Mr Bach's nice, soggy Christianity [in Jonathan Livingston Seagull] could not be expected to fit in unpleasantnesses like the Crucifixion. His book is for those who think the world would be a lovely place if it were full of chummy people and tame animals. Needless to say, such beliefs are for the most part readily divorceable from their owners' actual conduct. It's of interest that Jonathan's spiritual aviation should prove so endearing to a nation currently using its own air power to crush North Vietnam.
John Carey, "The Good in Every Gull," in The Listener (© British Broadcasting Corp. 1972; reprinted by permission of John Carey), Vol. 88, No. 2280, December 7, 1972, p. 797.∗
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