In 2006, Fred Brounian is sinking. His twin brother, George, is in a coma, his company — which he co-founded with his twin and his youngest brother, Sam — has been taken over, he lives with his parents, he’s broke, beyond broke. Luminarium starts in the middle of the turmoil. George has been in a coma for months after suffering from cancer, he’s performing magic shows with his father for cash. While taking a break in the hospital cafeteria, he notices a woman with his (so he thought) briefcase. Once he realizes it isn’t his, he stops chasing her, but he does follow her with his eyes, notices her placing a bulletin on the cafeteria bulletin board. He reads it, a neurological study in connection with NYU, and, after noticing he’ll get paid, he signs up.
And so begins Luminarium, which is a post-9/11 look at New York and how people have coped and changed in the post-9/11 society. A story of debt and frustration, redemption, love, healing, and the search for faith and something larger than yourself.
At the center of Fred’s newly depressing life is the neurological study which, along the way, helps Fred to cope with his life and allows him to discover reality in a new way.
Neurotheology has played a role in literature since Aldous Huxley coined the term in Islands. Fred slips into a gold helmet once a week where researchers, Mira and her father, stimulate different parts of his brain. The gold helmet is easily compared to the God helmet used in neurothelogical experiments in real life. These tests result in the re-creation of out of body experiences and near death experiences. The pairing of these experiences, the questions of faith, religion, spirituality, set against technology is interesting. At one point, Fred takes an old computer and turns it into a “Prayerizer.”
The study gives Fred freedom to explore faith in a way that he probably wouldn’t even think about without it. Huxley was a fan of using Eastern religions in his work as opposed to Western (Christianity). Shakar does the same with Luminarium, choosing balance over progress.
Shakar does a good job of making the characters likable and the story engaging enough to keep the reader involved. There are parts that seem slow, that drag you along even if it isn’t really relevant.
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