Abstract: The narrative of this novel takes place in a little over one year. For Lux, the protagonist, however, his arduous road to recovery seems like a lifetime downsized into a hellish and tormented existence; that is until he finds the proverbial light and self-healing within. Predicated on a sobering dream he had a few days before that odyssey began back East, as it turned out, the gloomy prophetic warning that he debated was a rude awakening to reality. Ergo, his fall from wings, both physically and spiritually. As for the bedrock factors of this novel's biographical account, the impassioned subject matter is based on the virtue of redemption, and, eventually, was followed by the healing of Lux Carey's body and soul due to deep-set wounds that literally turned his life inside out. Nearly the same psychological stress also happens to his wife, JoHanna, and, especially, Lux's best friend, Walt, who was piloting the airplane at the time of the crash. For Lux, however, his physical and emotional tribulations were far worse. To put it another way: if he thought the shock of the near-fatal incident was the worst that could happen to him, given that unsuspected event flying the so-called training flight and mission with Walt, who was also an airline captain and principal flight instructor in Wyoming, everything that followed was far more demanding. Indeed, before Lux discovers the veritable essence that centers on one's search for the meaning of life, as well as one's purposeful role in the process, he would learn the harsher lesson of another popular adage: Sometimes to lose one's self is the only way to find one's self.
To use other keywords and subjects that define the overall literary motif of this suspenseful, dramatic, and yet hopeful novel, the following descriptions describe both the subjective and objective aspects, which include the following interludes: Lux's transpersonal spiritual experience just prior to the crash, in this case, an out-of-body experience and being mesmerized by a singular and encompassing white light; a paradigmatic life-changing experience where the expression, "To get something, sometimes it's necessary to let go" because sometimes plans and dreams have an unpleasant and untimely way of falling in mid-flight; the ensuing drama and trauma rigors with his faltering marriage; and rebuilding the trust and love of friendship with Walt who took the blame for the crash and paid all of the out-of-pocket medical expenses that weren't covered by insurance. Despite the ominous undertones that permeate the running narrative, what Walt had previously described to Lux before their rendezvous in North Carolina was indeed telling: "This upcoming flight will be a veritable barnstormer's dream come true" whose pet phrase refers to early 20th century aviators piloting primitive aircraft. Hearing Walt's enticing and encouraging statement, that's what finally persuaded Lux to depart Denver where he lived and rendezvous with Walt, then fly the questionable excursion in a vintage aircraft that, in Lux's words, barely had the power to get off the ground, let alone fly to the Northwest. As it turned out, that hopeful Homeric barnstorming odyssey ultimately crashed in mid-flight-ironically, on the first day-by which all else followed, starting with tragedy.
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