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بر فراز ابرها: پیوند دوبارهی پدر و پسر
نگاهی متفاوت به زندگی ریچارد باخ خالق اثر ماندگار جاناتان، مرغ دریایی
جاناتان باخ، پسر ریچارد باخ نویسنده، پس از معروفترین کتاب آموزنده و معنوی پدرش ـ جاناتان مرغ دریایی ـ نامگذاری شد.
زمانیکه ریچارد خانواده را ترک کرد و از همسرش جدا شد، و چیزی را که جامعه «خانهی درهم شکسته» می خواند بهوجود آورد، جاناتان تنها دو سال داشت. از روزی که به او گفته شد ریچارد نمیخواهد یک «بابا» باشد، جاناتان بهانهی معقولی برای نفرت از پدرش، و تصور او بهعنوان یک فرد شکستخورده و عوضی، داشت.
بر فراز ابرها یک داستان واقعی است در مورد اینکه چگونه جستوجوی جاناتان برای درک حقیقت، در میان دریایی از حقیقتهای نصفه و نیمه، در سن بیستویکسالگی به او شجاعت برخورد با پریشانیاش و ملاقات با ریچارد را داد. داستانی است در مورد اینکه چطور جاناتان و ریچارد سرانجام شروع به شناخت یکدیگر کردند.
همچنانکه جاناتان رابطهای دوستانه با پدرش برقرار میکرد، دریافت که ریچارد، بهعنوان یک پدر، فردی شکستخورده نیست. او فهمید که عضوی از یک خانهی درهمشکسته بودن، سرنوشتی محتوم برای نابودی خویشتن نیست. ما میتوانیم انتخاب کنیم که هرگز چیزی را نفهمیم و یا میتوانیم فرضیاتمان را با باز کردن ذهنمان تغییر دهیم. میتوانیم در سرزمین امنمان در میان دیوارهایی که برای حفاظت از خودمان ساختهایم، باقی بمانیم و یا میتوانیم آن دیوارها را در هم بشکنیم و با گذشتهمان کنار بیاییم و به آرامش برسیم؛ و به امید آیندهای روشن زندگی کنیم.
جاناتان باخ، پسر ریچارد باخ نویسنده، پس از معروفترین کتاب آموزنده و معنوی پدرش ـ جاناتان مرغ دریایی ـ نامگذاری شد.
زمانیکه ریچارد خانواده را ترک کرد و از همسرش جدا شد، و چیزی را که جامعه «خانهی درهم شکسته» می خواند بهوجود آورد، جاناتان تنها دو سال داشت. از روزی که به او گفته شد ریچارد نمیخواهد یک «بابا» باشد، جاناتان بهانهی معقولی برای نفرت از پدرش، و تصور او بهعنوان یک فرد شکستخورده و عوضی، داشت.
بر فراز ابرها یک داستان واقعی است در مورد اینکه چگونه جستوجوی جاناتان برای درک حقیقت، در میان دریایی از حقیقتهای نصفه و نیمه، در سن بیستویکسالگی به او شجاعت برخورد با پریشانیاش و ملاقات با ریچارد را داد. داستانی است در مورد اینکه چطور جاناتان و ریچارد سرانجام شروع به شناخت یکدیگر کردند.
همچنانکه جاناتان رابطهای دوستانه با پدرش برقرار میکرد، دریافت که ریچارد، بهعنوان یک پدر، فردی شکستخورده نیست. او فهمید که عضوی از یک خانهی درهمشکسته بودن، سرنوشتی محتوم برای نابودی خویشتن نیست. ما میتوانیم انتخاب کنیم که هرگز چیزی را نفهمیم و یا میتوانیم فرضیاتمان را با باز کردن ذهنمان تغییر دهیم. میتوانیم در سرزمین امنمان در میان دیوارهایی که برای حفاظت از خودمان ساختهایم، باقی بمانیم و یا میتوانیم آن دیوارها را در هم بشکنیم و با گذشتهمان کنار بیاییم و به آرامش برسیم؛ و به امید آیندهای روشن زندگی کنیم.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 6, 2014
Maybe not great literature, but the writing is solid and incredibly honest. This book is a must read for any long time fans of Richard Bach. His son Jonathan tells his own story, about his estrangement from Richard and eventual reconciliation. Lovely writing.
December 22, 2017
I wish I could add an extra 1/2 star to this book. Did you ever get an assignment in high school to read a book and do a book report? We all did. A few of us might have grabbed a book with cool title, read a few pages and tried to scam our way with the report hoping not to get busted for not reading the whole book. I read a few pages and thought just these things. I almost put the book down.
I'm a huge fan of Richard Back. (Johnathon Livingston Seagull). I am also a huge aviation nut. I thought this book would be about Richard and his son Flying all over the country chasing unicorns and dueling with a modern day Red Baron. The book is nothing of the sort.
Although there are some parts dealing with airplanes and flying, it's not the point of the book. It's about a famous author's son growing up without his father and learning about himself and reestablishing his relationship with his father. I would like to add one short Quote from the book.
"The simplest questions are the most profound... Learning is finding out what you already know."
If you have ever had to deal with a relationship that has made you wonder, "What if only?; Then read this book.
I'm a huge fan of Richard Back. (Johnathon Livingston Seagull). I am also a huge aviation nut. I thought this book would be about Richard and his son Flying all over the country chasing unicorns and dueling with a modern day Red Baron. The book is nothing of the sort.
Although there are some parts dealing with airplanes and flying, it's not the point of the book. It's about a famous author's son growing up without his father and learning about himself and reestablishing his relationship with his father. I would like to add one short Quote from the book.
"The simplest questions are the most profound... Learning is finding out what you already know."
If you have ever had to deal with a relationship that has made you wonder, "What if only?; Then read this book.
March 24, 2012
I've probably read 4 or 5 books by Richard Bach and enjoyed them all. I especially loved reading "Biplane", and "Stranger to the Ground" when I was a teenager and was interested in airplanes. I hadn't thought about him for years into I noticed Jonathan Livingston Seagull on someones book list, and it led me to Wikipedia to see what Richard Bach had been up to lately. This memoir by his son Jonathan was mentioned there and it sounded interesting so I had it put on hold at my library.
I gobbled this book up in two days...could not put it down. It is probably one of the most honest memoirs that I have ever read. As Wikipedia states, Jonathan's book is about growing up without knowing his father, Richard; and then later meeting him as a college student. (Richard gave his approval; although he noted that it included some personal history he'd "rather not see in print").
Let me add, that this is a thoughtful, well written book, with a compelling story about an interesting family. I would highly recommend it to anyone that has enjoyed Richard Bach's writing, or to any memoir fan.
I gobbled this book up in two days...could not put it down. It is probably one of the most honest memoirs that I have ever read. As Wikipedia states, Jonathan's book is about growing up without knowing his father, Richard; and then later meeting him as a college student. (Richard gave his approval; although he noted that it included some personal history he'd "rather not see in print").
Let me add, that this is a thoughtful, well written book, with a compelling story about an interesting family. I would highly recommend it to anyone that has enjoyed Richard Bach's writing, or to any memoir fan.
January 12, 2018
I wanted to read this book because of a personal connection with the family in the little town of Alburgh Vt, where I taught music at the elementary school. My memories became jogged when friends bought a house up there. A few years after I had moved away, I oh so sadly learned of the death of Beth, one of my favorite students and Jonathan’s beloved little sister. I began to wonder what had become of the family, and upon doing a google search, found this book.
So heartwarming to see this young man reconcile with his famous Dad!
So heartwarming to see this young man reconcile with his famous Dad!
Read
August 9, 2011I like Richard Bach and his books and philosophies about freedom of actions and thought, but this gives a very different and important side of the man.
Bach left his first wife and family, and this is a son's recounting of coming to terms with his understandable feelings of resentment and abandonment.
Bach left his first wife and family, and this is a son's recounting of coming to terms with his understandable feelings of resentment and abandonment.
February 2, 2008
This is probably the worst, most infuriating and bile-producing bunch of words I have ever seen. I wanted to give this a negative rating (and throw it at the wall while reading it); I hope to never again encounter such a getting-a-book-deal-on-your-dad's-name-collection-of
seriously,-get-over-yourself-whining ever again in my life! Arrgghh!
seriously,-get-over-yourself-whining ever again in my life! Arrgghh!
June 22, 2020
This book was referred to me by my neighbor who flies an airplane. He had a similar experience with his son. This was a great story about a son and his father. I was lucky enough to know my father until his passing just a few weeks ago. He would have liked this story too. Now it has made me curious about reading his namesake book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull".
March 13, 2008
On how a child sees his parents decisions. The forgiveness and the love in their relationship.
De como un hijo ve el divorcio de los padres. Una historia sobre el perdon.
De como un hijo ve el divorcio de los padres. Una historia sobre el perdon.
February 11, 2009
A special book to me in a great many ways, personal and professionally, it was a wonderful read. The book may be hard to find but was well worth the time to read it.
May 11, 2018
این بهترین کتابی بود که به عمرم خواندم
و خدا را شاکرم که نمایندگی پخش این کتاب برای کتابفروشی خودمان است
و خدا را شاکرم که نمایندگی پخش این کتاب برای کتابفروشی خودمان است
October 22, 2024
Bad luck
After reading several memoirs, written by children of famous writers, it would appear that writers should not become parents. Children, keep Mom and Dad away from this ambition, if you can. Yes, somebody somewhere was perfectly happy and well-adjusted, but they’re not writing about it—see how that comes full circle?
Author Ayn Rand told her friend Barbara Branden she chose to remain childless, because she should put children first, and she couldn’t do that while accomplishing what she wanted with her writing. We may object to this conclusion, but there’s considerable evidence in favor of it, in my reading. Jonathan Bach’s experience with his author father, Richard Bach, agrees with Rand all the way.
The Family Man
In his Prologue, Jonathan writes
[Writing this book] is what I did to feel good about being Richard Bach’s son. That was all I wanted.
That’s an honest impulse, and why was it necessary? Because Richard was an absent father, of course. After making six children with his wife, Bette, Richard insisted on spending time away from this demanding enterprise, with a female friend who “needs me.” Richard dismissed Bette’s objections to his absence. Jonathan never probes Richard on the nature of this friendship. That would not have helped him feel good about being Richard’s son, I fear.
The Guru
Richard Bach’s books, developed during the 1960s, became wildly popular in the 1970s. They flew off the shelves of the bookstore I worked in, and I was assigned to read Jonathan Livingston Seagull in my high school English class. They are short, easy to read, and stick to one theme: a western, hippyfied Hindu philosophy. You are the universe, the universe is you, everything you perceive is an illusion, nothing exists outside your eternal, godlike mind.
This way of looking at the world comforts the frustrated. It also comforts the lazy and selfish, because what does it matter if you let someone else down? You are both gods, after all, so how can you injure each other?
When his daughter Beth asked Richard why he never sent presents or birthday cards, he replied,
That’s a fair question . . . When you believe that we are never born and we can never die, it doesn’t make much sense to celebrate years, to celebrate make-believe limits. We choose life in space-time because we need to learn, because we love to learn. Birthdays are hooks to mortality, baited with cake and candles.
Thank you, Daddy. Richard imparted more unwelcome philosophy, at the worst possible time. When the same daughter, Beth died at age 15, Richard did not attend her funeral. Instead, Richard the God issued these pearls of wisdom from his lotus throne:
There are a lot of things Beth knew that we will never know. She’s chosen a different form of consciousness for her own very good reasons, but we’ll miss her.
Value and unfinished business
Jonathan’s memoir reminded me there are no limits to our rationalizations. There is no responsibility so big it can’t be run away from. When we fail, there is always someone else to blame. My only disappointment is Jonathan’s desperate participation in his father’s self-justification. At the end of the book, both father and son proclaim that Richard’s abandonment was an act of kindness, a sacrifice he made for Jonathan’s own good.
Richard: If Jonathan’s the product of a broken home, I thought, maybe we ought to break more homes in this country to fill the nation with striving young folk: the jails would go empty. . . Yet he’s no more the product of a broken home than I am the product of a broken first marriage or a lovely second one… Nobody’s the product of circumstance. Each of us is the product of our responses to circumstance, lovely as well as broken, we are products of our choices to become who we want to be because of in spite of every event that changes our life, our mind, our heart.
“Dad,” he said, thumping his finished manuscript down on our kitchen table, “I’m so glad you left when I was two! It was my destiny! I could never have written this book if you’d stayed!”
With one stroke the young man vaporized my responsibility for an old divorce. Amazing I hadn’t realized… I was but the pawn in a headstrong infant’s design to become the child of a broken home and thus begin his career as a writer.
This man wins an olympic gold medal in the race from responsibility.
After reading several memoirs, written by children of famous writers, it would appear that writers should not become parents. Children, keep Mom and Dad away from this ambition, if you can. Yes, somebody somewhere was perfectly happy and well-adjusted, but they’re not writing about it—see how that comes full circle?
Author Ayn Rand told her friend Barbara Branden she chose to remain childless, because she should put children first, and she couldn’t do that while accomplishing what she wanted with her writing. We may object to this conclusion, but there’s considerable evidence in favor of it, in my reading. Jonathan Bach’s experience with his author father, Richard Bach, agrees with Rand all the way.
The Family Man
In his Prologue, Jonathan writes
[Writing this book] is what I did to feel good about being Richard Bach’s son. That was all I wanted.
That’s an honest impulse, and why was it necessary? Because Richard was an absent father, of course. After making six children with his wife, Bette, Richard insisted on spending time away from this demanding enterprise, with a female friend who “needs me.” Richard dismissed Bette’s objections to his absence. Jonathan never probes Richard on the nature of this friendship. That would not have helped him feel good about being Richard’s son, I fear.
The Guru
Richard Bach’s books, developed during the 1960s, became wildly popular in the 1970s. They flew off the shelves of the bookstore I worked in, and I was assigned to read Jonathan Livingston Seagull in my high school English class. They are short, easy to read, and stick to one theme: a western, hippyfied Hindu philosophy. You are the universe, the universe is you, everything you perceive is an illusion, nothing exists outside your eternal, godlike mind.
This way of looking at the world comforts the frustrated. It also comforts the lazy and selfish, because what does it matter if you let someone else down? You are both gods, after all, so how can you injure each other?
When his daughter Beth asked Richard why he never sent presents or birthday cards, he replied,
That’s a fair question . . . When you believe that we are never born and we can never die, it doesn’t make much sense to celebrate years, to celebrate make-believe limits. We choose life in space-time because we need to learn, because we love to learn. Birthdays are hooks to mortality, baited with cake and candles.
Thank you, Daddy. Richard imparted more unwelcome philosophy, at the worst possible time. When the same daughter, Beth died at age 15, Richard did not attend her funeral. Instead, Richard the God issued these pearls of wisdom from his lotus throne:
There are a lot of things Beth knew that we will never know. She’s chosen a different form of consciousness for her own very good reasons, but we’ll miss her.
Value and unfinished business
Jonathan’s memoir reminded me there are no limits to our rationalizations. There is no responsibility so big it can’t be run away from. When we fail, there is always someone else to blame. My only disappointment is Jonathan’s desperate participation in his father’s self-justification. At the end of the book, both father and son proclaim that Richard’s abandonment was an act of kindness, a sacrifice he made for Jonathan’s own good.
Richard: If Jonathan’s the product of a broken home, I thought, maybe we ought to break more homes in this country to fill the nation with striving young folk: the jails would go empty. . . Yet he’s no more the product of a broken home than I am the product of a broken first marriage or a lovely second one… Nobody’s the product of circumstance. Each of us is the product of our responses to circumstance, lovely as well as broken, we are products of our choices to become who we want to be because of in spite of every event that changes our life, our mind, our heart.
“Dad,” he said, thumping his finished manuscript down on our kitchen table, “I’m so glad you left when I was two! It was my destiny! I could never have written this book if you’d stayed!”
With one stroke the young man vaporized my responsibility for an old divorce. Amazing I hadn’t realized… I was but the pawn in a headstrong infant’s design to become the child of a broken home and thus begin his career as a writer.
This man wins an olympic gold medal in the race from responsibility.
February 26, 2022
Back in the early 1980s, I liked a few of Richard Bach's books because they were so fresh, seemingly simple and easy to read with deeper meaning. I just recently heard more about how Bach left his family so I bought this book.
It's an interesting story, and Jonathan Bach writes openly about the anger he carried towards his father for not contacting him on birthdays and other occasions simply because he didn't believe in earthly celebrations. Guess what? Kids do. You do it for the kids, not you. The book gives more of Richard Bach's side of how his ex-wife supposedly kept him from contacting his kids, which she denies. When his 15-year-old daughter died in a car accident, Richard Bach didn't even attend the gathering for her. He gave the excuse that his ex said it wasn't going to be a real service and he had offered to help but was turned down and felt like him being there would cause more bad feelings than good. Showing up to pay last respects to your daughter would have still been the right thing to do.
As for not staying in touch, Richard Bach said he would wait for his kids to contact him first. The parents are supposed to be the adults, and they need to take the initiative, not the kids.
I was glad to hear that father and son reconciled and dealt with issues of the past. Ultimately, it's their lives that are impacted. If the son and siblings have come to terms with the situation, we should respect that. It's just a lesson on how not to be a parent.
It's an interesting story, and Jonathan Bach writes openly about the anger he carried towards his father for not contacting him on birthdays and other occasions simply because he didn't believe in earthly celebrations. Guess what? Kids do. You do it for the kids, not you. The book gives more of Richard Bach's side of how his ex-wife supposedly kept him from contacting his kids, which she denies. When his 15-year-old daughter died in a car accident, Richard Bach didn't even attend the gathering for her. He gave the excuse that his ex said it wasn't going to be a real service and he had offered to help but was turned down and felt like him being there would cause more bad feelings than good. Showing up to pay last respects to your daughter would have still been the right thing to do.
As for not staying in touch, Richard Bach said he would wait for his kids to contact him first. The parents are supposed to be the adults, and they need to take the initiative, not the kids.
I was glad to hear that father and son reconciled and dealt with issues of the past. Ultimately, it's their lives that are impacted. If the son and siblings have come to terms with the situation, we should respect that. It's just a lesson on how not to be a parent.
January 7, 2023
I read the Seagull when I was a child. My mom recommended it to me. At the time, being a solfege and music literature teacher, she suggested that there was a spiritual connection between J.S. Bach, her favorite composer, and the author of the Seagull. The book made an impact on my child's heart, then I forgot about it for decades.
When I stumbled upon "Above the Clouds", I immediately ordered an old hardcover copy and had a great time reading it, this time as a father and a pilot of a small plane. I am grateful to the author for his honesty and feelings. The story is really something.
When I stumbled upon "Above the Clouds", I immediately ordered an old hardcover copy and had a great time reading it, this time as a father and a pilot of a small plane. I am grateful to the author for his honesty and feelings. The story is really something.
October 25, 2015
A mí me gustó este libro, aunque cuando lo pesqué me sentí como cuando a uno "le vienen con el cuento" sobre otra persona. En un comienzo, admito, me costó leer el testimonio de Bach, hijo del Bach famoso, como algo honesto, porque pensé que era posible que lo escribiera por pura notoriedad. De hecho, también admito, que lo estaba leyendo por pura curiosidad farandulera.
Sin embargo, no era como yo creía... y me pareció interesante, sincero, bien escrito... muy bueno.
Es un libro bueno, aunque probablemente pase desaparcibido porque los otros lectores quizá compartan el mismo prejuicio que yo tenía, y ni siquiera intenten leerlo.
No es solo la historia de la relación entre el famoso y su hijo (o el autor, y su papá famoso), es una historia de las relaciones humanas. Aplica a mucho más que eso.
Lo comentaba solo por si acaso.
Sin embargo, no era como yo creía... y me pareció interesante, sincero, bien escrito... muy bueno.
Es un libro bueno, aunque probablemente pase desaparcibido porque los otros lectores quizá compartan el mismo prejuicio que yo tenía, y ni siquiera intenten leerlo.
No es solo la historia de la relación entre el famoso y su hijo (o el autor, y su papá famoso), es una historia de las relaciones humanas. Aplica a mucho más que eso.
Lo comentaba solo por si acaso.
March 24, 2014
Over the years I've read several of Richard Bach's books; I enjoy his writing style and philosophy. So when I discovered this book by his son, I was intrigued.
Richard left his wife and children when Jonathan was two. Therefore Jonathan really didn't know his dad and grew up with a lot of anger and resentment. This book talks about Jon's growing up, his coming to terms with Richard's leaving, and the slow development of a loving relationship between father and son. I enjoyed reading about this other side of Richard Bach: the man behind the philosopher.
Richard left his wife and children when Jonathan was two. Therefore Jonathan really didn't know his dad and grew up with a lot of anger and resentment. This book talks about Jon's growing up, his coming to terms with Richard's leaving, and the slow development of a loving relationship between father and son. I enjoyed reading about this other side of Richard Bach: the man behind the philosopher.
August 30, 2016
Jonathan Bach shares his journey as he attempts to forge a relationship with his long estranged father, author, Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull fame. Jonathan gives the reader an intimate glimpse into his feelings and thoughts regarding Richard. His emotions vary and as he grows he wrestles with a true desire to learn about his father. We are privy to correspondence shared between the two as well as sensing the family dynamics along with individual strife the children experienced with Richard. Candid and open story of a fractured family.
April 22, 2012
I am stuck in the middle of this book, I got it because it was the son of my favorite author. I began reading it and learning more and more about his son's view of "Captain". I understand where his resentment would come from. Knowing that the youngest of the Bach children had died in a car wreck in 85'.
The only reason that I give this book such a harsh rating is because I feel it dragged on.
The only reason that I give this book such a harsh rating is because I feel it dragged on.
December 21, 2014
This was my first book at about 12 years old.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews