Illusions’ chapters are shortly episodic, much like a parable. The Handbook’s aphorisms become plentiful, juxtaposed with Richard’s journey. In this way Illusions becomes parable-like, as Richard flips through the handbook to find what he needs to learn.
Entries begin with a capital letter and range from 3-10 lines long for example, “The bond/that links your true family/is not one of blood, but/of respect and joy/ in each other’s life./Rarely do members/of one family grow up/under the same/roof.” Shimoda provides Richard with the “Messiah’s Handbook, Reminders for the Advanced Soul,” a text not meant to be read linearly, but instead you open to a random page and see what is there. Readers know the narrator will learn to be a Messiah from Shimoda and where their friendship will end, at least, in this lifetime. They become a team and fly together naturally the crowds follow Shimoda (as they have throughout his life) and our reluctant narrator gets spooked, fearful of backlash and mob mentality in the masses.Īs a story, Illusions is fairly predictable. Richard notes the peculiarity of meeting someone who shares his unique profession of giving plane rides, which involves landing in hayfields and sleeping there after securing the farm owner’s permission, a life dependent upon neighborly grace and people wanting rides. He understands Shimoda as a kind of phenomenon or Messiah that can float wrenches in the air. They meet randomly and converse as old friends without missing a beat Richard notices Shimoda’s Travel Air clean of bugs, and that he never fills up for gas or conducts repairs.
The main plot surrounds Richard, the narrator, and Donald Shimoda, both independent pilots scouring the Midwest, offering three dollar plane rides to passengers seeking ten minutes in the air.
Richard Bach’s mystical short novel resembles more of a parable.
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