Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

by Richard Bach

Paperback, 1989

Status

Available

Call number

920

Publication

Dell (1989), 192 pages

Description

In the cloud-washed airspace between the cornfields of Illinois and blue infinity, a man puts his faith in the propeller of his biplane. For disillusioned writer and itinerant barnstormer Richard Bach, belief is as real as a full tank of gas and sparks firing in the cylinders...until he meets Donald Shimoda--former mechanic and self-described messiah who can make wrenches fly and Richard's imagination soar.... In Illusions, the unforgettable follow-up to his phenomenal bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give our souls wings: that people don't need airplanes to soar...that even the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them... and that messiahs can be found in the unlikeliest places--like hay fields, one-traffic-light midwestern towns, and most of all, deep within ourselves.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Lucy_Skywalker

I remember only that it was a great, great disappointment.

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LibraryThing member whitewavedarling

As much a wandering through philosophical conversation and thought as it is a piece of fiction, the narrative here is a fast and surreal read with a fair amount of humor. At many points, I wanted there to be a bit more drama or depth to it all, but then, it's such a short work that it works as what

it is, and the simplicity of it is probably its greatest strength. An interesting idea, in the end, but I'm not sure that I wouldn't have been better off reading it in the context of a philosophy class or discussion group. Probably no something I'd recommend to anyone but folks searching out narratives that integrate or build from philosophy and/or faith and spirituality.

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LibraryThing member Murphy-Jacobs

If you read my review of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, you'll understand why the halo effect from that experience shades this book. Also, this one was a lot more like a baseball bat to the head.

LibraryThing member annekiwi

I had to read this book senior year of high school. What I took away from it was .... you can do anything if you put your mind to it. If it was supposed to be a metaphysical book that teaches me how to be a messiah or that Richard Bach and his guru were messiahs, well, I must have missed that part.

LibraryThing member JBreedlove

Slow and obvious. I hope "Seagull" is better.

LibraryThing member MikeLloyd

My favorite book of all times. I read this in college and read it again every few years.

LibraryThing member sockwellk

A great gift from my Grandmother just before leaveing for college, an orginal copy from the 1977 publication.

LibraryThing member LA12Hernandez

I really like the way this book starts. I made the mistake of starting to read this on my lunch hour at work and was so caught up in the story I was 15 minutes late going back on the floor. Thankfully my boss had also read the book and understood. Every one who borrows this book keeps it, I don't

lend it out anymore I just buy it whenever I come across it and give them away.

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LibraryThing member Neverwithoutabook

Now and then you come across a book that just makes you feel and think, wonder and dream. Illusions is one of those books.

LibraryThing member HippieLunatic

The story of the teaching and learning the messiah's path is a story I find myself loving over and over, in many forms. Bach's modern take on the possibility of multiple, concurrent messiahs is an interesting one.

While not a perfect work, Illusions is a read that will make you rethink some of the

truths you meet everyday.

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LibraryThing member libreria04

The handbook rings as true for me then as now.

LibraryThing member sueo23

This book was a life-changing experience for me. A friend gave it to me as a birthday present and what a surprise was inside. I have re-read it many times and have given as a gift myself to several people. I think the whole book is summe4d up by one quote...
"Here is a test to see if your mission on

earth is finished...if you're alive, it isn't"
The book is full of analogous stories that deepen your understanding of your life and of other people's lives, and how they are all inextricably linked. My favourite book of all time!

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LibraryThing member jeanned

I have purchased 10 or so copies of this book in my life (so far). The fact that I don't have one in the house should tell you something. I loan them out or give them to friends and family when the time seems right, and they keep them.

LibraryThing member Omrythea

Excellent book! Try this... open up any book randomly to any page and see what advice and/or message helps you through your current problem. This book feels kind of life-changing and stays with you for a long while.

LibraryThing member lunaverse

Yet another life-changing book by Richard Bach. Bach pseudo-fictionally (?) finds a man claiming to be a Messiah. He teaches Bach a 1970's version of "The Secret".

An allegory from this book was very timely for me as I read it. It told of a creature who lived at the bottom of the river -- who

learned to let go of the river plants and fly above the other creatures.

This was one of many small synchronicities of that time, which gave me the strength to achieve one of my most difficult goals -- move away from my small town to Seattle.

I find Bach is the mystical Ayn Rand -- preaching egotism and enlightened self-interest, but without the militaristic adherence to atheism and logic.

I really enjoy Bach's approach, and will recommend this -- and Jonathan Livingston Seagull -- to anyone interested in personal growth.

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LibraryThing member sitaraa

this was my first bach and it opened up a whole new world for me. fantastical and awesome.

LibraryThing member gazzy

A messiah comes back and all he does is fly a plane, which does not have bugs squashed on his window. this messiah is befriended by man that learns about transcendence.

LibraryThing member WingedWolf

This book made me try to walk through walls. Just to see if I could. It didn't work, but hey, it's worth a try.

LibraryThing member Black_samvara

Barnstorming dropout meets run-away messiah and forms student-mentor relationship. I love this like crazy; it's not everyone's cup of tea but I find it inspirational, gentle and sweet.

LibraryThing member Tydizzle

The truth. It's a simple concept, yes? Well, if Richard Bach's novel Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah is any indication, this is not the case. Bach’s novel makes us question the very nature of our reality and what we perceive to be truth. Perhaps perception is simply a veil that

our minds cast over reality, and if we can see through that veil, we can alter the very nature of how we perceive truth.
These are the questions that Bach proposes throughout his novel, and this is why I enjoyed the story. Though the book itself is incredibly short (I finished it on a 2 hour bus ride to DC), the lessons that it imparts are difficult to understand upon first read-through. Contemplation is the key to understanding this book, for it is essentially a message of borderline lethargy in the face of adversity. But this misses the point entirely, for it is not laying down and simply accepting the circumstances of the world, but knowing that the world will work to your benefit if you give it time. This is the beauty of Bach’s novel; it is a novel preaching transcendence, for all a Messiah is is someone who has transcended pain and the limitations of our world. So if this is the lesson that you seek, I highly recommend this book, simply for the nature of truth that it reveals.

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LibraryThing member j_d_p

Quite possibly the most amazing thing I have ever read. Received as a gift, wonderful wonderful present.

LibraryThing member jmg364

One of my formitive literary experiences. I never know quite how to describe it, but I love this book, and would recommend it to anybody.

LibraryThing member Fliss88

Mmmm, this is possibly a book better suited to being read when young. At 67 I found it a nice read but that's all. The earth didn't move for me while reading it, although there are some things to give you thought.

LibraryThing member jordanjones

There is so much wisdom and so much nonsense in this book, but even the nonsense is beautiful.

While thinking you can walk through walls, or on water, or swim in land won't make it so, the point of the book is that believing and acting on those beliefs helps make things happen, while being

convinced that something is impossible never makes it easier.

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LibraryThing member tldegray

I return to this book again and again. It means something new and different each time I read it.

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