to the topic of aviation. They describe the life of pilots, travel on airplanes, are replete with technical details of the operation of aircraft systems and, as the writer admits, are “almost 100% autobiographical.” These books were not noticed by critics and readers.

In 1970, R. Bach created his most famous work - the story “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” Only the second edition of the book in 1972 made its author famous not only in the USA, but throughout the world. The story was translated into many languages, and in 1973 a feature film based on it was made in the USA.

The writer devoted the following years to his two main hobbies: the sky and books. He returned to flying as an amateur pilot, took up parachuting, and wrote about twenty works, the most notable of which were “Illusions, or the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” and “Bridge Over Eternity.”

The story "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

The idea for the story “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” arose from R. Bach in 1959. The author named the main character of the work in honor of the American pilot Jonathan Livingston (1897-1974), a participant in the popular in the 20-30s. XX century air racing. Livingston won eighty of them.

The story is small in volume, and its plot is quite simple: Jonathan the seagull is trying to master aerobatic maneuvers and achieve perfection in flight, but is faced with a lack of understanding from those around him.

In the image of Jonathan, the author embodied a person’s desire to find the meaning of life, self-improvement, freedom, and a noble desire to be useful to others. Jonathan's life principles conflict with the mundane interests of the Flock of Seagulls. Members of the Flock believe that no one is allowed to suffer their fate, that seagulls fly to get food. The confrontation between the hero and the Pack ends with Jonathan's expulsion and his death alone. However, in the finale, the seagull’s faith in the high destiny of birds wins. Jonathan returns to the Pack from the other world, and more and more students join him. Like their mentor, they do not think about their daily bread, but want to master the complex art of flight.

Literary scholars define the genre of a work in different ways: philosophical fairy tale, prose poem, philosophical story. Perhaps the most successful definition is “story-parable”. The work is similar to parables with a deep, universal philosophical meaning and sketchy characters. The heroes of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” embody one passion - the thirst for flight, for learning about one’s own capabilities. Their images are practically not individualized.

The work is full of symbols. The central one is the ocean, over which seagulls soar. It symbolizes the sea of life with its disastrous storms, storms and deceptive calms. The sea is fraught with many dangers, but it also provides food and serves as a road to unexplored continents and islands.

The story is preceded by a dedication: “To the non-fictional Jonathan the Seagull, who lives in each of us.” Thus, the author affirms the idea that in the soul of any person there is a living desire for spiritual values, a willingness to prefer the perfection of flight to the daily “fight for fish heads,” that is, everyday life.

Seagull named Jonathan Livingston

(Abridged)

To the fictional Jonathan Seagull, who lives in each of us.

Part one

[In the morning, thousands of seagulls hovered around the fishing boat, trying to get food. And away from them, Jonathan Livingston, who was an extraordinary bird, trained.]

Most seagulls do not strive to learn anything about flight other than the most necessary: how to fly from the shore to food and back. For most seagulls, the main thing is food, not flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston loved to fly.

But such a passion, as he realized, does not inspire respect in the birds. Even his parents were alarmed that Jonathan spent whole days alone and, while doing his experiments, planned over and over again the water itself.<...>

“Listen, Jonathan,” his father told him without a hint of ill will. — Winter is just around the corner. Fishing boats will appear less and less often, and the fish that now swim on the surface will go deeper. Flights are, of course, very good, but you won’t be satisfied with flights alone. Don't forget that you fly to eat.

Jonathan nodded obediently. For several days he tried to do the same as everyone else, tried his best: screamed and fought with his relatives at the piers and fishing boats, dived for pieces of fish and bread. But nothing worked for him.

“What nonsense,” he thought and decisively threw the hard-earned anchovy to the hungry old seagull who was chasing him. “I could spend all this time learning to fly.” There is so much more I need to learn!”

And now Jonathan is alone at sea again - hungry, joyful, inquisitive.<. >

[Jonathan experimented with flight speed, balance, height of lift. He became the first seagull in the world,

has mastered aerobatic maneuvers.]

It was already deep night when Jonathan flew up to the Flock on the shore.<...>“When they hear about this,” he thought about the Breakthrough, “they will go crazy with joy. How much more complete life will become! Instead of sadly scurrying between the shore and fishing boats - know why you live! We will end ignorance, we will become beings who have access to perfection and mastery. We will become free! We will learn to fly!<...>

When he landed, all the seagulls were assembled, because the Council was beginning; Apparently they had gathered for quite some time. In fact they were waiting.

“Jonathan Livingston,” said the Elder, “come out into the middle, you have covered yourself with Shame in the face of your fellow tribesmen.”

It was as if he had been hit with a board! My knees became weak, my feathers sagged, and my ears began to buzz. Circle of Shame? Can't be! Breakthrough! They didn't understand! They were wrong, They were wrong!

“... with his frivolity and irresponsibility,” the solemn speech flowed, “by trampling on the dignity and customs of the Seagull Family.”

The Circle of Shame means expulsion from the Pack, he will be sentenced to live alone on the Far Rocks.

“The day will come, Jonathan Livingston, when you will understand that irresponsibility cannot feed you. We are not given the opportunity to comprehend the meaning of life, because it is incomprehensible, we know only one thing: we are thrown into this world to eat and stay alive as long as we have enough strength.

Seagulls never object to the Council of the Flock, but Jonathan's voice broke the silence.

- Irresponsibility? Brethren! - he exclaimed. - Who is more responsible than a seagull, which discovers what the meaning is, what the highest meaning of life is, and never forgets about it? For a thousand years we have been searching for fish heads, but now it is finally clear why we live: to learn, to discover new things, to be free! Give me a chance, let me show you what I've learned.

The flock seemed to have turned to stone.

“You are no longer our Brother,” the seagulls chanted in unison, majestically all at once covering their ears and turning their backs to him.

Jonathan spent the rest of his days alone, but he flew many miles from the Far Rocks. And it was not loneliness that tormented him, but the fact that the seagulls did not want to believe in the joy of flight, did not want to open their eyes and see!

And then one evening, as Jonathan soared calmly and alone in the sky he loved so much, they arrived. Two white seagulls that appeared near his wings shone like stars and illuminated the darkness of the night with a soft, caressing light. But even more amazing was their skill: they flew, always maintaining a distance of exactly one inch between their wings and his.

Without saying a word, Jonathan subjected them to a test that no seagull had ever passed.<.>It folded its wings, swung from side to side, and plunged into a dive at one hundred and ninety miles an hour. They rushed along with him, perfectly maintaining formation.

Finally, he transitioned into a long vertical slow roll at the same speed. They smiled and made a barrel at the same time as him.

He switched to horizontal flight, flew silently for a while, and then said:

- Wonderful. - And asked: - Who are you?

- We are from your Pack, Jonathan, we are your brothers.<...>We flew in to call you higher, to call you home.

- I don’t have a home. I don't have a pack. I am an Exile. We are now flying to the top of the Great Wind Mountain. I can lift my decrepit body another few hundred feet, but no higher.

“You can rise higher, Jonathan, because you studied.” You've graduated from one school, now it's time to start another.

These words sparkled before him all his life, so Jonathan understood, understood instantly. They are right. He can fly higher and it's time for him to come home.

He took a long look at the sky, at this magnificent silver country where he had learned so much.

“I’m ready,” he said finally.

And Jonathan Livingston rose up with two seagulls, bright as stars, and disappeared into the impenetrable darkness of the sky.<. >

Part two

<...>Now, when he parted with the Earth and rose above the clouds, wing to wing, with two radiant seagulls, he noticed that his body was gradually becoming just as radiant.<...>

Having reached two hundred and seventy-three miles, he realized that he could not fly any faster, and felt some disappointment. The capabilities of his new body were also limited, however, he managed to significantly exceed his previous record.<. >“In heaven,” he thought, “there should be no limits.”

The clouds parted, his guides shouted:

— Happy landing, Jonathan! - and disappeared into the transparent air.<. >

As he approached the shore, a dozen seagulls flew up to meet him, but not one of them uttered a word. He only felt that they were glad to see him and that he was at home here.<. >

In the very first days, Jonathan realized that here he would learn no less new things about flying than in his previous life. But there was still a difference. Like-minded seagulls lived here.

Each of them considered it her life’s work to comprehend the secrets of flight, to strive for the perfection of flight, because flying was what they loved more than anything in the world.<...>

Jonathan seemed to have forgotten about the world from which he had come, and about the place where the Flock lived, which did not know the joys of flight and used its wings only to get food and to fight for food. But sometimes he suddenly remembered.<...>

One evening the seagulls, who had not taken off on their night flight, stood together on the sand, they thought. Jonathan gathered his courage and approached the Old One - a seagull who, as they said, was about to leave this world soon.<. >

- Chiang, this world. Is this not heaven at all?

In the light of the moon, it was clear that the Elder smiled.

- Jonathan, you're studying again.

- Yes. What awaits us ahead? Where are we going? Isn't there such a place as heaven?

- No, Jonathan, there is no such place. Heaven is neither a place nor a time. Heaven is the attainment of perfection. - He paused. - You seem to fly very fast?

“I... I really like speed,” Jonathan said. He was amazed - and proud! - because the Elder noticed him.

“You will approach heaven, Jonathan, when you approach perfect speed.” This doesn't mean you have to fly a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or learn to fly at the speed of light. Because any number is the limit, and perfection knows no limit. To reach perfect speed, my son, is to be there.

Without adding a word, Chiang disappeared and immediately reappeared at the water's edge, fifty feet from his previous place. Then he disappeared again and a thousandth of a second later he was standing next to Jonathan.

“It's just a joke,” he said.

Jonathan could not recover from his amazement. He forgot that he wanted to ask Chiang about heaven.

- How do you do this?<. >How far can you fly?

“You can fly any distance at any time, you just have to want to,” said the Elder. “I have been everywhere and wherever my thoughts have penetrated.”<...>It's strange: the seagulls that reject perfection in the name of travel don't fly anywhere; where are they, hoarders! And those who refuse to travel in the name of perfection fly throughout the universe like meteors.

Remember, Jonathan, heaven is not a specific place or time, because neither place nor time matters. Heaven is...

-Can you teach me to fly like that?<...>

The point, Chiang said, was that Jonathan had to give up the idea that he was a prisoner of his body, with a forty-two-inch wingspan and a limited set of preprogrammed capabilities. The point is to understand: his true self, perfect as an unwritten number, lives simultaneously at any point in space at any moment in time.

Jonathan trained hard, fiercely, day after day, from sunrise to midnight.<.>

[One day, standing on the shore, Jonathan suddenly realized that he was created perfect and his possibilities were endless.

At that very moment he managed to be transported to another planet.]

And then the day came when Chiang disappeared. He calmly talked with the seagulls and convinced them to constantly study, and train, and strive to understand as deeply as possible the comprehensive invisible basis of eternal life. He spoke, and his feathers became brighter and brighter and finally shone so dazzlingly that not a single seagull could look at him.

“Jonathan,” he said, and these were his last words, “try to understand what love is.”<. >

Young seagull Fletcher Lind was kicked out of the Flock for making a barrel around the Elder Gull. Fletcher was flying towards the Far Rocks when he suddenly heard a voice in his head.]

- Don't be angry with them, Fletcher! By banishing you, they only harmed themselves, and someday they will know, someday they will see what you see. Forgive them and help them understand.

An inch from the tip of his right wing flew a dazzling white seagull, the whitest seagull in the world, gliding next to Fletcher without the slightest effort, without moving a feather, although Fletcher was flying almost at top speed.<. >A quiet, calm voice intruded on his thoughts and demanded an answer.

— Seagull Fletcher Lind, do you want to fly?

- YES. I WANT TO FLY!

- Seagull Fletcher Lind, do you want to fly so much that you are ready to forgive the Flock and learn and one day return to them and try to help them learn what you know?<...>

“Yes,” he said barely audible.

“Then, Fletch,” the shining creature with a gentle voice turned to him, “let’s start with Horizontal Flight.”

Part three

Jonathan circled slowly over the Far Cliffs, he watched. This rough young Fletcher turned out to be an almost perfect student. In the air he was strong, agile and agile, but most importantly, he was eager to learn to fly.<...>

By the end of the third month, Jonathan had six more students - all six Exiles, captivated by a strange new idea: to fly for the joys of flying.

But even for them it was easier to perform the most complex figure than to understand what the hidden meaning of their exercises was.

“In fact, each of us embodies the idea of the Great Seagull, the all-encompassing idea of freedom,” Jonathan said in the evenings, standing on the shore, “and the infallibility of flight is another step that brings us closer to the expression of our true essence.” There should be no barriers for us. That's why we strive to master high speeds, and low speeds, and aerobatics.<.>

But no matter what examples he gave, the students perceived his words as an amusing invention, and most of all they wanted to sleep.

Although only a month had passed, Jonathan said it was time for them to return to the Pack.

- We're not ready yet! - exclaimed Henry Calvin. - They don't want to see us! We are Exiles! Is it possible to impose your presence on those who do not want to see you?

“We have the right to fly wherever we want and be as we are created,” Jonathan answered him; he rose into the air and turned east, to his native shores, where the Flock lived.<.>

[When eight seagulls landed on the shore where

The flock, loud quarrels and arguments on the shore suddenly died down.]

The same thought flew around the Flock like lightning. All these birds are Exiles! And they are back! But this. this can't be! Fletcher was in vain to fear a fight - the Flock was numb.

- Just think, Exiles, of course, Exiles, well, let them be Exiles! - said one of the young people. - I wonder where they learned to fly like that?<...>

A month passed after the Return before the first Seagull from the Flock crossed the line and said that she wanted to learn to fly. It was Terrence Lowell, who immediately became a cursed bird, branded an Exile. and Jonathan's eighth student.

The next night Kirk Maynard separated from the Pack; he tottered across the sand, dragging his left wing, and collapsed at Jonathan's feet.

“Help me,” he said barely audible, as if he was about to lose his life. “I want to fly more than anything in the world.”

“Well, let’s not waste time,” said Jonathan, “come up into the air with me and let’s begin.”

- You do not understand. Wing. I can't move my wing.

- Maynard, you are free, you have the right to live here and now as your “I” tells you, and nothing can stop you. This is the Law of the Great Seagull, this is the Law.

- Are you saying that I can fly?

- I say that you are free.

Just as easily and simply as it was said, Kirk Maynard spread his wings - without the slightest effort! - and rose into the dark night sky. The flock woke up hearing his voice; From a height of five thousand feet he shouted at the top of his lungs:

- I can fly!<. >

At sunrise, almost a thousand seagulls crowded around Jonathan's students and looked at Maynard with curiosity. They didn't care whether they were seen or not, they listened and tried to understand what Jonathan was saying.<...>

“They say in the Flock that you are the Son of the Great Gull,” Fletcher said one morning, talking to Jonathan after High Speed Training Flights, “and if not, then you are a thousand years ahead of your time.”

Jonathan sighed. “The price of misunderstanding,” he thought. “They call you the devil or god.”<...>

[A week later, while Fletcher was demonstrating high-speed flying techniques to a group of novices, a

chick. To avoid a collision, Fletch turned sharply and crashed into a granite rock.]

Fletcher shook his head, spread his wings and opened his eyes: he was lying at the foot of the cliff, and the Flock was crowding around him. When the seagulls saw that he had moved, angry, piercing screams were heard from all sides:

- He's alive! He died and is alive again!

- Touched with a wing! Alive! Son of the Great Seagull!

- No!<...>It's the devil! DEVIL! He came to destroy the Flock!

Four thousand seagulls, frightened by an unprecedented sight,

shouted: DEVIL! - and this cry swept through the Flock like a mad wind during a storm. With burning eyes, with tightly clenched beaks, obsessed with bloodlust, the seagulls came closer and closer.

“Fletcher, wouldn’t it be better for us to part with them?” - Jonathan asked.

- I guess I don't mind...

At the same instant, they found themselves half a mile from the rock, and the striking beaks of maddened birds pierced the void.<...>

By morning the Pack had forgotten about their madness, but Fletcher had not forgotten.

“Jonathan, remember, a long time ago you said that love for the Pack should be enough to return to your relatives and help them learn.

- Certainly.

“I don’t understand how you can love a frantic flock of birds that just tried to kill you.”

- Oh, Fletch! You shouldn't love a flock of birds going crazy! You should not at all repay hatred and malice with love. You must train yourself to see the truly good gull in each of these birds and help them see that same gull in themselves. That's what I call love. I wonder when you will finally understand this?

By the way, I just remembered a hot-tempered bird named Fletcher Lind. Not so long ago, when this same Fletcher was sentenced to Exile, he was ready to fight to the death with the entire Pack and created a real hell on the Far Rocks for his personal use. The same Fletcher is now creating his own heaven and leading the entire Flock there.<. >

- Am I driving? What do these words mean: I lead? Here you are a mentor. You can't leave us!

- I can not? Don't you think that there are other packs and other Fletchers who perhaps need a mentor even more than you, because you are already on the path to the light?

- I? John, I'm just an ordinary seagull, and you...

- The only Son of the Great Seagull, right? - Jonathan sighed and looked out to sea. - You don't need me anymore. Continue to search for yourself - that's what you need, try every day to get at least one step closer to the true almighty Fletcher. He is your mentor. You need to learn to understand him and do what he tells you.

A moment later, Jonathan's body trembled and began to melt into the air, his feathers shining with some kind of incorrect light.

“Don’t let them talk nonsense about me, don’t let them make a god out of me, okay, Fletch?” I am a seagull.<...>Don't believe your eyes! They only see obstacles. To look is to understand, realize what you already know and you will learn to fly.

The radiance faded, Jonathan disappeared into the vastness of the sky. A little time passed, Fletcher forced himself to rise into the air and appeared in front of a group of completely green beginners who were looking forward to their first lesson.<. >

And although Fletcher tried to look at his students with appropriate severity, he suddenly saw them all as they really were, saw them for a moment, but at that moment he not only liked them - he loved them all. "The sky's the limit, Jonathan?" - he thought with a smile. And he rushed in pursuit of knowledge.

(Translation by Yu. Rodman)

Reflecting on the text of a work of art

1. What impression did the story make on you? What did you like about the main character?

2. How was Jonathan different from other members of the Pack? from seagulls in the other world?

3. What made Jonathan leave first the other world, and then his native Flock?

4. Remember what subtext is. What is the subtext of the story?

5. Write a written profile of Jonathan. What positive human traits did R. Bach embody in the image of a seagull?

6. What did Jonathan teach his followers in the Pack? What lesson did he teach you personally?

7. Why do researchers say that the story contains gospel motifs? What episodes of the work resonate with gospel events known to you?

8. What signs of a parable can you note in the story?

9. In your opinion, why did the writer make the seagull the hero of his work? What does the image of a bird symbolize?

10. What moral problems did R. Bach raise in the story?

We express our opinion

11. The story of R. Bach is often compared with the fairy tale by A. de Saint-Exupéry “The Little Prince”. In your opinion, what do these works have in common?

It is quite difficult to film works of a parable nature with their simple plot, symbolism and the most generalized images of the characters. On the electronic educational resource interactive.ranok.com.ua, watch the film adaptation of R. Bach's story from 1973. In your opinion, can it be considered successful? Justify your answer. How would you bring Jonathan the Seagull to life on screen?

12. Which phrase from R. Bach’s story would you take as the motto of your life? Why? Justify your opinion in a short essay.

GO TO THE LIBRARY

What are your ideas about the literature of the 20th - early 21st centuries? will expand if you read the following works in the library or on the electronic educational resource interactive.ranok.com.ua:

Stories by R. Akutagawa “Sweet Potato Porridge”, “Nose”, “Ball”;

Stories by M. Zoshchenko;

Lyrics by N. Rubtsov;

I. Efremov’s novel “The Razor’s Edge”;

B. Akunin’s novel “Azazel”;

The story of V. Tokareva “The happiest day of my life (The Accelerator’s Story)”;

S. Dovlatov's story “Lucky”;

M. Pavich’s novel “Motley Bread. Invisible mirror."

LET'S SUM IT UP

1. Complete one of the creative tasks:

Write an essay “Moral and philosophical issues of V. Bykov’s story “Alpine Ballad”;

Write an essay “War - there is no crueler word...” (A. Tvardovsky) (based on the story by G. Böll “Traveler, when you come to Spa.”);

Write a review of the book “The Alchemist” by P. Coelho;

Write an essay-reasoning “Heaven is not a place or a time. Heaven is the achievement of perfection" (based on the story-parable by R. Bach "The Seagull Called Jonathan Livingston").

2. Test your knowledge on the topic by taking a test on the electronic educational resource interactive.ranok.com.ua.

ENDING THE SCHOOL YEAR...

Making sense of what we read over the course of the year

1. What works of eras and movements did you get acquainted with in literature lessons in the 9th grade? Which piece did you like best?

3. Which of the books not included in the school curriculum do you especially remember? What did its author make you think about?

4. Which of the works you have read, in your opinion, is worthy of being filmed? Justify your answer.

5. Which of the heroes made a special impression on you? Why?

6. Have your beliefs and views changed? If so, influenced by which books?

We express our opinion

7. In your opinion, what role does literature play in the life of an individual, in national and world culture?

Preparing the final project

8. Prepare a presentation on one of the topics:

The life of a literary work (optional) in art.

What are my peers reading?

Being a reader is also a talent.

We realize creative abilities

9. Write an essay using as a topic this quote from a Spanish writer of the 16th-17th centuries. Lope de Vega: “Any book is a smart friend.”

This is textbook material