Flight Paths of the Emperor

by Steven Heighton

Set mainly in the psychologically insulated communities of expatriate teachers in Osaka, Japan, these fourteen stories seek to understand issues of national or personal honour, and the problematic importance of family. Heighton also examines subtly related themes, like death, age, marriage, war and poetry, while hinting at autobiography throughout. Sophisticated, passionate and elegantly told, this collection, first published in 1992, was nominated for the 1992 Ontario Trillium Book Award and brought Steven Heighton much national acclaim.

Genres: Fiction, Japan, Short Stories

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Steven Heighton (born August 14, 1961) is a Canadian novelist, short story writer and poet. He is the author of ten books, including two short story collections, three novels, and five poetry collections.[1] His most recent novel, Every Lost Country, was published in 2010.

Heighton was born in Toronto, Ontario, and earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree, at Queens University.[2]

Heighton's most recent books are the novel Every Lost Country (May 2010) [3] and the poetry collection Patient Frame (April 2010).[4]

Heighton is also the author of the novel Afterlands (2006),which appeared in six countries.[5] The book has recently been optioned for film. Steven Heighton's debut novel, The Shadow Boxer (2001), a story about a young poet-boxer and his struggles growing up, also appeared in five countries.[6]

His work has been translated into ten languages and widely anthologised.[7] His books have been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Award, the Journey Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and Britain’s W.H. Smith Award (best book of the year).[8] He has received the Gerald Lampert Award, gold medals for fiction and for poetry in the National Magazine Awards, the Air Canada Award, and the 2002 Petra Kenney Prize. Flight Paths of the Emperor has been listed at Amazon.ca as one of the ten best Canadian short story collections.[9]

Heighton has been the writer-in-residence at McArthur College, Queen's University and The University of Ottawa.[10] He has also participated in several workshops including the Summer Literary Seminars, poetry work shop, in St. Petersburg, Russia (2007), and the Writing with Style, short fiction workshop, in Banff, Alberta (2007).[11]

Heighton currently lives in Kingston, Ontario with his family.[12]

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early collection of short stories that brought Steven Heighton (1961-2022) to the attention of many readers.

In the 1980s Japan attracted ESL teachers from all over the English-speaking world. This boom time later came to be known as the "bubble" — but before the bubble burst, Heighton was one of the Canadians who lived in Japan and taught English as a second language. These short stories grew out of that formative experience.

This book was my introduction to Heighton's excellent prose.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book description claimed to be an exploration of the cultural differences between East and West by a young traveller working and studying in Japan. I only made it through the first 80 pages of this book, but that's not what I read! Some of the stories have nothing to do with Japan. In one story the author changed the character's name (I think?) mid-story. Maybe it was a nickname? It wasn't clear and became very confusing. I gave up on this one, which I very rarely do.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book at random from a bookshelf. I had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be a collection of short stories. I found them to be quite uninspired at first, and lacking soul. At around chapter 10, I felt like I suddenly fell off a cliff into an ocean of quality as the stories rapidly improved. Although, throughout the entire collection, the stories remained strange and eclectic, and lacked any real connection to the characters. Also, the author has this habit of making constant references to pop culture and adding haikus or random Japanese or historic events. The way he did it just seemed annoying and out of place, as if he just wanted the stories to seem more flavoured. He does it in the same way that a lot of modern authors write, adding in a bunch of references to other things to appear cool while in fact covering up the lack of soul and depth in the work.
Chapters 12, 13, and 14, are specifically beautiful, and almost make the whole book worth reading. However, I found myself dazed often while reading and the author never really captured my attention. I didn't really enjoy the book.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tries really hard to be conceptual and esoteric, I wasn't the biggest fan. I had to force myself to finish the book in the end. At times I felt confused about the contrived plot, names and people were mentioned, constant metaphors, comparisons and juxtapositions were shoved down your throat but overall every excerpt felt like an unfinished story. Maybe Heighton's writing style just isn't for me, but I didn't enjoy it much at all.

[Robyn M Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not fresh enough for me. Sorry.

[Mascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Critique basée sur des notes écrites en 2011

Voici un recueil de nouvelles ayant toutes et chacune un point en commun : l'Asie. En effet, Heighton raconte le « clash » entre l'Extrême-Occident et l'Extrême-Orient, le dépaysement culturel des Canadiens anglais et des États-Uniens, spécialement au pays du Soleil-Levant.

Comme dans la majorité des recueils de nouvelles que j'aie pu lire dans ma vie, l'équilibre n'est pas parfait, les nouvelles tanguant entre le captivant et l'inintéressant, entre l'action et l'intériorité. Mais à la manière du Taijitu, le tout est indissociable. Le yin se mêle au yang, et nous montre autant d'illusions brisées que de rêves réalisés. Au fond, on pourrait dire que ce recueil porte sur le fait que le voyage permet à l'humain de se réaliser, en le confrontant à une culture différente afin de l'aider à mieux comprendre la sienne.

D'ailleurs, dans l'ensemble, ce recueil est très bien, excellent même. Certaines nouvelles sont bouleversantes et marquantes pour l'esprit. Elles nous suivent durant plusieurs jours. C'est pourquoi je le recommande. Je ne me suis pas ennuyée durant cette lecture, et son format m'a permis de l'étendre sur plusieurs semaines sans problème. L'écriture est intelligente et réfléchie. Un ouvrage à mettre dans votre liste à lire. ;)

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neatly written short stories about Canadians living in Japan. Frequent lost-in-translation moments.

[Tatiana Lokis · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great mastery of the word and plot structure. vivid images of the inter-cultural experiences. simple, funny, profound and more in each story.

[Anna MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised I'm giving this 4 stars. The first couple of stories seemed very clunky and amateurish -- I wasn't sure I would even continue with the book. It got a lot better in later stories.