Vincent Leuzy lost his father to suicide when he was a young boy, and the event understandably left its mark on his entire life. His father’s death was not dealt with nor talked about in his youth, though he heard his mother’s howls of grief late at night and worried about how the family could support itself without his father’s work. However, several times in his life he heard a mysterious voice (which he later determined was his late father’s) offering him lifesaving help when he almost drowned, saving him from a car accident, and showing him sights of transcendent beauty—including a swan taking off from a lake, an image of which he then found amongst his father’s things. His study of theology and philosophy led him to conclusions about the truth of existence, a timeless and interconnected Nothingness that is nonetheless all-inclusive and aware. This also led him to reexamine his father’s life and learn more about who he really was.
At its core, THE ETHEREAL JOURNEY TO NOTHINGNESS: Peeking Into The Beyond is a profoundly moving and thought-provoking book that leads the reader to think about the meaning of existence, connections to lost loved ones, the way family shapes our lives, and how we both repeat and learn from old mistakes. It’s comforting in that it postulates the continuance of loving relationships (even beyond violent death) and a living universe in which we all participate. He does come to conclusions based on his own emotions and perceptions, rather than science—so whether the reader too is led to the same conclusions will no doubt depend on whether they share enough of his point of view and emotional traits.
His writing is most vivid when talking about his most powerful experiences. His description of being hustled from the house after his father’s death is particularly painful and immediate, made more so by his switch in tenses when relating the scene. It goes abruptly from the wistful past tense of the previous paragraph—“I waited a little longer, hoping he might come and say good night but fell asleep amid faint sounds of cutlery that rose through the floor”—to the vivid, immediate present: “The only thing I can do that evening is whisper questions that are mostly met with a shrug.” He does have a tendency to take shelter in language a bit more verbose than necessary—“I discerned a donkey” rather than “I saw a donkey,” for example—but his descriptive abilities are strong enough to make the reader feel strongly present in the moment. At the very least, this book is a loving and thoughtful presentation of one person’s view of spirituality and the universe that will provide food for thought, consideration, and speculation for others.
A provocative, thoughtful exploration of a man’s spiritual experiences, Vincent Leuzy’s THE ETHEREAL JOURNEY TO NOTHINGNESS: Peeking Into The Beyond offers hope, solace, and peace in the face of deep loss.
~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader