A friend of mine sent me this and I am posting it without that friend’s permission but at least I scrubbed the identity. This is so awesome. It explains a lot if you knew the person.
“My first grade teacher insisted on reading us Jonathan Livingston Seagull. None of us had the vaguest idea what the book was on about, except that the bird dies in the end or something and we were all sad. I think a bunch if the kids cried and were vaguely traumatized. I don’t think I much cared about the bird dying, but that damn 70’s pop-spirituality claptrap apparently damaged me for life. We also had to sing John Denver songs. Jesus.”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I remember my mother going on about the book when I was little. I don’t know why but I have this vague memory stuck in my head about a seagull carving we had in our house and associating it with the book. It was almost an icon to me. So strange how that brings back random memories and sentiments like that. Like many other children born in the late 60’s – early 70’s, there is a bit of the flower child part of me that gets nostaligic every once in a while for things like this (except for the plaid bellbottoms my mother sewed for me – sorry ma). Thanks for sharing.
i previously read this book and i couldnt help but think that there were some religious undertones to it. however, try thinking about jonathan as a person instead of a seagull, it might help a tad bit more if you teach a class like i do.