Illusions
Wonderfully written, a glimpse into faith, self-reliance and friendship, witty and thought provoking. Barnstorming pilot meets a messianic man who has misgivings about his purpose. His scripture is captured in a greasy spiral bound notebook and he changes the lives of all he meets.
Stats for nerds
15recommend
24mentions
19people
2012–2026years
83% recommend17% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Both of these are quick, easy reads. Don't read about the plots ahead of time.
Replay by Ken Grimwood: https://www.amazon.com/Replay-Ken-Grimwood/dp/068816112X
Illusions by Richard Bach: https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Adventures-Reluctant-Richar...
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Bonus: Anything by Kevin Kelly. He always seemed to be over-hyped by influencers, so I avoided his work for the longest time. That was a mistake.
- It changes all of the time, but one is Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach. Completely re-shaped my perceptions of reality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusions_(Bach_novel)
While I only made it halfway through, Atlas Shrugged had a big impact on me and my liberal, southern California upbringing, where I was under the assumption that certain things (food, healthcare, money, etc) were due to me by nature. I try to avoid preaching to others, but it considerably increased my self-resilience.
- Illusions by Richard Bach is also mind-blowing, or at least was for me during puberty..
- You can often get bulk discounts on books from the publisher.
My Dad was very fond of Richard Bach's "Illusions" when it came out, So he bought several cases over the next couple years, to give out copies to people.
I've never bought cases, but I've given away "spare" copies of numerous titles I'm fond of. There's several titles I'll buy used if I see them so as to have backups for giving away or damage to shelved books. NFI how many copies of "Illuminatus! Trilogy" and "Lord of the Rings" I've given away... dozen or more in each case.
- Probably myself. I am pretty much always content.
Though, I get the sense that because I am chill and not manic, others sometimes think "something is up" when I'm just thinking about black holes or something. The key point here may be "the happiest person you know may not be obvious." I tend to equate manic happiness with stress and anxiety.
Some perhaps key points:
- I constantly run into challenges and roadblocks in life, but acknowledge they are a normal part of growth. I recently read the popular book The Obstacle Is The Way and it felt like somebody was stealing parts of my life philosophy out of my head.
- I'm not really into "gamification", but I tend to treat everything like a game or a puzzle to solve, especially hardships.
- Often things don't happen to you. They happen regardless of you. Or you caused it, so fix it.
- Exercise to think and de-stress. Often, no music or podcasts, to force the former.
- I used a lot of hallucinogens in my younger years and had a few key trips that really framed life and reality for me. Rather than attempt to explain and fumble it, I'll point you to another book that does a better job of it: Illusions by Richard Bach.
- That “appearance” is pretty good at triggering our anthropomorphizing behaviors. I like your handle, did you read Richard Bach’s Illusions by any chance?
