New review: Shane Joseph's The Ulysses Man
The Ulysses Man
The Ulysses Man by Shane Joseph
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Migrants are everywhere in the news these days—9,000 minors fled Honduras in 2015 so far. Daily we are confronted by stories of young Syrians escaping war by overcrowded boat across the Mediterranean, a journey that has cost the lives of thousands. As we in privileged nations in Europe and North America struggle to come to terms with the human rights issues involved we need to remember that people, if they are desperate enough, will find ways in spite of the risks. Shane Joseph’s novel The Ulysses Man describes the journey of one such migrant; Martin James is a young man in Sri Lanka of burgher ancestry who is turned down each time he applies to come to Canada due to systemic racism and in the end arrives via "the back door". Upon arrival he works under the table in a factory in Toronto, staying in a scruffy dorm he shares with many other illegals willing to work for less than minimum wage just to have a chance for a new start in Canada. After many trials the protagonist gains his license and maneuvers his way up the ladder in real estate. While this novel is not autobiographical the author Shane Joseph is a Sri Lankan immigrant and the first part of the book is dense with rich evocations of town and country, family and social relations. We feel in particular for James’s mother, a kindhearted and sacrificial woman whose struggles largely go unremarked upon by her family. When, in Toronto, the protagonist enters a relationship with a damaged young Rosedale woman from a wealthy family our happiness for him is bittersweet—we miss the more vivid friends and family he left behind and perhaps that is Joseph’s intention. James may be making more money than he had ever imagined possible and dating a girl from Rosedale but we are struck by what he may have lost along the way. This book joins many others in describing the struggles of legal and illegal immigrants, and opens our eyes to a Sri Lanka that is beautifully described. Joseph is part of the lively literary scene in Coburg, publisher at Blue Denim Press which released my 2013 novel The Alphabet Stones, long-listed for the ReLit Award.
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The Ulysses Man by Shane JosephMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Migrants are everywhere in the news these days—9,000 minors fled Honduras in 2015 so far. Daily we are confronted by stories of young Syrians escaping war by overcrowded boat across the Mediterranean, a journey that has cost the lives of thousands. As we in privileged nations in Europe and North America struggle to come to terms with the human rights issues involved we need to remember that people, if they are desperate enough, will find ways in spite of the risks. Shane Joseph’s novel The Ulysses Man describes the journey of one such migrant; Martin James is a young man in Sri Lanka of burgher ancestry who is turned down each time he applies to come to Canada due to systemic racism and in the end arrives via "the back door". Upon arrival he works under the table in a factory in Toronto, staying in a scruffy dorm he shares with many other illegals willing to work for less than minimum wage just to have a chance for a new start in Canada. After many trials the protagonist gains his license and maneuvers his way up the ladder in real estate. While this novel is not autobiographical the author Shane Joseph is a Sri Lankan immigrant and the first part of the book is dense with rich evocations of town and country, family and social relations. We feel in particular for James’s mother, a kindhearted and sacrificial woman whose struggles largely go unremarked upon by her family. When, in Toronto, the protagonist enters a relationship with a damaged young Rosedale woman from a wealthy family our happiness for him is bittersweet—we miss the more vivid friends and family he left behind and perhaps that is Joseph’s intention. James may be making more money than he had ever imagined possible and dating a girl from Rosedale but we are struck by what he may have lost along the way. This book joins many others in describing the struggles of legal and illegal immigrants, and opens our eyes to a Sri Lanka that is beautifully described. Joseph is part of the lively literary scene in Coburg, publisher at Blue Denim Press which released my 2013 novel The Alphabet Stones, long-listed for the ReLit Award.
View all my reviews
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