The Flying Man

by Roopa Farooki

THE FLYING MAN is the story of the ultimate immigrant from the twice Orange Prize long-listed author Roopa Farooki. Meet Maqil - also known as Mike, Mehmet, Mikhail and Miguel - a chancer and charlatan. A criminally clever man who tells a good tale, trading on his charm and good looks, reinventing himself with a new identity and nationality in each successive country he makes his home, abandoning wives and children and careers in the process. He's a compulsive gambler - driven to lose at least as much as he gains, in games of chance, and in life. A damaged man in search of himself.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Asia, Pakistan

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Roopa was brought up in London and graduated from New College in Oxford in 1995. She worked in advertising and it 2004 quit to write full time. She now lives in south east London and south west France with her husband and two sons. Bitter Sweets is her first novel and in 2007 it was nominated for the Orange Award for New Writer.

Her second novel, Corner Shop was released in October 2008 and her third novel is due in 2009.

Reviews

[Kinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Roopa Farooki’s first novel ‘Bitter Sweets’ and I thought the woman had a talent for storytelling. Her first novel was of a ‘sari & curry’ variety and I hoped she wouldn’t stay in this comfort zone for long.

A few novels later Roopa Farooki and I meet again. ‘The Flying Man’ is her latest attempt and a more daring one. The protagonist Maqil, also known by many other names starting with “M”, is a compulsive charmer and gambler. Wherever he lays his hat is his home.

He is the kind of person you don’t want to be related to. He is not as purposely malicious so that you could overpass the blood ties and hate him anyway. You still feel obliged to love him, even though it is unbelievably taxing.

He is not a cold-hearted gangster, just a small time conman, a butterfly who flies from one flower to another never thinking twice of the lives he leaves behind. When the wind changes he finds himself somewhere else, with a new name, new family and a new job.

It is a brave thing for an author to write a book whose main characters are not particularly likeable. Personally, I don’t look to be friends with characters in books. All I want from them is that they are fully fleshed out and authentic. Yet, it seems that many readers value highly the so called ‘likeable characters’ and would abandon the book if they didn’t warm up to the characters as carelessly as Maqil abandons his wives.

Luckily for Ms Farooki, Maqil has one thing going for him – he knows how to put on a show. He is so used to performing; he even performs when he has no audience other than himself. This is why the narration can switch smoothly between first and third person because it is all part of one show.

The book starts off gently but as it progresses it gains momentum and becomes deeper and more powerful. Quite rightly it is now long-listed for Orange Prize. I wish it was even longer and more detailed. I wanted to know about all Maqil’s cons, I wanted to know more about his car journey from France to Pakistan, I wanted to know more about all his narrow escapes.

It’s a shame the publisher stuck ‘The Flying Man’ in this demeaning bright orange, flowery cover. I know my boyfriend would enjoy this book but wouldn’t be caught dead reading in public something so orangey and chick-lit looking. What would it hurt to put some dice and cards and some bold type on the cover instead?

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fabulous novel. The book follows Maqil from his birth in 1931 Pakistan, to his final days in 2012 France. He lives an unconventional life, flitting from country to county, changing his identify as he moves, abandoning family as he goes. He shouldn't be a likeable protagonist, but somehow he is through his straightforward, unpretentious view of himself. We forgive his betrayal of his wives as it feels true to his nature, and they don't seem to hold much of a grudge themselves.

I think Roopa Farooki is such a gem of an author. I've really enjoyed nearly every book she's written. Hopefully she makes a return to writing again soon.

[Annie Zaidi]

I'd read and reviewed this book back when it was first published. Stumbled upon my own review of it after all this time and thought it was worth sharing some parts of it here, for whoever hasn't read it:

Roopa Farooki's The Flying Man brings us a strong narrative voice with a rich emotional timbre. It tracks the story of Maqil Karam, a good-looking charmer born in Pakistan but resident nowhere and everywhere.

As soon as he clears his school exams, he goes west for a higher education. Most things come easy-languages, politics, card games, women. He is talented and vain, but even his vanity cannot persuade him to do anything that doesn't come easy. Commitment to something, or somebody, doesn't come to him at all. He's constantly evading tax and the traps of familial responsibility. He is, like he tells the mirror, a shallow man. "I don't like causes. I like cocktails and cash and casinos and cars. I like pretty French girls in pretty French clothes."

But France has no hold on him any more than a girl does. He moves countries as easily as he changes names. He marries one woman in Cairo, abandons her, drifts about, then goes back home after his father's death. He sets up a literary club, meets the beautiful Indian expat Samira Rai, marries her, meets with great family disapproval, and moves again. The next few years are a whirlwind of casinos, grifting and love. But, there are children. Children he wants, and doesn't love. Children that Samira doesn't want, and then loves.

To say more would give away too much, but suffice it to say that the adventures and ironic self-awareness of Maqil Karam make the novel a joyful experience.

Besides, for once, it is a relief not having to deal with conventional diasporic angst. There have been far too many novels that simper over samosas-the desire to find, or fight, one's roots. This novel seems to sneeze into the fine cinnamon dust of nostalgia. Its protagonist is the opposite of anything rooted. Karam is a man who not only wants to hack away at his roots, he dismisses the very possibility. He is elegantly selfish, shiftless and rootless.

This offers us a refreshing immigrant experience. I have often wondered why diasporic stories never dwelt with this simple truth that some people want to get the hell out and stay out. After all, compelling economic reasons make people leave their countries, but there's not much that compels them to stay away. This novel is the portrait of a man who doesn't send his children soaking in culture from back 'home', nor tries to rebuild a home abroad. Instead, 'he carries everything he needs in his jacket pocket His small suitcase is always packed'.

Broadly, it's worth reading.

[Mathis Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have mix feelings about The Flying Man. The plot was okay. I got the message. My main problem was the setting descriptions. The protagonist jet sets to: New York, London, Paris, Cairo, Rome, Spain,Hong Kong, and back to Pakistan. The author fails to transport the reader to these places with sights and smells. Throwing in croissants, black coffee, cafes, and fancy hotel rooms doesn’t do the trick. The writing lacked. There were page long paragraphs that killed the reading experience. And the characters were all shallow and evasive. The only character that I really sympathized with was, Zamir, the son. I couldn’t connect with the protagonist, Migil. He was too distant. I could only assume he was going through a self-identity crisis with all the alias’ and fitting-in. The author really doesn’t expound on what made him snap and go ADD. There were times I wanted to ditch the book and start something else a little more cohesive, but the fluorescent orange cover kept beckoning me to finish it. So I did. I don’t regret reading it. There were some humorous and touching moments that tugged on the heart strings, but that’s about it.

Sysnopsis:
The story is about an over-educated Pakistani man, Migil, who infiltrates into different societies with his ambiguous good looks and persuasive charm. He doesn’t quite know what to do in life and floats from one job to the next. He later falls prey to gambling and illegal acts. He finds it challenging to give up his reckless ways, even if it costs him his family.

Over all, it was a fun read with okay writing. The “Catch Me if you Can” theme was totally unexpected. I would recommend this if you are looking for something to pass the time.

I will not be rushing out anytime soon to read her other work.

2.5 stars.

[Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was thoroughly disappointing book. The main character is just a drifter and doesn't have any likeable qualities. You then meet his wife who you like then falls into the same category....After loving her other novels this fell short to the extent I really couldn't be bothered to finish it.

[Maya Panika · Rating 5 out of 5]

You really ought to hate Maqil - aka Sunny, aka Mike, Mehmet, Mikhail, Miguel - because he really is a dreadful man. He's the very definition of a loveable rogue: a drinker, a compulsive gambler, a womaniser; a man so full of himself there's no room for anyone else, certainly not his parents or his various wives, not even the wife he cannot help but love and long for even after he deserts her and his children. It's a clever character study; Maquil is so well rounded and real, so thoroughly despicable yet so flawed and so human, you cannot help but like him and hope for him to pull himself together, even though the story is told in flashback and you already know where it's going to end. At times the style reminded me of Salman Rushdie: the character of Maquil seems a very Rushdie creation, though he is apparently based on RF's own father (and poor her!). Maquil thinks he is free, that he is flying through life, but really, he's only ever running: from creditors and gangsters; from responsibility; from adulthood; from old age.
I loved the descriptive style and the smooth switches from first to third person, which never jarred. It is a deeply thoughtful book, light and comic when the tale opens - with Maquil's adolescence in Lahore, living a privileged life as the first-born son of wealthy parents. At the start, the story dances lightly over Maquil's already-apparent character flaws, but develops real depth as he ages, as his lifestyle starts catching up with him. The narrative darkens as the tale progresses, but always with more light than shade and a strong dash of humour; the story takes itself only as seriously as Maquil does himself (which is, not at all). The Flying Man's only major flaw is that it is too short; Rushdie would have given us lots of detail about Maquil's escapades, the characters he meets on his journeys, his cons and plays and the fictional personas he invents and inhabits. I was sorry when it ended. The Flying Man is wonderfully funny, beautifully written and surprisingly touching and I wished Roopla Farooki had given us more.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rogue Male
Makhil is a charmer, a gambler, a charlatan and a liar, who schmoozes his way through life from his birth in pre-war Lahore through America, Egypt, England, Italy and Hong Kong, making and losing fortunes and leaving unpaid debts, discarded identities and broken marriages in his wake. You'll love him.

Farooki turns this vain and selfish man into a fascinating character; a comic Rogue Male in peacetime. By starting the story at the end, with Makhil or maybe Mike in a cheap French hotel at the end of his life, she tells you right away that the time for redemption has gone, and yet you still hope for it. He's charming and infuriatingly selfish, but he convinces you that he's not deliberately cruel – the epitome of the unreliable narrator – and only one person, his ex-wife Samira, has ever touched him emotionally. He might be a liar, but he doesn't fool himself or anyone who gets close to him; when he goes, no-one is surprised, and only his business partners seem to suffer. If that seems implausible, it makes for an entertaining novel.

Farooki never loses the undercurrent of humour in her writing, which is what makes this novel so engaging. Despite her and her hero's Pakistani background, this isn't a novel about multi-culturalism. Makhil has some obviously Pakistani cultural baggage but this is really a story about one man's struggle with masculinity, public image and ego, and the urge to be free of culture and responsibility. The Flying Man is the man who has conquered the land and sea, but in reality Makhil is fleeing, not flying. Fasten your seatbelts.

[Meera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mildly engaging, kind of like a not as good White Tiger. The central character is a selfish man who doesn't want to settle down or commit to one identity, so spends his life flitting around the world, trying to avoid attachments, but against his will, people become attached to him. The thing I didn't really get was why people would be attached to him - he seems too flighty and only thinks of himself, and certainly once he loses his looks and charms, I wasn't sure why anyone was drawn to him!

[Rubai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing writer

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a cheap French hotel room in Biarritz a man is writing the letter that will precede his death. He has recently met his son who wants him to return to his homeland of Pakistan and act like a proper old man for once in his life but son and father both know that it’s just not the old man’s style to ever really go back. They’re playing a game – concerned son, disobedient father – and they both know their roles.

The Flying Man of the title is Maqil but he could more accurately be called the Fleeing Man because that’s what Maqil does. He makes his fortune, makes a mess and then makes a speedy exit. There’s always a lover, a cheated business partner, an unhappy victim of fraud, or detectives with uncomfortable questions about his friends and associates on Maqil’s tail. He’s a cheat, a gambler, a liar and a charmer who’ll sell his soul and his identity whenever the opportunity or need arises. As the book progresses we start to understand in more depth why the character of the opening pages is so sure that his death is coming. Maqil spends the rest of the book setting the scene, telling his story and listing the events of his life and all his roles and performances, establishing the network of lies and deceptions that made him who and what he is.

He was born Maqil in Lahore, Pakistan, a twin whose brother was stillborn and perhaps that’s why he’s always been looking for a part of himself. Blessed with a good family and plenty of opportunities, he’s passed through life never quite overtly pretending but equally never confirming where he comes from or who he is. He has bounced around the world, recreating himself as Michael, Mike, MSK, Mehmet, Mikhail and even Miguel – he’s got the kind of complexion that means everyone thinks they know his origins but nobody’s entirely sure. His passage through life hasn’t always been lonely and he’s got three ex-wives to prove it though not all are technically ex or technically wives as he’s been a little lax on the issue of formally divorcing them.

In many ways, the wives tell us more about Maqil and his life than he tells us himself. The first wife Carine is a Franco-Egyptian beauty, elegant and educated, he finds here in the museum in Cairo in the department of Egyptian antiquities and leaves her as abruptly as he finds her, without a backward glance. His second is the great love of his life, his intellectual equal and the woman who understands him probably better than he understands himself. Feisty Samira comes to work in his Mumbai bookshop and wins his heart. He tricks her into having his children, boy and girl twins who destroy her sense of who she is yet fails to really capture their father’s attention. The third, Bernadette, is the wife for his older years, one he found in a hospital where she nursed him back to health before becoming the ‘proper’ wife his mother would have wanted for him despite her pale Irish skin and foreign ways. Carine is in and out of his life more quickly than you can say “Place your bets” but the other two are beautifully characterised and developed by Farooki with sympathy and understanding for their plight.

Maqil is at various times a gambler, a fraudster, a forger and a charlatan of many different colours, yet despite his deplorable behaviour, readers will find themselves siding with him and egging him on to ever more outrageous exploits and adventures. He’s thoroughly unreliable and untrustworthy but his sense of charm oozes out of the pages. We know of course from the structure of the book that he must have kept ‘getting away with it’ and with the exception of a spell in prison which helped him to work on his golf handicap and do some useful ‘networking’, he largely does go unpunished by society if not always by himself.

I am a big fan of Roopa Farooki and have read every one of her novels and adored most of them. The ‘dodgy bloke’ we find in 'The Flying Man' is an extreme extrapolation of the often unreliable men she’s written about before and both men and women who are scared of commitment. There have been fathers who run two wives and two families, elderly shop keepers with elaborate romantic lives, women who run away when they fear to love and various others whose shadows appear rolled up into the enigmatic Maqil. I was also – perhaps inappropriately – reminded of Hari Kunzru’s darker protagonist in ‘The Impressionist’, another who changes his identity along with his clothes.

I enjoyed this book greatly, bouncing around the world with Maqil, following his exploits and watching him run from trouble but it’s not my favourite of Farooki’s novels – in fact I prefer most of the others with the possible exception of Half Life. She’s a master craftswoman at novels with complicated family groups, people whose lives are mixed up and entwined in ways that really make you sit back and think “Wow, that was really clever”. For me this wasn’t typically Farooki at all, despite the similarities I could see with characters from her earlier books. I enjoyed it but I didn’t LOVE it the way I loved Bitter Sweets, Corner Shop or The Way Things Look to Me. One of the things I love about many of her books is the way in which the characters’ origins are almost irrelevant to their stories – they have Asian or mixed heritage yet their stories are the stories of everyman and everywoman, regardless of where they came from. Maqil is almost the opposite – he’s too much the product of where he came from and where he’s been. I also missed the more London-centred plot lines of these novels, finding the multitudinous settings sped past a little too quickly. But despite it not being my favourite, it’s still a cracking good novel that I’m happy to recommend.

[Anne Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

not sure about this book - it was an admirable piece of writing, but I found it extremely difficult to identify with the (almost) sole character, who really is not very likeable - he manipulates, hurts his family and friends, and apart from showing how fickle our world is in that you can "pretend" so easily, it didnt leave me with much new insight into anything.

[Pawan Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very inspiring, the writer takes you on a journey beyond imagination.
Really bful story and a sad end.
But very nice read

[Tasha Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fantastic story!

[Stephen Donaghy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Flying Man tells the story of a talented conman who ends up having cheated himself out of any meaningful relationships or worthwhile achievements.

It begins with a bang: “He’s writing a letter he never intends to post, but which he knows will one day be found.” The first chapter sets up a character whose whole life has been shaped by deceit, whose lies make him live. Yet it hints that he has a core of integrity, embarrassed that his daughter-in-law “had fallen into that subtly offensive group, the middle class who dress well and perform charitable acts but who are rude to receptionists and people who work in restaurants”.

Unfortunately the rest of the book fails to live up to the promise of that opening chapter, with such a deterioration in the quality of the writing that it made me wonder if the introduction was originally a standalone short story. The author, Roopa Farooki, does not seem to have confidence to reveal her story through her characters but relies on telling everything in a monotonous, omniscient narrative voice. The central character, Maqil Karam, never really comes to life and Farooki is handicapped by her inability to write convincingly as a man. It was novel to have politeness the central concern when Karam lost his virginity but did not ring true. Similarly I don’t believe men are as obsessed with their physical appearance as Karam appears to be in the book. Another thing that is unconvincing is the depiction of place. Karam travels the world – Lahore, Cairo, Hong Kong – but the geographic locations are so indistinct that they are actually interchangeable. In a description of London’s Hyde Park she talks about Karam and his children admiring “the spring daffodils and narcissi”. I’m no gardener but aren’t daffodils and narcissi the same thing?

During his picaresque adventures Karam falls in love, at first sight, with Samira, who becomes the second of his three wives. Karam goes to great lengths to get Samira pregnant by underhand means, against her will, and then abandons her with their twins. I found the references to Samira’s bulimia convincing but the pages devoted to one of the twin’s constipation were a waste of space and read like a technical exercise that the author had set herself.

The message of the book seems to be that if a human being is not prepared to work then no matter how extensive their gifts or talents they will end up underachieving. Like Karam “What is his legacy, besides the two uninspiring children whom he never sees, whose joint birthday he fails to remember? His life has shrunk to this: a high-rise flat, a wife and a disapproving mother-in-law. He has never done anything of note … He is hardly anything; his only achievement, his only great work of art, has been himself. He had intended to create a new man for a new life, but has instead succeeding in effacing himself, and created a nowhere man in his place, with no baggage, no history.”

I would not recommend this book. Having finished it I thought it was not a bad effort for a first novel and I might be interested in giving Farooki’s next book a try. It was astonishing to discover that it was her fifth novel, though I understand that Graham Greene’s first four novels flopped. I was also surprised to read that Karam is based on Farooki’s father. It takes something to create such an unconvincing character from a real person.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the beautifully-written tale of one man's life, from cradle to grave, told in retrospect when he is a very old man writing a last letter to his family in a lonely Biarritz hotel room.

Maquil, or Sunny as his family call him, is born in Pakistan and is the oldest and most beloved of several children. He's a natural charmer and glides through life with ease, drawing people to him like moths to a flame. Women adore him, men want to be his friend, and making money seems the easiest thing in the world.

Maquil leaves Pakistan to study in America, where he changes his name and discovers the joy of reinvention. He will change his identity several times during his life, and with it his nationality, his job and even his personality. He's always on the move, making a living from various scams and disappearing when the heat grows too strong. It's a lifestyle that will take him all around the world, until one day he meets the one woman he wants to change for. Whether he'll be able to is a different matter.

This was a lovely book, told in a confidential, almost chatty style that quickly transported me into Maquil's life. It was as though the story was being read to me by a much-loved relative, and I both loved and loathed Maquil just as his own family do in the book.

If I were teaching classes in novel-writing, this would be the perfect book for the lesson entitled, "how to make an unsympathetic character sympathetic." When you look at it objectively, Maquil is awful. He's utterly selfish, lazy, dishonest, a quitter, and has almost no redeeming features at all. And yet I fell for his twinkle-eyed charm every bit as much as his wives, and it's testament to the author's skill that she managed to make him lovable in spite of all his faults.

This book wasn't all fun and games with a lovable rogue, however. There are some very dark moments in Maquil's life, particularly as he grows older, and the book has lots to say about the treachery of the aging body and the decrepitude which awaits us all, provided we make it that far. Maquil has regrets, though if he were to live his life again, we wonder if he would be able to change things, or if his nature would compel him to do it all the same.

I'm teetering on the edge of a five-star rating with this one, but I don't think it quite makes it. I loved it, but it wasn't quite electrifying enough for that extra star.

[Tim Roast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recently long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012 so I thought I'd check it out.

The description of this book made me think that this was going to be like "Catch Me If You Can: The True Story Of A Real Fake". However it really isn't like that.

The story is of Maqil Karam. It follows his life through selected periods of his life. Each chapter is headed after a place in the world, like Paris, London and Lahore, and a year. The story goes from birth to, inevitably, death. Throughout he is changing identities, leaving wives behind, businesses behind..., yet to me, despite the description suggesting that all his past acquaintances were trying to "pin him down", he never seems like he is nearly being found. There was one person, Nasser, that caught up with him but he got out of that rather disappointingly easily, and it never seemed like he was in any danger through the book. Mainly it seems the only people making efforts to keep track of him are family, for reasons that they want to keep in touch rather than pin him down. So I think there could have been more suspense thrown in to make the book more exciting.

Also for me the book didn't really get going until a few chapters in, when he returned to Lahore. But after that false start I got into the book a bit more. The writing style is a contemplative one which has a lot of thought going on throughout.

Overall not the book I was expecting but decent nonetheless.

[MisterHobgoblin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Flying Man sets out the life story of Maqil Karam, a jet-setter, a high-roller, a confidence trickster. Initially it starts well with every chapter, it seems, set in a new exotic location and a new identity. There's intrigue and there's excitement. It's like James Bond without the boring fights and chase scenes. Maqil aspires to the playboy role and his life seems aspirational. The language and narrative style are colourful.

Unfortunately, as Maqil settles down to family life in middle age, the narrative starts to become flabby. The sense of adventure is gone and the reader is left sharing Maquil's feeling of being trapped, being stuck for many years in London suburbia. Sadly, the initial vibrancy never really returns. There are belated attempts to link in with intrigue and world politics following a return trip to Pakistan but it all feels aimless. Perhaps that's the point - that life starts out with opportunity and potential but ultimately ends in failure and disappointment.

Nothing more to say really. An initially promising novel that just peters out.

[Gayla Bassham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Roopa Farooki's last novel, The Way Things Look to Me, so I have been looking forward to this one. And it did not disappoint. I thought this was a very well-crafted character study and a master class in how a novelist can make a thoroughly unlikable protagonist sympathetic. This is a deceptively simple book; there is a lot going on beneath the surface and it must have been incredibly difficult to pull off. One of my favorites on the Orange longlist this year.

[Samra Muslim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a high roller, jet setting con-man - The Flying Man - starts off with a fast pace that keep you thoroughly entertained!

But once the protagonist hits middle age and marriage - the story becomes dull, uninspiring and just plan boring ... It just stopped going anywhere ...

That's the point I couldn't wait for it to be over !!!

[Kumam · Rating 4 out of 5]

roopa farooki's flair for storytelling keeps you hooked into the novel right from the start till the end. she has a rare talent for describing the smallest of encounters in the most beautiful and detailed style and language.

a writer with excellent craftsmanship. this novel about a cynical and despicable yet seductive man's journey from birth to death is quite an impressive one.

[Asha KRISHNA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roopa Farooki's book is a great read. I admit that I had pre conceived notions about the book that let me down.
However, I am glad I stuck with it, for it ended up being a cracking read.

For a detailed review, please click on the link below or paste it onto your browser.

http://onerightword.blogspot.co.uk/20...

[Baljit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it was interesting because she describes a character who is smooth and charming, but cannot commit himself emotionally to other people. He is transient in the lives of his family, his wives and his children. He lives for the moment and is not torn up by guilt or angst.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flawed man makes for an absorbing story.

[Saeed Saeed]

Funny and tender tale of what happens when past indiscretions come back to haunt you.

[Rishita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice narrative, powerful prose and nice development of the central character but the book gets a bit repetitive after a while, as it lacks a story line and just emphasizes the character yet again.

[Brian Cowlishaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't get myself to care much about the central character. Disappointing.

[Sana Abdulla · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting study in self indulgence. The writing is a bit showy but nevertheless very good.