A Voyage Beyond Reason: An Epic of Survival Based on the Original Journals of Benjamin Wade

Tom Gauthier
Outskirts Press (2009)
ISBN 9781432712341
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (01/10)

 

Having gone through times in my life when I just wanted to leave everything behind and disappear, I found myself very intrigued by “A Voyage Beyond Reason.”  In this novel, the author, Tom Gauthier, writes about the perilous kayak journey of Benjamin Wade.  In 1998, while in Columbia, Gauthier found a broken paddle and a journal, handwritten by Wade, hidden in a cliff near the sea.  The journaling of Wade’s adventure began in 1996, when he was twenty-four-years old.  
           
Gauthier relates how Wade began his expedition on the shores of San Felipe, MX and mysteriously ended it 6,000 miles later when he landed on the beach in Columbia.  Leaving everything behind, including a new love, Wade set out on a very dangerous adventure.  Through his journaling, Gauthier learned that he had many dangerous experiences with people, sea creatures, and most of all, with the sea itself.  Through his incredible focus and perseverance, Wade’s life was altered forever.

Overcoming the challenge of the sea and the situations that he encountered, taught Wade about the depths of his inner strength.  In spite of some horrendous conditions, which included having all of his money stolen, an attack by a shark, near starvation and dehydration, Wade refused to give up and return home.  He found a way through everything.  He also met some wonderful people who were able to assist him through some of his rough times.

Intrigued by what he read, Gauthier held on to the journals.  It would be years before he would find out whether or not Wade survived his voyage.  A fortuitous event set Gauthier on the path of putting Wade’s story into a novel.  Having the opportunity to read his story in book form provided me with an incredible experience.  I was able to live vicariously through the adventures on the kayak, while sitting in my comfortable living room.  There were many times were I found my arms full of goose bumps. While I admire Wade for his incredible determination, “A Voyage Beyond Reason” also made me realize that I was really glad that the biggest adventure taken in my young adulthood involved driving across the United States in a Ford Pinto that was missing a muffler.  I highly recommend this novel.

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