Topic suggested by Athavan on Mon Mar 15 12:56:37 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.
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This thread is for both people who know and dont know about this writer. Those who know can send in you point of view on him and those who dont can benifit from them.For a start we'll discuss his best novels jonathan livingston seagull and the bridge across forever - two completely different viewponts on life brought together by a single word 'flight'. |
Responses:
- From: rajiv (@ tmpil003.tmp.alliedsignal.com)
on: Mon Mar 15 15:06:12
the main point in both the books (all his books, i think!) is that everything's achievable, there exist infinite futures and its up to you to choose yours..
has he written on any other topics?
- From: vj (@ chme111pc1.ecn.purdue.edu)
on: Mon Mar 15 18:33:09
i dont think he has any other concepts...
i dont know what Athavan refers by two different view points, there's only one and thats 'flight'!!
well even this concept after a few of his books gets tiresome and highly unnatural...
his "Seagull.." is probably the only book where i felt he has put 'creative effort' to get his message across....
- From: anil (@ 206.103.11.36)
on: Wed Mar 17 06:16:17
I also think that by telling us that everything is achievable, Bach is trying to convey the good old Indian thought of Advaita - oneness to god-
Most of his books deal with the capacity to think and perform at levels which though seem godly to us, are quite attainable if we could apply ourselves to it.... Stranger to the Ground talks about how illogical and powerless the mind can be if it cannot be controlled....
...one and again bridge across forever talk about things like mind-reading and telepathis thought processes... something that has been mastered in Illusions...
... if you notice, the same thought has been tried to be conveyed in the movie- ghost - (Demi Moore and Patrcik Swayze)- though it is made more glamorous and hence diluted.
His books seldom give the happy feeling .... the feeling that makes one feel- "Ah ! that was a nice book". Only in Seagull does it come out well... hence Seagull continues to be his bestseller.... you must read " Stranger to the Ground"- it is amazing - much better than Seagull.
- From: Casey (@ nor157.106.und.nodak.edu)
on: Mon Apr 26 01:02:34
Does anyone know where I can find some biographical information on him?
- From: Debra (@ host97.tyler.net)
on: Fri Jun 25 00:07:43
Bach's novels leave me feeling refreshed and energized as if I have obtained a new perspective on life. To fully appreciate his works, you must be open to creativity and open to your soul's attemps to communicate.
- From: vj (@ ppp-x9-37.ecn.purdue.edu)
on: Fri Jun 25 12:21:01
But the only thing is after reading a Bach novel,
the new perspective is always the same and I also find it divorced from my Life... It seems like a string of words attached together that dance gaily atop a hill which I chose to see... I mean, something like how an Amusement Park isnt a part of your Life...
- From: Electron (@ isdn5.pppmad.vsnl.net.in)
on: Fri Jul 2 06:17:26
Perfection is the goal of life. Lord Krishna says (Bhagawath Gita) "strive for perfection for I am perfection"
Bach was brilliant. Reading the book was like self contemplation.
Wish to know if there are any more such titles
- From: Bashuman (@ 139.85.242.23)
on: Thu Aug 12 18:01:04
As far as I feel, Bachs books are what could be called 'feel good' books. Refreshing and encouraging. Also a lot of his appeal lies in his choice of words -- he has a gift. As far as vj says, finding Bach divorced from life I think happens because we ourselves deprive ourselves of our childhood fantasies. His books are all about the pure and beautiful. No harm in that. What makes it seem _divorced_ from life is the fact that he tries to make us believe that the pure and beautiful is within our grasp. Seagull says that we could touch the stars if we wished to, One says that we are free to forge our destinies. When we were kids we believed that. As we have walked down the years, we have found that we have forgotten how to trust and believe. Probably it is us ourselves who have divorced orselves from life and how it should be. What makes me admire Bach is that he probably still does trust and believe in the existence of beauty and truth.
- From: pattu (@ pppb12-resalebatonrouge1-2r1073.saturn.bbn.com)
on: Fri Oct 29 00:12:05
.. as "vj" said...you do get tired after reading a couple of his books... and sometimes.. they border on..eyebrow raising!!!....
if any one has read "one"... they would know... .
what did he think he was trying do.. when he was talking about " angerons","smilons".." quantum theory of life" etc...
isn't it a kind of pandering.. only it is to those intellectual elite of scientists.. and physiscits..
the first book i read was "bridge across for ever".. and was swept away... i had to be... i was 21....but when i came to know.. that he got divorced after that book.. BOOM!!!!... welll.. everything faded...
"Illusions"... according to me is his best book....and iam unfortunate enough to read "Seagull".. after "Illusions"....
- From: Tina Miller (@ spider-tl054.proxy.aol.com)
on: Tue Apr 18 23:33:52
Richard,
I am preparing a paper for my college English Literature and Composition course.
My topic is your success with Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Although there was quite a bit of initial rejection and criticism, most have called JLS a publishing miracle.I am very interested in the cultural phenomenon which followed it’s publication. Most of all, I am curious about your feelings as to why Jonathan was so successful.
I have read about your development of the story and find it very fascinating and deeply inspiring. I too, was strangely inspired to write a children’s book (many years ago) and have had over 40 rejections, trying desperately to find the right “home” for it. I admire your perseverance and courage through Jonathan’s “hatching”. Do you have any words of wisdom that you could share?
- From: rjay (@ brkfw0005.navistar.com)
on: Wed Apr 19 15:50:31 EDT 2000
you can visit his home page at
www.richardbach.com
- From: Nadopasaka (@ akppp47.buffnet.net)
on: Fri Apr 21 04:26:44 EDT 2000
TMiller re >>> and have had over 40 rejections <<< theres one novelist Creasey ? who had maybe 400 rejections before he hit the jackpot. Babe Ruth struck out 1500 times but he aso hit 700 + home runs. I think the "Elegy written in a country churchyard" was rewritten about 70 times too. You are in good company.
Things may also be easier now, with web based publishing, but you can get ripped off more easily too. Of course Hillary and Tipper have no problem passing off 'their' childrens books.
- From: Katrina (@ gate3.grandmet.com)
on: Tue Jun 20 15:51:59 EDT 2000
First of all, how can you discuss Richard Bach's best novels without mentioning Illusions? Bridge Across Forever was not even a close second, although it is still an outstanding book. But Illusions touches upon the fundamental truths of the world. We are all free to do whatever we want to do. No exceptions. We make the choices on how to live our own lives every day. No fate or some other uncontrollable forces. I can complain about how crappy my life is all I want to, all that says is that at some level I enjoy complaining about my life better than I do changing it. Everyone lives their lifetime as a movie, bith for fun and for learning, and we are the ones who choose the plot, characters, and setting, adn we are free to change it aswe go along in any way we want to. That's how "miracles" happen. People finally wise up to the idea that they are limitless and free, and extraordinary things happen. His philosophy on life has helped me grow so much as a person, and its great to to see other people who find him as beautiful as I do.
- From: Madhurabarathi (@ 203.199.224.65)
on: Thu Jun 29 03:25:45 EDT 2000
Jonathan keeps perfecting his flight and dive, to the total derision of the rest of the flock. All of a sudden, one day when he graduates to the next flock the members of which are past masters of what Jonathan has always been trying. He finds that his quest far from being over, is still a long way to go.
How wonderful!
Is this quest for excellence not life all about? Have you not experienced the above situation in real life and wondered? After almost 20 years of reading JLS, I am still continuing to experience Seagul and marvel at Bach's perception.
Illusion and others bordering on the mystical are no way near JLS.
- From: Tammis (@ spider-wm066.proxy.aol.com)
on: Tue Jul 11 19:44:49 EDT 2000
I am trying to find information on Richard Bach, as well as his son. Please email me if you can help.
- From: Bev Braun (@ usr1-slip183.mergetel.com)
on: Tue Jul 11 22:26:54 EDT 2000
I have just read "out of my mind" it was wonderful, you have gone straight to the meat of the issue's, I have also just reread 'the Bridge Across Forever' and 'One', and I can see so much there, I am so grateful that you are writing these books, they speak as most cannot do.
Thank you
- From: Michael Cloyd (@ nlmn1pool1-a39.midstate.tds.net)
on: Wed Jul 12 01:41:45 EDT 2000
Having known Richard many years ago, I find it fascinating that he has maintained such a high level of reader interest and support. I was a neighbor of Richard's, but had been reading his articles for several years in FLYING, AIR PROGRESS, and other aviation magazines. When I found out that he was going to be my neighbor I was very excited, but finally ran into him at the airport where he was working on a bungee cord on the landing gear of his 1929 Detroit-Parks Biplane. Later, I played chess with him [he always won] and got to go Barnstorming with him.
When the turbocharge went out on his biplane, he called on a Thursday to see if I could help him and his wife Bette, go up to the hay field where he had made an emergency landing and help bring the plane back. You bethca was my response. And as a result of helping him load the biplane onto the trailer and later experience the trailer tearing away from the truck and careening into the median of I-80 in central Iowa I was mentioned in his book NOTHING BY CHANCE. I am the Mike Cloyd, a young college friend, mentioned on page 215 of the hardback copy.
Over the years I have corresponded with Richard, but lost track after he had moved to Florida over thirty years ago. Recently I got in touch with a friend of his, relayed my email address to the friend to pass onto Richard. So now I am hoping that Richard might drop me a quick email.
He has always been an extremely neat person, very introspective and serious. Having slept under the wing of his Detroit-Parks biplane on an old wool blanket while he was trying to sleep in a hammock stretched between the flying wires of his plane, I truly enjoyed the time I was able to spend with him as a young college student.
- From: Michael Cloyd (@ nlmn1pool1-a39.midstate.tds.net)
on: Wed Jul 12 01:47:08 EDT 2000
If anyone might wish to contact me regarding my having known Richard, my email address is clmi9901@yahoo.com
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