FREETHE BOOK OF ILLUSIONS EBOOK Paul Auster | 278 pages | 01 Aug 2003 | Picador USA | 9780312990961 | English | United States The Book of Illusions - Wikipedia The Book of Illusions published inthe story questions the reader's view of reality, proposing that what we call reality is merely an illusion we create for learning and enjoyment. Illusions was the author's followup to 's Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Illusions revolves around two barnstorming pilots who meet in a field in the Midwestern United States. The two main characters enter into a teacher-student relationship that explains the concept that the world that we inhabit is illusory, as well as the underlying reality behind it:. What if a Siddhartha came to our time, with power over the illusions of the world because he knew the reality behind them? And what if I could meet him in person, if he was flying a biplane, for instance, The Book of Illusions landed in the same meadow with me? Donald William Shimoda is a messiah who quits his job after deciding that people value the showbiz-like performance of miracles and want to be entertained by those miracles more than to understand the message behind them. He meets Richard, a fellow barn-storming pilot. Both are in the business of providing short rides--for a few dollars each--in vintage biplanes to passengers The Book of Illusions farmers' fields they find during their travels. Donald initially captures Richard's attention when a grandfather and granddaughter pair arrive at the makeshift airstrip. Ordinarily it is elders who are cautious and the youngsters who are keen to fly. In this case, however, the grandfather wants to fly but the granddaughter is afraid of flying. Donald explains to the granddaughter that her fear of The Book of Illusions comes from a traumatic experience in a past life, and The Book of Illusions calms her fears and she is ready to fly. Observing this greatly intrigues Richard, so Donald begins to pass on his knowledge to him, even teaching Richard to perform "miracles" of his own. The novel features quotes from the Messiah's Handbookowned by Shimoda, which Richard later takes as his own. An unusual aspect of this handbook is that it has no page numbers. The reason for The Book of Illusions, as Shimoda explains to Richard, is that the book will open to the page on which the reader may find guidance or the answers to doubts and questions in his mind. It is not a magical book; Shimoda explains that one can do this with any sort of text. It mimics the one described in Illusionswith new quotes based on the philosophies in the novel. An adaptation of Illusions was serialized in the comic strip Best Sellers Showcase running June 19 through July 30, Director Zack Snyder has cited the book as a major influence The Book of Illusions his film Sucker Punch. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Publication date. Richard Bach. Nothing by Chance documentary. Jonathan Livingston Seagull film. Leslie Parrish second wife James Marcus Bach son. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Philosophical novel Spiritual. The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other The Book of Illusions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster. Six months after losing his wife and two young sons, Vermont Professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. Then one night, he stumbles upon a clip from a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann. His interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious Six months after losing his wife and two young sons, Vermont Professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. His interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious figure, who vanished from sight back in Zimmer hesitates, until one night a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes The Book of Illusions decision for him, changing his life forever. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published July 13th by Picador Paper first published More Details Original Title. David ZimmerHector Mann. United States of America. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other The Book of Illusions questions about The Book of Illusionsplease sign up. It is really interesting NannyOgg Only if you enjoy page-long, detailed descriptions of mustaches. This question contains spoilers… view spoiler [What language is Hector Mann's journal written in? Surely it would be in Spanish? But David Zimmer only says he's fluent in French, so wouldn't he have had trouble reading it? Christopher Dunne It's The Book of Illusions in English. Zimmer is explicit about that. I don't know what books are on the list or if there's any point to such lists. I follow my own …more It's written in The Book of Illusions. I follow my own instincts and pleasure in choosing what to read. And probably '' and 'Invisible'. Loved all of them. See all 3 questions about The Book of Illusions…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating The Book of Illusions. Rating details. More filters. The Book of Illusions order. Start your review of The Book of Illusions. Jan 23, Richard Derus rated it did not like it. Rating: one furious, disgusted star of however many stars there are in a galaxy I've never been fond of pompous writing, the kind that The Book of Illusions its look in the mirror of acclaim and piles on the self-satisfied smirking smugness that makes me want to torch all the MFA schools I can reach. My reviewwhich I've moved to my blog, says that and more. Apparently the hoi polloi slithering in from the Internet's more sanctimonious quarters don't agree with me, therefore I must be wrong. View all comments. Apr 18, Annet rated it really liked it Shelves: wow- impressiveclassicsdarkfamily-tiesfavorite-authorwilderness-books-can-usahave-to-read-againbeautiful-poeticnew-york. I have The Book of Illusions my mind about this book. The first pages were tough to read and I wasn't sure if I could make it to the end. But the story grew on me. The Book of Illusions book The Book of Illusions been on my shelves for a long The Book of Illusions, the first Auster I bought. The story line is intriguing: A man looses his wife and two children in a plane crash. In sorrow, he is fascinated by a silent movie actor, who disappeared from th I have changed my mind about this book. In sorrow, he is fascinated by a silent movie actor, who disappeared from the The Book of Illusions of the earth a long time ago, and writes a book about him. Then he receives a letter that the actor wants to see him I guess you either like Auster or you don't. Paul Auster is not an easy read,always troubling in a way, but his style is beautiful, poetic and his stories always The Book of Illusions. Need to reread! View all 23 comments. Nov 01, Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it Shelves: literatureunited-statesmystery21th-century. Set in the late s, the story is written from the perspective of David Zimmer, a university professor who, after losing his wife and children in a plane crash, falls into a routine of depression and isolation. After seeing one of the silent comedies of Hector Mann, an actor missing since the s, he decides to occupy himself by watching all of Mann's films and writing a book about them. Apr 02, BlackOxford rated it did not like it Shelves: american. And this includes an immense amount of random detail of relevance to neither the plot nor the characters. The result is a fair short story imitating a rather bad middling size novel. One important thing happens in the entire book - the accidental death of a young woman. The plot revolves around this death but on threads which seem to be thrown aimlessly into narrative space. He informs the reader at great length about his perceptions but nothing about their meaning for him. Eventually he discovers love and redemption sweet and then carelessly loses that. The academic has written a book about him and believes him dead. He is not; but he is dying. The academic is ambivalent but agrees to meet the ex-actor for reasons that are as unclear as all the other motivations in the story. All the characters seem to exist in a fog-like drift of haplessness among the unlikely course of their lives. They wander into and out of relationships without reason. They do strange things - insult colleagues needlessly and maliciously, threaten others half-heartedly at gunpoint, attempt suicide both inadvertently and with intentstop and start careers casually from sports goods retailing to the sex trade for example - which punctuate otherwise pointless lives. The protagonist spends a great deal of his inherited wealth making films that no one else is intended to see.