Lazarus In The Labyrinth

by T.R. Hanes

 
Lazarus in the Labyrinth , a psychological novel, takes a startling look at the nature of death as Reno Antonin finds an unorthodox solution to his depression through the rites of a secret society modeled on the Eleusinian mysteries. The novel takes readers on an intricately contrived journey of ideas about depression, death, religion and resurrection and leads to an alternate reality about the nature of consciousness that some will find disturbing, some enthralling.
 
Reno Antonin, a successful athlete and university professor, finds himself falling into a deep depression after a series of medical crises and the slow exposure of a previously repressed memory of a dark event in his life decades earlier. Taking the advice of his sister, a practicing psychotherapist, Reno embarks on a quest to "kill the Minotaur in the labyrinth," as his therapist defines his archetypal approach as a resolution of Reno's depression.  The therapy fails.
 
Reno and his partner, Blaise, challenge and refute the pervasive religious fantasies that most find so comforting because they promise the continuation of individual identity in an "afterlife." Instead, Reno and Blaise, a medical doctor, accept that death extinguishes the individual, and that a total loss of consciousness through anesthesia anticipates this dissolution of the self.
 
As members of a secret society they explore the prospect of using anesthesia and drama to create a new form of therapeutic, transformative ritual, modeled partly on the mysterious ancient Greek cult at Eleusis, that can take one through a profound experience of suffering, death, and rebirth, confronting and overcoming the pains and regrets of one's earlier life. Resurrection is based on the story of Lazarus, who failed, after he was resurrected, to report any afterlife because he had experienced none. 
 
As a therapeutic approach, Reno and Blaise then realize that when Reno is "resurrected" after going through his personal death drama, his problems are solved because his old consciousness -- and the problems it contained -- no longer exist.

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 18, 2012

Reviews

[Eric Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lazarus in the Labyrinth is a strong, troubling, ultimately affirming novel about serious spiritual and ethical issues that most people usually avoid with the sentimental, hopeful illusions propagated by organized religion. In direct, vivid description, the author presents two central characters, an educated, active, athletic male couple, who are dealing with aging, physical injury, and impending mortality, and who confront the fact that there is no evidence that death means anything more than the complete dissolution of individual consciousness. The characters challenge and refute the pervasive religious fantasies that most find so comforting because they promise the continuation of individual identity in an "afterlife." Instead, accepting that death extinguishes the individual, and that loss of consciousness through anesthesia anticipates this dissolution of the self, they explore the prospect of using anesthesia and drama to create a new form of therapeutic, transformative ritual, modeled partly on the mysterious ancient Greek ceremonies in the cult of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, that can take one through a profound experience of suffering, death, and rebirth, confronting and overcoming the pains and regrets of one's earlier life. I highly recommend it to all who are skeptical about the easy answers about life and death that the majority in our society tell us to accept. Lazarus in the Labyrinth speaks directly about thoughts and feelings that trouble any intelligent, sensitive person who has the courage not to go along with the herd who comfort themselves with the fantasy that their egos will live on forever in Heaven, to laugh at this self-centered delusion for the infantile nonsense that it is and to look for a more creative way, within one's life, to embrace the fact of mortality. It's a book for people who lie awake at night and think.

[Deepak Nare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lazarus in the Labyrinth by TR Hanes is the best psychological fiction I had came across up till now. The story revolves around Reno Antonin, a professor and a successful athlete who finds himself struggling with deep depression due to his physical injuries and mental trauma caused by an unfortunate event in the past. In an attempt to rise above this crisis he seeks help form his sister, who is a psychotherapist. But psychology fails to cure his wounds. Instead of following religion blindly as most people do, Reno decides against it and ascertain a new way to cure his trouble. He realizes that when he was under the influence of anesthesia, he had no consciousness, no feelings and no fear. He concludes his anesthetized form as death with no afterlife and no fear, just a void.
To advance his discovery he meets members of a secret society who performs their own death drama based on Greek Eleusinian ceremonies. Reno realizes that after going through these ceremonies when one resurrects, he is free from any guilt and pain as the life and consciousness that contained it is cease to exist.
The author strikes at the very nerve of egoistic men who proclaims the existence of Heaven and Hell. Death means a vacuum, so there cannot be an afterlife keeping an account of the rights and wrongs done with a conscious which doesn’t subsist in oblivion. Keeping the narration simple and the story flow still stimulating, author has successfully described the mental stature of his protagonist and challenged the Religion on the fear it has injected in mind of the people (in the most respectable way). Read this book to get a new definition of Death and Rebirth and to understand the complexities of human mind.