Jonathan Livingston Seagull in Sinhala

When the much discussed book titled as ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’ just denoted as a story in bookstalls in 1970, the readers found a welcome variant to the existing pattern of narratives. The author Richard Bach was known as a writer of articles on aviation and space exploration in general magazines. He came to be known to the readers through his first book titled as ‘Stranger to the Ground’, denoted as a modern classic.

Richard Bach is a former Air Force fighter pilot and was known for aerobatics and cross country flying. Through his second book ‘Jonathan’ he is seen deviating from his central subject into sea life, where he studies the behaviour pattern of a type of seagull who lives in various oceanic regions. He has been widely supported by a rare type of creative photographer named Russell Munson. Munson coincided with the ideas of Bach and started taking picture of air planes a child and has been involved with flying and photographing ever since.

The story of Bach and the photographs of sea gulls by Munson go into the making of a story of interpreting the behaviour of a seagull flock, akin to the behaviour of humans. For me the scanning the pages which go into the making of the text written by Bach and the photos of Munson were a pleasure. I had a feeling that the text of Bach devoid of Munson’s photos is not attractive. The journalist and translator Malini Govinnage has brought out the text as a translation into a flimsy volume running to 45 pages.

The original text of Bach is written in the form of a prose poem of Walt Whitman. Though the meaning or the sense of the original text is visible in Sinhala, Govinnage’s attempt had been to render the English text into simple Sinhala story about a seagull who could be visualized as a rational being who tries to deviate from the conventional nuances in life pattern.

The sea gull featured in the original text is an uncommon creature whose mannerisms sometimes annoys the others, especially the elders in the flock. Though the story of Bach is known in the English reading world, it is less known or perhaps unknown in our part of the world. As such it is good to see a translation of the book.

A few years ago another journalist, Sriya Ratnakara, too brought out a translation of the same, which perhaps went passed without any discussion. On reading the translation of Govinnage I felt that she has attempted to touch the pulse of the original to the brim. But the fault lies in the actual book production. The entire book, page after page well illustrated with photos in itself is a creation.

The reader ought to enter the culture of the seagulls via the photos of Munson. As was emphasized, the story revolves round the life of seagulls in observation, the central attitude is to allude it to humans. In the first instance there comes the flock or the group. The flock is a must for diverting from the flock may be disastrous.

But Jonathan Gull had taken one step away by deviating and facing the ordeal, which in the end is shown as an innovation. He is shown as an experimenter in speeding and finding new avenues in life. What is emphasized is that ‘there is something new in most things’.

One by one, the members of the seagull flock come to know or follow the trails of Jonathan Seagull. In that they see the stereotype gradually changing. In this direction, the wanted new leadership is hinted as versus the conventional patterns. This leadership becomes a challenge to the Council flock. To achieve the new kind of leadership or the possessing of an innovative mind makes a person (in the case of a seagull) isolated from the flock.

The challenge comes as ‘breaking the brotherhood’. The nature of agreement and disagreement is depicted. The challenger who experiments with his speed or the maximum level flight speed is encountered by elders of varying types. Their likes and dislikes are presented. Then comes a moment when Jonathan gull is being admired by some to the point that there is a following or a gradual deviation from the mother flock. He comes to know several others like Fletcher Lynd Seagull, Henry Calvin Seagull, Charles Roland Seagull and Martin William Seagull.

Jonathan Seagull in the flock looks gradually becomes more a teacher than a mere member of the seagull community. He teaches them the art of real flying. The Sinhala title ‘Akikaru Muhudu Lihiniya’ (The Disobedient Seagull) may not too sound an apt title if the contents of the original are to be taken seriously.

The seagull though disobedient form one point of view is nevertheless innovative and helps kindle the imaginative creative faculty of the reader. As the late science fiction master Ray Bradbury has pointed out: ‘Richard Bach with this book does two things. He gives me flight. He makes me young. For both I am deeply grateful.’

The translator has to be thanked for selecting this book at a time when the translation culture is in a crisis if not misunderstood. New findings from the original sources should emerge.

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