Bach, Richard "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

Bach, Richard "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" - 1970

This book was published more than 40 years ago and I remember reading it almost immediately. I was a teenager at the time and was very interested in everything spiritual, anything that contributed to world and inner peace. This book was just the right one. Jonathan Livingston is a seagull who is not happy with his life, with all the other seagulls always fighting. He tries to do something better, he wants to be the best flying seagull. Then he meets two other seagulls who want to take him to a higher place, a kind of paradise. He learns a lot about the meaning of life which he teaches to his fellow seagulls when he returns.

I loved this book. I loved it even more when Neil Diamond wrote a soundtrack to the movie they made from this story. I don't remember the movie all that well but as a huge Neil Diamond fan, I do remember his music. Very well. It might have to do with the fact that I bought the CD (well, first the vinyl, later the CD) but I doubt it, his music is just fantastic.

The novel is very positive yet very thought-provoking. And it's still very meaningful today. It advises us not to put people in a box, to keep an open mind.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"This is a story for people who follow their hearts and make their own rules...people who get special pleasure out of doing something well, even if only for themselves...people who know there's more to this living than meets the eye: they'll be right there with Jonathan, flying higher and faster than ever they dreamed.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is no ordinary bird. He believes it is every gull's right to fly, to reach the ultimate freedom of challenge and discovery, finding his greatest reward in teaching younger gulls the joy of flight and the power of dreams. The special 20th anniversary release of this spiritual classic!"

Shakespeare, William "Romeo and Juliet"

Shakespeare, William "Romeo and Juliet" - 1597

It's always weird reading a well-known classic for the first time. I had this experience with "Romeo and Juliet". We all grow up with the story, it is retold again and again in other books, other plays and movies. And since I don't particularly like reading plays which I think should be performed rather than read, I had never read the whole story.

So, the other day, I picked it up. 126 pages, not a biggie, can be read in a day or two, so even if I don't like the book, no harm done.

Was it worth the effort? Totally. Shakespeare's writing makes it worth reading his plays, even if it's not always easy to understand those old English words. Oh, to be able to write like that! How wonderful would that be. But reading him is the next best thing.

From the back cover:

"A tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young 'star-crossed lovers' whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

She is only fourteen, he is only a few years older. Their families are bitter enemies, sworn to hatred. Yet Romeo and Juliet meet and fall passionately in love. Defying their parents' wishes, they are secretly married, but their brief happiness is shattered by fate.

This famous pair of star-crossed lovers lives forever in Shakespeare's haunting play."

Roy, Arundhati "The God of Small Things"

Roy, Arundhati "The God of Small Things" - 1997

A tragedy, full of neglect, abuse, deceit, an almost poetic narrative. Sounds interesting.

However, I have quite an ambivalent relationship with Booker prize winners, I either love them or loathe them. Some of them I dislike so much, you will find them among the worst books I ever read.

This novel had a strange effect on me. I love reading about India and have read and really enjoyed quite a few of their literature (see here). So, I always wanted to know how the story goes on, what happens to the characters, that was the good side of this book.

But the characters, there wasn't a single one I liked, well, maybe one but he didn't fare very well in the novel. The story jumps back and forth, I suppose the author wanted to build anticipation. Usually, I quite like that style, here, it was just annoying. A very bleak and hopeless story.

From the back cover:

"The year is 1969. In the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India, fraternal twins Esthappen and Rahel fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family. Their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu, (who loves by night the man her children love by day), fled an abusive marriage to live with their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), and their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt). When Chacko's English ex-wife brings their daughter for a Christmas visit, the twins learn that things can change in a day, that lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever, beside their river..."

Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things" in 1997.

When I close a book ...

I read this little quote the other day: "Stories never really end". I agree wholeheartedly. If a story is written well, you get attached to the characters, you get to know them, you get to feel with them, fear for them, love them, hate them, they are almost like real people to you. Well, they are almost like real people to me.
So, when the book ends, when there are no more pages on which my friends live, it is more an "Au Revoir" or an "Auf Wiedersehen" than a "Good-bye". First of all, I can go back and re-read the book. But in the meantime, I can think about them the same way I think about friends who just go on a long holiday. Or who move away. I can imagine what happens to them in the meantime, if they are still alive at the end of the book, that is.

Every novel has a story that starts long before the first page of the book, sometimes we are lucky and get told a big part of their history, sometimes just a little , but we always can imagine our heroes and heroines as little children. Have they been naughty or nice? Have they been rich or poor? In any case, as we can imagine their lives before the book, we can also remember their lives after the book. We can try to imagine whether that happy end really is a happy end. Or how the open end works out.

That is one of the main reasons I don't really like sequels that have been written by another person. I don't want to read what another person thinks what happened to my friends, I want to imagine it myself. If the author didn't write a sequel, she or he must have had a reason for it. And if the author died before finishing the novel, I don't want to know what someone else thinks should have happened, I will have to rely on my own imagination. Which is the best in any case.

Jonasson, Jonas "The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared"

Jonasson, Jonas "The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" (Swedish: Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann) - 2009

Translated into 35 languages, the biggest success, except for his native Sweden, was in Germany where he sold over a million copies. And that's where I found this gem of a book. This story contains everything, crime, murder mystery, historical fiction, alternate fiction, love, drama, and a huge sense of humour. It is so hilarious, and exciting. The story is told in two parts, the life of Allan Karlsson until he turns 100 and after he turns 100. And both parts are full of adventures.

This is an easy read novel that is still full of information and philosophy. A nice story about a man who does not want to fit in, who does not want to give up.

On Jonas Jonasson's website, you can find all the countries he travelled to and the people he met during his life. He travelled from Sweden to Moscow, Stalingrad (Volgograd), Gulag camps, Vladivostok, Los Alamos, The White House, Washington, China, Himalaya, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Bali, Paris and met Tsar Nicolas (well, that was his father), Gustav Fabergé (his father, as well), Vladimir Lenin, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Francisco Franco, Robert Oppenheimer, Harry S Truman, Soong May-ling, Eleonor Roosevelt, Jiang Ping, Winston Churchill, Tage Erlander, Joseph Stalin, Kim II Sung, Kim Jong II, Kirill Meretskov, Mao Tse Tung, Charles de Gaulle, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon.

Apparently, the author is presently writing his second novel. I know exactly who is going to read it once it's out.

From the back cover:

"It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not...Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan's earlier life in which - remarkably - he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events of the twentieth century. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fun, feel-good book for all ages."

Lukefahr, Oscar, C.M. "We Worship"

Lukefahr, Oscar, C.M. "We Worship: A Guide to the Catholic Mass" - 2004

Oscar Lukefahr is a well known Catholic priest and theologian in the United States. He has written several books about the Catholic faith, including "We Believe... A Survey of the Catholic Faith". In this book, he doesn't just explain how a Mass is set up but also what it means and why every Catholic should attend it. He answers a lot of questions people have about the set-up of Mass and also its spiritual meaning. It can also be used for teaching anyone who wants to know more about the Catholic Mass.

From the back cover:

"This edition is newly updated with the Roman Missal, Third Edition

What is the Mass? The one thing Jesus asked us to do for him! In a warm and down-to-earth manner, Father Oscar Lukefahr presents a positive and enriching look at the Mass and its significance. Using examples from the lives of real people, he provides

- Solid reasons for attending Mass
- A look at the fascinating history of the Mass through the centuries
- A step-by-step guide to the Mass according to the NEW General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Third Edition
- Suggestions for participation that open mind and heart to the full meaning of the Mass
- What Jesus really meant by "this is my body...this is my blood"
- Frequently asked questions about the Mass
- Practical steps for building a solid Catholic spirituality on the foundation of the Eucharist

Each chapter concludes with questions for discussion and refl ection (useful for group participation or personal study) and with activities to help readers apply what they learn to everyday living.

Readers of this book will learn to experience and love the Mass. We Worship will be welcomed by all who want to deepen their appreciation of Mass and by those looking for reasons to return to the Eucharist. Catechists will find in it a complete, easily understandable tool that will appeal to teens and adults."

Lukefahr, Oscar, C.M. "We Believe"

Lukefahr, Oscar, C.M. "We Believe... A Survey of the Catholic Faith" - 1995

Oscar Lukefahr is a Catholic priest and a very well known theologian in the United States. In this book, he gives a good overview about what Catholicism means, a good information for Catholics and non-Catholics who want to know more about the belief. He refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and gives on overview about the Bible, the history of Catholicism and how it can be incorporated into modern day life.

A very helpful book, 200 pages of theology for lay people. Easy to understand, it answers a lot of questions you always had about "God, the Bible, the life and teaching of Jesus, the Church, Mary, the saints, life after death, the Sacraments, moral living, and Catholic prayer".

From the back cover:

"This bestselling guide to the Catholic faith has been revised and cross-referenced to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and to follow the four main divisions of the Catechism (Belief, Worship, Christian Life, and Prayer).

Father Lukefahr, an expert on Catholic theology, provides an overview of the Catholic faith in an easy-to-understand format that touches on the important elements of belief and practice.

Catholics and non-Catholics alike can learn how to be more faithful to Christ: in thinking about the meaning of life, in loving God and neighbor, and in experiencing life as a precious and wonderful gift from God. Each chapter touches on contemporary Catholic teaching - -faithful to Scripture and Tradition - and discusses such topics as

The Bible as a Faith 
History How Catholics Interpret the Bible 
The Life and Teachings of Jesus 
The Christian Life 
Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory 
Church History/Tradition 
Salvation Prayer 
Mary and the Saints 
The Sacraments

Thought-provoking activities and questions are included at the end of each chapter for both individual and group discussion."

The author has also written a good book about the Catholic Mass "We Worship: A Guide to the Catholic Mass".