Illusions II: The Adventures of a Reluctant Student Illusions II: The Adventures of a Reluctant Student Illusions II: The Adventures of a Reluctant Student is the 2014 novel by writer and pilot Richard Bach. The first "Illusions" book was published in 1977 and was an international best-seller, telling the story of a pilot who encounters a messiah who has absconded from the "job" of being a messiah. ("Illusions" was the author's followup to 1970's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull".) The sequel is in author Richard Bach's voice, as his "imaginary" literary characters help him in his recovery from his real-life plane crash. After decades of flying without incident, author Richard
Jonathan Livingston Seagull and rituals and just start flying. Eventually one bird named Anthony Gull questions the value of living since "...life is pointless and since pointless is by definition meaningless then the only proper act is to dive into the ocean and drown. Better not to exist at all than to exist like a seaweed, without meaning or joy [...] He had to die sooner or later anyway, and he saw no reason to prolong the painful boredom of living." As Anthony makes a dive-bomb to the sea (at a speed and from an altitude which would kill him) a white blur