Homer in Flight

by Rabindranath Maharaj

Hilarious and poignant, Homer in Flight draws a brilliant picture of a chronic malcontent roving from high-rise to housing development along the 401 and the QEW. Homer remains utterly displaced, not because of what other people do or don't do, but because he lives in his imagination instead of embracing an imperfect but fairly benign reality.

Genres: Canada, Fiction

323 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Rabindranath Maharaj was born in the fifties in South Trinidad. He received a B.A., M.A. and Diploma in Education from the University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine. In Trinidad he worked as a teacher and as a columnist for the Trinidad Guardian. In the early 1990s Maharaj moved to Canada and in 1993 he completed a second M.A. at the University of New Brunswick. Since 1994 he has been living in Ajax, Ontario and teaching high school there.Maharaj is now well recognized in Canada for his published fiction and short stories, which tend to deal with everyday situations that challenge and stimulate the lives of men and women from Indo-Caribbean communities in Canada and in Trinidad.
Both the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star recognized his literary worth when his book, The Lagahoo’s Apprentice, was published. A previous novel, Homer in Flight, had been nominated for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award.
Two collections of short stories, The Book of Ifs and Buts and The Interloper were nominated for a Regional Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book.
His most recent novel A Perfect Pledge, published in 2005, seems to engage some of the issues and themes that Vidia Naipaul, who was also born in Trinidad, tackled in his earlier novels. Maharaj’s approach, however, is less scathing and dismissive. Although he obviously sees the shortcomings and inadequacies of life in this “now for now” immigrant society of Trinidad, he treats his characters with greater sympathy and with humane understanding.
Rabindranath Maharaj is also one of the founding editors of Lichen a literary magazine that in his own words: “ferrets out new voices, throws the spotlight on recognized ones, and adds to the broth a distinct flavour: a mix of city and country, of tradition and innovation.”

Reviews

[Intoxicatedcake · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main body of this novel is hard to get through. As it progresses, the protagonist becomes markedly less sympathetic. However, I think there is a solid point being made, through the protagonist and the reasons for him being unlikeable, concerning immigrants and their experiences settling in another country, but it does not make for easy reading.

[Mary Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, could not put it down. Very philosophical; forcing one to look at the age-old question: " What is the meaning of life" in this case intensified by the additional difficulties surrounding immigration. Laughed out load for two minutes at the main character's telepersonsl ad: "Unlucky, persecuted librarian. A bump growing at the tip of his nose. Deteriorating rapidly. May be genetically programmed for madness. Marital status unclear. Seeks another blighted soul to share stale bread and cheese near stove. "

[Sherica]

story about trini relocating to canada and all of his experiences there - title is apt, but i found no rays of hope, very depressing story, awful (but probably factual) view of caribbean nationals who have relocated to canada and their attempts to impose either canada on their socialisation, or their socialisation on canada. i agree that author shows tinklings of vs naipaul (but even Biswas found his houses). i finished it but laboured through to the end.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this book. I’ve had that book for about 5 yrs I think. Well I’m glad I finally read it. It was good. An Indian immigrant from Trinidad comes to Toronto — the city is a character lurking in the background.

[Sherri Keller · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the only book in recent memory that I haven't been able to make it through. It's been a few months since I read this book, but I remember that the protagonist was so whiny, I couldn't make myself give a damn about him.