This thesis examines Richard Bach’s novels The Bridge Across Forever and One from a comparative literature perspective, foregrounding the interplay between the author’s biography
and his narrative craft. I trace how autobiographical experience, the dynamics of partnership, the quest for a »soulmate« and the negotiation between free will and destiny are transformed into narrative strategies. Bach is situated within world literature at the crossroads of popular
spiritual writing and the discourse commonly labeled »New Age«. I clarify the term »New Age« and demonstrate its poetics across both texts. The final chapter offers a comparative reading with the Epic of Gilgamesh, aligning motifs of journey, transformation, and the search for
meaning as well as the tension between mortality and transcendence while also marking differences in narrative economy and reader involvement. The aim of this study is to showcase the multilayered nature of Bach’s work and to substantiate my own view of literature: that its
primary purpose is to expand thought and open new horizons through genre diversity. In this light, works such as The Bridge Across Forever can rekindle a love of reading even in adult audiences.
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