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The Amazing Absorbing Boy
Seventeen-year-old Samuel, naïve and inexperienced, leaves his home in Trinidad for Canada following the death of his mother. He hasn't seen his father since he was six years old and now, thrust into a new life together, Samuel soon realizes that he is considered a burden. Undaunted, though still wide-eyed, and propelled by a comic book sensibility, Samuel begins to explore the vast foreign landscape that is Toronto. There he encounters molemen, super-villains,
chimeras, trolls and a host of sidekicks.
With his fourth novel, Rabindranath Maharaj gives us his best work yet, a powerful and funny story of a naive young immigrant who is wise in the culture of comic books, and a portrait of big-city Canada we have never seen before.
chimeras, trolls and a host of sidekicks.
With his fourth novel, Rabindranath Maharaj gives us his best work yet, a powerful and funny story of a naive young immigrant who is wise in the culture of comic books, and a portrait of big-city Canada we have never seen before.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 26, 2010
5 people are currently reading
630 people want to read
About the author
Rabindranath Maharaj
17 books35 followersRabindranath 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.”
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.”
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April 25, 2017DNF page 83. Did not grab me nor make much sense. Got bored
May 11, 2017
As a born and bred Canadian, this book was a fascinating glimpse at myself an my country through the eyes of a newcomer to Canada. As Samuel navigates through the new world he lives in, using references from comics along the way to help him interpret his surroundings, I find myself catching tidbits of how odd our society - and perhaps any society - can appear to the eyes of someone who is experiencing it for the first time.
March 13, 2010
Growing up in the village of Mayaro in Trinidad, Samuel yearns as much as his mother does for his absent father. Even though his Uncle Boysie mutters insults about him, Samuel never really stops believing his father will one day return, or send for him and his mother to live with him in Canada.
When he's sixteen, his mother dies of cancer. Taken in by his uncle, it's nearly a year before he hears the news that his father is waiting for him in Toronto. Armed with a six-month visitor's visa, Samuel goes eagerly. He doesn't know much about Canada except what his friend Pantamoolie tells him - that ice in different flavours falls from the sky, and people live in igloos. What Samuel really looks forward to, though, is getting to know the father he idolises.
His father, though, wants nothing to do with him. Living in a small one-bedroom apartment in Regent Park, a housing development for low income, mostly immigrant people in the east end, his father supplies Samuel with a foam mattress on the living room floor, tells him kids in Canada are expected to not be dependent on their parents, and makes mocking comments about Samuel and his hopes and aspirations.
Gradually, Samuel begins to explore his new home. It begins with a phone call and a man threatening to kill his father, which leads Samuel to a Coffee Time to pay him back the forty dollars his father owes him for a black-market denture.
Each new foray leads Samuel to a new part of the city, and a new adventure. He will sometimes get on the subway and ride it to the end of the line and back, or a Go train out to another city and back. Having lived in Toronto - and Canada - for four years now, we see the city in the same way and yet completely differently. Samuel is coming from a much different place, and his perceptions of Toronto are often quite funny in their sweet naiveté. He even has to learn how to talk to people, who often don't make sense through Samuel's ears.
From spending a month or so hanging out with some old people - all immigrants at one time or another - at the Coffee Time, to his jobs at Petrocan, an antiques shop and a B-movie video shop, his encounters with the weirdest people in the city (how he manages to find all these people, all the time ...) - Samuel makes friends with the oddest people, and in a way, this gives him the more honest, truthful understanding of Toronto - a city of immigrants - than most people have.
The way the story is divided up into these little adventures, each leading to the next, reminded me of more old-fashioned story-telling, like from the 30s and 40s and 50s. I read a few when I was little, and if my memory's not completely untrustworthy I've read a few as an adult too - like, recently, A Bear Called Paddington (which is from the 50s). It's not a style much used these days, which is a shame. When you have such an odd, eclectic city as Toronto, these vignettes turn out to be an excellent way to see it. It's very Torontonian, I think: very patchwork. And also very true to the way our lives play out, in segments or chapters. I really enjoyed that element.
Samuel also inspired me to get out and explore the city more. He has such an honest view, but he's not bothered by the truth he sees. He's quite the character. Often mistaken as an immigrant from Iran or Pakistan, it's hard to know what his background is exactly - Trinidad is much like Jamaica in regards to ethnic diversity, it seems. His dad is described as Indian-looking, but I pictured his mother as black. The point is: it doesn't matter. In The Amazing Absorbing Boy, you see Toronto as it really is, especially to the people who really live here, the ones the rich white population still pretends is a dirty, poor minority, like a phase the city is going through. Samuel has some insightful comments on Toronto and what it is to be Canadian, noting that it is the immigrants who complain most bitterly about immigrants and "the way the country is going". He is told stories that are funny and sad, but doesn't always understand them the way you or I would. There are some really comical moments, like his trips to the Art Bar to hear wanky pretentious crap masquerading as poetry. This is a Toronto stripped right down to "the stubborn understains" (to quote one of my favourite TV shows).
The story has some bittersweet moments, and doesn't take easy-outs. His father never becomes a likeable man, but he does become someone you can pity. Aunt Umbrella, his father's sister, and Uncle Boysie, his mother's brother, both stay with Samuel at different times - they both hate his father, and they both have their issues and flaws, but they were fun characters without being clichés or stereotypes or comical at the expense of themselves. There's fun and there's also respect.
I have to love this book for another reason: it features Castle Frank, my favourite subway station. I've never actually got off the subway at Castle Frank, but I love the name. Castle Frank. I think it has to be my favourite two words of all. It's the stop for Regent Park, so there's not much to "see" - it's a dodgy neighbourhood, and everyone knows it, because of all the drug dealers that hang around there. It's also a hugely family-oriented neighbourhood, and it would be a community one too if there weren't so many barriers between the different ethnic communities that are all squished in together. The story is set starting a couple of years before they tore down Regent Park - it's a revitalisation project, they call it. There's a lot of issues surrounding it, but they are building new, environmentally-sound buildings for the same people who were relocated: low income, rent-subsidised etc. It wasn't just a dodgy area, it was also hideous. I do tutoring north of Regent Park - it's prime real estate, close to the CBD; all the more reason to keep it as housing (cities do tend to love thrusting its poor to the outskirts where no one can see them). It's south of Cabbagetown, the upper-class old neighbourhood where you'll find people like Margaret Atwood.
The Amazing Absorbing Boy didn't make me love Toronto - I don't think I ever will, I don't think anything could do that. But I did love reading a book set here, that brought the city alive - one face of it, anyway. I thought the ending drifted a bit, and perhaps it was deliberate but we're left with no idea of what's going to happen to Samuel next - his own building has come up for demolition, his father has gone, his options are many and few at the same time. One thing's for sure: he's a resourceful boy, and a better man than his father. I'm sure he's out there as I type this, pursuing his studies or maybe still working in the video shop, making friends with eccentric people, keeping his eyes and his mind open. And, of course, reading comic books.
When he's sixteen, his mother dies of cancer. Taken in by his uncle, it's nearly a year before he hears the news that his father is waiting for him in Toronto. Armed with a six-month visitor's visa, Samuel goes eagerly. He doesn't know much about Canada except what his friend Pantamoolie tells him - that ice in different flavours falls from the sky, and people live in igloos. What Samuel really looks forward to, though, is getting to know the father he idolises.
His father, though, wants nothing to do with him. Living in a small one-bedroom apartment in Regent Park, a housing development for low income, mostly immigrant people in the east end, his father supplies Samuel with a foam mattress on the living room floor, tells him kids in Canada are expected to not be dependent on their parents, and makes mocking comments about Samuel and his hopes and aspirations.
Gradually, Samuel begins to explore his new home. It begins with a phone call and a man threatening to kill his father, which leads Samuel to a Coffee Time to pay him back the forty dollars his father owes him for a black-market denture.
Each new foray leads Samuel to a new part of the city, and a new adventure. He will sometimes get on the subway and ride it to the end of the line and back, or a Go train out to another city and back. Having lived in Toronto - and Canada - for four years now, we see the city in the same way and yet completely differently. Samuel is coming from a much different place, and his perceptions of Toronto are often quite funny in their sweet naiveté. He even has to learn how to talk to people, who often don't make sense through Samuel's ears.
From spending a month or so hanging out with some old people - all immigrants at one time or another - at the Coffee Time, to his jobs at Petrocan, an antiques shop and a B-movie video shop, his encounters with the weirdest people in the city (how he manages to find all these people, all the time ...) - Samuel makes friends with the oddest people, and in a way, this gives him the more honest, truthful understanding of Toronto - a city of immigrants - than most people have.
The way the story is divided up into these little adventures, each leading to the next, reminded me of more old-fashioned story-telling, like from the 30s and 40s and 50s. I read a few when I was little, and if my memory's not completely untrustworthy I've read a few as an adult too - like, recently, A Bear Called Paddington (which is from the 50s). It's not a style much used these days, which is a shame. When you have such an odd, eclectic city as Toronto, these vignettes turn out to be an excellent way to see it. It's very Torontonian, I think: very patchwork. And also very true to the way our lives play out, in segments or chapters. I really enjoyed that element.
Samuel also inspired me to get out and explore the city more. He has such an honest view, but he's not bothered by the truth he sees. He's quite the character. Often mistaken as an immigrant from Iran or Pakistan, it's hard to know what his background is exactly - Trinidad is much like Jamaica in regards to ethnic diversity, it seems. His dad is described as Indian-looking, but I pictured his mother as black. The point is: it doesn't matter. In The Amazing Absorbing Boy, you see Toronto as it really is, especially to the people who really live here, the ones the rich white population still pretends is a dirty, poor minority, like a phase the city is going through. Samuel has some insightful comments on Toronto and what it is to be Canadian, noting that it is the immigrants who complain most bitterly about immigrants and "the way the country is going". He is told stories that are funny and sad, but doesn't always understand them the way you or I would. There are some really comical moments, like his trips to the Art Bar to hear wanky pretentious crap masquerading as poetry. This is a Toronto stripped right down to "the stubborn understains" (to quote one of my favourite TV shows).
The story has some bittersweet moments, and doesn't take easy-outs. His father never becomes a likeable man, but he does become someone you can pity. Aunt Umbrella, his father's sister, and Uncle Boysie, his mother's brother, both stay with Samuel at different times - they both hate his father, and they both have their issues and flaws, but they were fun characters without being clichés or stereotypes or comical at the expense of themselves. There's fun and there's also respect.
I have to love this book for another reason: it features Castle Frank, my favourite subway station. I've never actually got off the subway at Castle Frank, but I love the name. Castle Frank. I think it has to be my favourite two words of all. It's the stop for Regent Park, so there's not much to "see" - it's a dodgy neighbourhood, and everyone knows it, because of all the drug dealers that hang around there. It's also a hugely family-oriented neighbourhood, and it would be a community one too if there weren't so many barriers between the different ethnic communities that are all squished in together. The story is set starting a couple of years before they tore down Regent Park - it's a revitalisation project, they call it. There's a lot of issues surrounding it, but they are building new, environmentally-sound buildings for the same people who were relocated: low income, rent-subsidised etc. It wasn't just a dodgy area, it was also hideous. I do tutoring north of Regent Park - it's prime real estate, close to the CBD; all the more reason to keep it as housing (cities do tend to love thrusting its poor to the outskirts where no one can see them). It's south of Cabbagetown, the upper-class old neighbourhood where you'll find people like Margaret Atwood.
The Amazing Absorbing Boy didn't make me love Toronto - I don't think I ever will, I don't think anything could do that. But I did love reading a book set here, that brought the city alive - one face of it, anyway. I thought the ending drifted a bit, and perhaps it was deliberate but we're left with no idea of what's going to happen to Samuel next - his own building has come up for demolition, his father has gone, his options are many and few at the same time. One thing's for sure: he's a resourceful boy, and a better man than his father. I'm sure he's out there as I type this, pursuing his studies or maybe still working in the video shop, making friends with eccentric people, keeping his eyes and his mind open. And, of course, reading comic books.
February 26, 2014
The Amazing Absorbing Boy, by Rabindranath Maharaj, is an amazing, absorbing novel about a teenaged boy who leaves his home in Trinidad after the death of his mother to join his estranged father in the Regent Park area of Toronto. His love of comic book heroes gives him a set of unusual survival skills that both sets him apart and smooths his way as an immigrant to Canada. At the end there's a glossary of Trinidadian words like "nowhereian" that is a real treat.
February 17, 2015
I enjoy reading novels where the city of Toronto is treated almost like a character. This is a sweet novel about a young boy who comes to live in Regent Park (as it's being torn down) and has to figure out things all on his own. He meets an incredible funny and sad set of characters and gets just enough of what he needs from them to survive.
March 29, 2013
I loved this so much, it was perfect.
It was like an adventure into a new land, meeting new eccentric people and getting used to a foreign country.
My favourite chapter was "The Amazing Absorbing Boy"
It was like an adventure into a new land, meeting new eccentric people and getting used to a foreign country.
My favourite chapter was "The Amazing Absorbing Boy"
December 24, 2016
All the meanderings, each of which I found a lovely little vignette of its and each of which brought Sam along, came together at the end. Reminded me much of the idea that all life is a play and the people we meet its players. Each of them affects us in some way, shapes who we are.
January 3, 2017
I loved this book.
The location brought back so many memories as I grew up in the neighbourhood.
The location brought back so many memories as I grew up in the neighbourhood.
October 11, 2021
I am giving it three stars, and probably it deserves more. It's well written, and has very strong characters. It's taken me a long time to read, but there's not much action. Neverless, I did enjoy it. I can't really relate to the immigrant experience, but I got a very strong idea of what it is like to be an immigrant arriving in Canada.
April 27, 2019
I found this to be a beautifully written novel that captures the immigration experience perfectly. I loved the structure and the use of comics as a means of bridging the gap. In comics, the transitions come in the gutters and this is a perfect metaphor for the life of an immigrant who must fill the hole between his life with new experiences shaped by the past and culture left behind.
January 18, 2016
I am here to tell you that this is NOT a book about a boy obsessing over comic books!
I was put off from reading this book because it's marketed as "boy sees life through comic books" -- and it's simply not that. There are some sporadic references to comic book heroes -- 99% of which went over my head -- but it's a minor part of the story, really. In fact, when the references are made, they only enhance the story, in my opinion.
So do it! Read this book! Throughout the read, I was going to give it 4-stars, however, it just kept getting better and better, and the ending is so nicely done. I set the book aside last night, and for the first time in years, felt like I was really going to miss this character. And today I'm missing him for sure.
Other reviewers have said that they didn't like the feeling of "vignette" that this book has. Yes, it's true -- there are a lot of characters that come and go, and some of them I wish I'd seen more of (the jewellery making girl, for instance -- what happened to her??) But actually, I think this style of writing, again, enhances the authenticity of the immigrant story: you move to new country, and from a million different people, you learn a million different tips. Particularly when this is happening in a large city like Toronto, it's probably very real that you'd never see these people again.
So in the end, I felt the book was authentic, lovely, and hopeful, with an admitted undertone of misery, which is, again, probably very real. It illustrates how immigrants arrive with a real gap in instruction. There's no comprehensive "How to Move to Canada" guidebook, from paperwork to cultural subtleties. There is a lot of happenstance, organic learning that has to take place. I liked the writing a lot, and by the end, I even loved the (comic-y) cover and title!
I laughed out loud, I was sad to see Samuel go when I finished the book, and I stand firmly behind this book as a CBC Reads "Starting Over" contender!
I was put off from reading this book because it's marketed as "boy sees life through comic books" -- and it's simply not that. There are some sporadic references to comic book heroes -- 99% of which went over my head -- but it's a minor part of the story, really. In fact, when the references are made, they only enhance the story, in my opinion.
So do it! Read this book! Throughout the read, I was going to give it 4-stars, however, it just kept getting better and better, and the ending is so nicely done. I set the book aside last night, and for the first time in years, felt like I was really going to miss this character. And today I'm missing him for sure.
Other reviewers have said that they didn't like the feeling of "vignette" that this book has. Yes, it's true -- there are a lot of characters that come and go, and some of them I wish I'd seen more of (the jewellery making girl, for instance -- what happened to her??) But actually, I think this style of writing, again, enhances the authenticity of the immigrant story: you move to new country, and from a million different people, you learn a million different tips. Particularly when this is happening in a large city like Toronto, it's probably very real that you'd never see these people again.
So in the end, I felt the book was authentic, lovely, and hopeful, with an admitted undertone of misery, which is, again, probably very real. It illustrates how immigrants arrive with a real gap in instruction. There's no comprehensive "How to Move to Canada" guidebook, from paperwork to cultural subtleties. There is a lot of happenstance, organic learning that has to take place. I liked the writing a lot, and by the end, I even loved the (comic-y) cover and title!
I laughed out loud, I was sad to see Samuel go when I finished the book, and I stand firmly behind this book as a CBC Reads "Starting Over" contender!
April 21, 2015
In tiny, dilapidated Mayaro, Trinidad, Samuel has spent much of his sixteen years speculating about the splendid life his father is leading in Canada. But when his mother dies and his father sends for him, Samuel learns that the splendors he imagined are just that: imaginary. Faced with a surly parent who has no interest in his present or his future, who seems to do nothing all day and who subsists on a disability pension in subsidized housing, Samuel realizes that he must adapt to this perplexing new environment and make his way unaided. Toronto becomes his big adventure: a training ground for the life that lies ahead. Maharaj's perceptive observations of this "other" Canada, seen from an outsider's perspective, are entertaining, often hilarious, and always compelling. The Amazing Absorbing Boy is destined to become a classic of immigrant literature.
November 22, 2012
To quote Dwight Schrute when asked to comment on his boss's breath: "good, not great". This novel tells the story of a young man who comes to Canada from Trinidad to live with his miscreant of a father after his mother's death. He is left alone to navigate the unfamiliar streets, try to find work, and come to terms with what it means to be an immigrant in the country.
The writing is strong, but about half way through the book it felt like the story was deteriorating into: lead character meets a new, eccentric character (often a fellow immigrant/transplant), lead character becomes slightly invested in new character's life, new character disappears, repeat. I sort of stopped caring about all these characters.
The writing is strong, but about half way through the book it felt like the story was deteriorating into: lead character meets a new, eccentric character (often a fellow immigrant/transplant), lead character becomes slightly invested in new character's life, new character disappears, repeat. I sort of stopped caring about all these characters.
March 1, 2010
I wanted to like this book, but I really didn't. I was lost at the Trinidadian references until I found the dictionary in the back, lost at the Toronto references because I've never lived there, and missed a lot of the comic book references as well.
I think my problem with this book was that it really wasn't a novel, but a series of vignettes or adventures. There were some good things here, but not enough of them for me. I feel that people who are more familiar with Toronto would enjoy this book more.
I think my problem with this book was that it really wasn't a novel, but a series of vignettes or adventures. There were some good things here, but not enough of them for me. I feel that people who are more familiar with Toronto would enjoy this book more.
January 5, 2016
I'd give it a strong 3.5 stars but I loved the main character so much I had to give it 4 stars.
April 18, 2017
What is a typical Canadian?
"I got up. By the time I got to Regent Park I felt I had an answer for my uncle A typical Canadian--or at least those I had met--was someone who fussed all the time. About everything. Toronto was getting too modern and ugly. Toronto was stuck in the past. Too many immigrants. Too few. Foreign people were living all by themselves. Foreign people were walking bold-bold in places that shouldn't concern them. Too many American shows. Too few. Too much hockey violence. Too little. Too hot. Too cold."
Beautiful image and description of what is inside all of us.
"During my last week at the shop, I asked Che if he was going to return to his mountain any time. I told him that I too was leaving this place soon. He shook my hand and bowed like those Mexican actors on television. Then in the same dramatic way, he pointed to his chest and said, 'My mountain it is here. In the morning, I smell the grassdews and in the night, I hear the clouds brushing the trees. But when I die my body must be carried to the highest peak to be laid next to my wife's grave.' He said something in Spanish and when I asked its meaning he said, 'My grave must be caressed by the purest fog. No snow shall fall on its dirt.'"
This is a good introduction to the superhero theme, although Maharaj does not carry it throughout the book as much as I expected. This is nicely written though, and I wish he had taken this up more, expanded on it.
"During some of these walks I would recall the Art Bar people and what I would have said if I was asked to read out a poem or something. I played around with a story of a boy who walked around some strange city touching all sorts of objects and immediately getting a vision of other people grazing their hands on these same objects. I believe the boy could also gauge the thoughts of the touchers during the exact moment of contact. Maybe this name was the Astonishing Connection Boy or Memory Lad or something like that. One night the beginning of another story--but with the same boy--formed, just like that:
When my mother died, I felt I had already received glimpses of all that would follow. Like if I was once sitting on a dusty, silver asteroid and could see through lanes of swirling space dust and dark, puffed-up clouds and even the samaan tree in our front yard where the shadows of our Mayaro neighbours cast a crooked picket fence on the coffin. I could even make out Uncle Boysie still looking funny in his black suit, staring again at the road as if in this replay my father would suddenly appear in a big puff of sulphurous smoke."
The Art Bar. How did I not discover such places when I was young? Or maybe I did. Back then, there were coffee houses where folk music was played, not spoken word. But what if it had?
"I thought it was a mistake to come to this place with so many unhappy people (and to to be honest, I wondered whether they were pretending they had genuine problems with their fathers who treated them as if they were parasites)..."
More impressions of Canada.
"This time I got off [public transit] at Queen, and while I was walking to the square I stared at the skyscrapers and tall office towers and noticed how different this part of the city was from Regent Park and the places near the Pape and Coxwell stations. I guess this was how I had pictured Canada when Uncle Boysie had first told me of my move. The people seemed different, too, moving in such a hurry I was surprised they didn't crash into each other. Some of them were staring down at their phones even as they crossed the street. A pretty girl on a yellow scooter sped by and no one stared or whistled even though a good slice of her leg was exposed..."
Maharaj is portraying Toronto from the eyes of a newcomer, which is fresh, new, and full of hope and despair. It reminds me of how diverse Toronto is and how white-bread much of the rest of Canada is. His descriptions are evocative.
"I began to go out earlier, in the mornings during rush time, where, in places like Broadview and Chester and Pape I made another interesting discovery: the mole people were just one of many different breeds. There were also pretty high-boot women who walked straight and stiff like men, and scarf and turtleneck young men who walked in the opposite manner, and Chinese boys who were always glancing through their modern glasses at their reflections in glass windows, and old spotted men who looked so angrily at everyone else I expected a snort to fling out from their fat, red noses at any minute..."
Maharaj plays with words in this book, sometimes because of language and sometimes just out of playfulness. These proverbs work well with Uncle Boysie's changes.
"...I think Uncle Boysie was afraid of this too as he soon began to shoot off little proverbs like, 'Birds of a feather frock together' and 'Rolling stones gather in the mosque,' and I never bothered to correct him becuse most evenings he seemed quite tipsy, drinking from the bottle of Johnnie Walker on the shelf behind the counter..."
Thus it BEGINS.
"When my mother died four months after my sixteenth birthday, I felt I had already received glimpses of all that would follow. Like if I was once again sitting on a dusty, silvery asteroid and could see through lanes of swirling space dust and dark, puffed-up clouds, right through the samaan tree in our front yard where the shadows of our Mayaro neighbours cast a crooked picket fence on the coffin. I could even make out Uncle Boysie still looking funny in his black suit, staring agains at the road as if in this replay my father would suddenly appear in a big puff of sulphurous smoke. But my father was not Nightcrawler the teleporter, and I was not Doctor Manhattan who could see into the future."
December 26, 2016
I really liked the premise of this book: Samuel, a young boy of 17 moves from a village in Trinidad to Toronto to live with his father after his mother dies. The father is cold and unwelcoming and the story follows Samuel's efforts to adjust to his new life in Canada. I enjoyed it as a tale of the immigrant experience which the author reveals with admirable complexity and sensitivity.
However, I found that the book as a whole did not live up to this interesting basic premise. The structure was too episodic and did become somewhat repetitive after a while. Samuel meets many odd characters who are never really developed or explained. I would have preferred it if there were fewer characters, each one developed with more depth. Also, the many comic book allusions did not seem to have a great deal of relevance as far as I could tell with the exception of the "Amazing Absorbing Boy" which was an excellent metaphor for Samuel's predicament. There were as well editing problems in terms of continuity. For example, in the last chapter he says that he finished his college semester at the end of May, then he walked around the city for two weeks and then he says, "Soon winter went away and everything smelled fresh and grassy." Now I know that we have long winters here in Canada but winter does not go away in the middle of June!
I did very much like the descriptions of Samuel taking buses, trains and subways all around the city and its suburbs sometimes just for the sake of something to do. So, overall, the book was of mixed quality: many good points but it was not knit together well.
However, I found that the book as a whole did not live up to this interesting basic premise. The structure was too episodic and did become somewhat repetitive after a while. Samuel meets many odd characters who are never really developed or explained. I would have preferred it if there were fewer characters, each one developed with more depth. Also, the many comic book allusions did not seem to have a great deal of relevance as far as I could tell with the exception of the "Amazing Absorbing Boy" which was an excellent metaphor for Samuel's predicament. There were as well editing problems in terms of continuity. For example, in the last chapter he says that he finished his college semester at the end of May, then he walked around the city for two weeks and then he says, "Soon winter went away and everything smelled fresh and grassy." Now I know that we have long winters here in Canada but winter does not go away in the middle of June!
I did very much like the descriptions of Samuel taking buses, trains and subways all around the city and its suburbs sometimes just for the sake of something to do. So, overall, the book was of mixed quality: many good points but it was not knit together well.
May 12, 2021
The Amazing Absorbing Boy is the bittersweet story of Samuel, a 17 year old from Trinidad who has lost his mother to cancer. The last time he saw his father was when he was about 6 years old. His mother used to believe his father would come back or send for her and Sammy from wherever he was but this never happened.
It turns out Sammy's father is in Toronto, and his Uncle Boysie decides to send Sammy there so his father can sponsor him to become a landed immigrant. When Sammy arrives, it turns out his father does not want him there and has no idea what to do with him.
Sammy spends the rest of the book trying to figure things out for himself. The writing style is interesting as a lot of times Sammy doesn't really understand what is going on and therefore neither do we; a lot of assumptions must be made. He has a hard time deciding whether someone is making something up or joking or when they are being serious. The characters he meets around Toronto are interesting to say the least, most of them quite odd. But Sammy is friendly and observant and he eventully figures things out.
The story is gentle. You feel for Sammy on his journey in Canada as he is truly alone. Some parts lag but overall it's a good read.
It turns out Sammy's father is in Toronto, and his Uncle Boysie decides to send Sammy there so his father can sponsor him to become a landed immigrant. When Sammy arrives, it turns out his father does not want him there and has no idea what to do with him.
Sammy spends the rest of the book trying to figure things out for himself. The writing style is interesting as a lot of times Sammy doesn't really understand what is going on and therefore neither do we; a lot of assumptions must be made. He has a hard time deciding whether someone is making something up or joking or when they are being serious. The characters he meets around Toronto are interesting to say the least, most of them quite odd. But Sammy is friendly and observant and he eventully figures things out.
The story is gentle. You feel for Sammy on his journey in Canada as he is truly alone. Some parts lag but overall it's a good read.
May 18, 2020
Without being overly dramatic, this book tells the story of what its like to arrive in Canada as a young person from a country far away. Samuel, the protagonist in this story, arrives in Canada to live with his father from Trinidad. Samuel has not seen his father since he was very young boy and has no choice but to move in with him where he is most unwelcome. Samuel has no idea what Canada is like and must discover how to get along with others on his own. Even though he didn't finish high school in Trinidad, Samuel finds job and eventually attends college. The story describes his experiences exploring the Regent Park area in Toronto where he stays in his father's apartment. Samuel is surprisingly not the amazing absorbing boy character at the beginning of this story. This was done intentionally I think to show how different Samuel feels both emotionally and physically from the people he meets. A sweet and memorable book that is easy to read. I am looking forward to reading other by this author.
June 14, 2019
Both fascinating and curious, the story that follows a naive teenage immigrant finding his way through the big city that is Toronto Canada, is heartbreaking yet an eye opener. Samuel is only 17 when his mother passes away and he is sent to live with his father, who he has only heard of. He leaves his familiar village of Mayaro Trinidad to a completely new and huge city. When Sam arrives he soon learns his father is very distant and he does not care for Sam. This causes Sam to feel very lonely in this huge mall of a country but he has one skill that helps him combat this, his comic book mentors. Samuel is an avid comic book fan and he uses his knowledge of these heroes to guide him along his journey through Toronto where he will explore and learn what it means to live in Canada.
August 16, 2017
This book was a quick read. It held my interest, and I enjoyed the quirky characters, such as Auntie Umbrella. It had an air of surrealism, as the protagonist, a teenager with a comic book obsession, is plunged into a strange world he doesn't understand, and he applies his knowledge of comic book worlds in his effort to understand and fit in. At times, that made it difficult for me to grasp what was happening, so I found it an enjoyable read but not a great one.
April 3, 2019
I didn't like this book much, I'm not sure why, I really wanted to!
June 11, 2019
A premise with potential, but the themes and arcs all seemed to fall short without the necessary depth of unpacking.
November 10, 2021
a young man who moves to Regent Park, trying to find a new life and make sense of his past.
Ultimately it felt like the story drifted around and I couldn't quite absorb it all.
Ultimately it felt like the story drifted around and I couldn't quite absorb it all.
July 23, 2023
Review to follow...
June 12, 2015
The premise of an immigrant moving to Canada for the first time and creating new experiences and discoveries is what makes Rabindranath Maharaj’s, The Amazing Absorbing Boy, such an intriguing Canadian story. The story follows Samuel, a Trinidadian immigrant living in Toronto and his day-to-day interactions with Canadian citizens, fellow immigrants, and various settings in the city. Samuel is sent to live with his father whom he has not seen or spoken to in many years, however upon his arrival it is clear that his father wants nothing to do with him. As the story progresses, the relationship between Samuel and his father becomes even more distant as he roams the streets of Toronto with only his memories of Trinidad and his much appreciated comic books. Although this storyline carries some potential to effectively capture the experience of a new Canadian immigrant, it suffers from poorly developed and forgettable characters, confusing and boring dialogue, and insignificant comic book references.
To begin with, a lot of the secondary characters in this novel are truly underdeveloped and with a story that focuses on an immigrant meeting new people, this is a critical factor. For example, Samuel’s father acts very distant and irritated towards his son and this is a theme that carries out throughout most of the novel. Now although this was most likely done to capture the fractured relationship between Samuel and his father, the author never truly explores Samuel’s father’s deep thoughts and feelings. Upon Samuel’s arrival, some of his father’s first words to him consist of mockery by him saying “only a damn fool will come to this place wearing just a raincoat and khaki pants” (Maharaj 19). This type of attitude is continued throughout most of the novel by Samuel’s father, even after being with his son for multiple months.
Another factor that takes away from The Amazing Absorbing Boy is the presence of confusing and boring dialogue throughout the entire novel. With such an interesting premise to a novel, it is surprising that the author didn’t create interactions between Samuel and various Canadian citizens that explore and educate him about Canadian culture. Instead, the reader is left with pointless dialogue that makes these people seem very forgettable. For example, the frequent conversations Samuel has with Dr. Bat, a co-worker at his workplace, are comprised of random topics that in no way advance the plot, nor contribute to the character of Bat. During one of Dr. Bat’s numerous rants, he says “So all of Dr. Tulip bad luck and harassment is picture perfect hallucination” (Maharaj 87). It is dialogue such as this that really hinders the main story and can even result in confusion for the reader even when it is read in the right context.
A final criticism of this novel comes from the frequent, yet insignificant comic book references made by Samuel throughout the story. Through his walks around Toronto and in recalling stories of Trinidad, Samuel makes numerous references to comic book literature that bears no importance to the story at all. Not only that, these ideas are only mentioned, rather than explained, which may leave the reader confused as to what Samuel is referencing. It’s almost as if the reader is expected to understand every comic book reference made, and then figure out how it applies to what Samuel is relating to it. Whether it is a reference to superheroes like Batman, Superman, or Green Lantern, the reader can often be left confused and curious.
Although these criticisms take away from the total experience of The Amazing Absorbing Boy, they do not truly make it a bad read. Where this novel does stand out can be seen in the interesting premise, the great use of setting development of the city of Toronto, and in applying Samuel’s Trinidadian heritage to the experiences of Samuel in this book. Overall, this novel was effective in capturing the experience of an immigrant and his move to Canada, however didn’t fully realize it’s potential set by the premise of this novel.
To begin with, a lot of the secondary characters in this novel are truly underdeveloped and with a story that focuses on an immigrant meeting new people, this is a critical factor. For example, Samuel’s father acts very distant and irritated towards his son and this is a theme that carries out throughout most of the novel. Now although this was most likely done to capture the fractured relationship between Samuel and his father, the author never truly explores Samuel’s father’s deep thoughts and feelings. Upon Samuel’s arrival, some of his father’s first words to him consist of mockery by him saying “only a damn fool will come to this place wearing just a raincoat and khaki pants” (Maharaj 19). This type of attitude is continued throughout most of the novel by Samuel’s father, even after being with his son for multiple months.
Another factor that takes away from The Amazing Absorbing Boy is the presence of confusing and boring dialogue throughout the entire novel. With such an interesting premise to a novel, it is surprising that the author didn’t create interactions between Samuel and various Canadian citizens that explore and educate him about Canadian culture. Instead, the reader is left with pointless dialogue that makes these people seem very forgettable. For example, the frequent conversations Samuel has with Dr. Bat, a co-worker at his workplace, are comprised of random topics that in no way advance the plot, nor contribute to the character of Bat. During one of Dr. Bat’s numerous rants, he says “So all of Dr. Tulip bad luck and harassment is picture perfect hallucination” (Maharaj 87). It is dialogue such as this that really hinders the main story and can even result in confusion for the reader even when it is read in the right context.
A final criticism of this novel comes from the frequent, yet insignificant comic book references made by Samuel throughout the story. Through his walks around Toronto and in recalling stories of Trinidad, Samuel makes numerous references to comic book literature that bears no importance to the story at all. Not only that, these ideas are only mentioned, rather than explained, which may leave the reader confused as to what Samuel is referencing. It’s almost as if the reader is expected to understand every comic book reference made, and then figure out how it applies to what Samuel is relating to it. Whether it is a reference to superheroes like Batman, Superman, or Green Lantern, the reader can often be left confused and curious.
Although these criticisms take away from the total experience of The Amazing Absorbing Boy, they do not truly make it a bad read. Where this novel does stand out can be seen in the interesting premise, the great use of setting development of the city of Toronto, and in applying Samuel’s Trinidadian heritage to the experiences of Samuel in this book. Overall, this novel was effective in capturing the experience of an immigrant and his move to Canada, however didn’t fully realize it’s potential set by the premise of this novel.
August 23, 2016
I had to push myself a little with this novel, particularly at the beginning, where I couldn't seem to get hold of the subsidiary characters. I agree with the view of many other commenters that the novel is very episodic, and there isn't necessarily much of a through-line except for the narrator's painfully distant and difficult relationship with his apparently heedless and irresponsible father. I don't mind the playing around with the Trinidadian slang (the glossary was definitely necessary) and though I didn't get nearly all the comic-book references, in the end I didn't find that it was necessary; to appreciate the function of the comic-book material, you just have to have some basic knowledge about superhero characters, namely that they are generally metaphors for outsiders trying to deal with and make positive aspects of themselves that make them conspicuous or feared. In that respect, the comic-book aspect of this novel (reflected in the title, and expanded upon and explained for us in a chapter near the end) works very well for a story about an immigrant. The amazing, absorbing boy is, on one level, a consoling superhero construct built by Samuel, the narrator, and a Trinidadian friend with a disfiguring skin disease, to help deal with said skin disease by pretending the friend has the superpower of absorbing the characteristics of anything he touches, no matter how alien. At another level, of course, it applies to Samuel himself, immigrant in an alien culture and superficially acquiring its characteristics.
I hate to admit it, but a minor detail put me off what could have been a thoroughly joyful "alien" look at a city I've lived in for more than 30 years, Toronto. The Toronto Reference Library, which the author has almost certainly visited, is well described, but what a silly mistake - and a repeated one - to say it's on Bloor Street. (It's a block north of Bloor Street, and it's not possible to step out or look out of the library on to that street as Samuel and his acquaintances do). And so I find myself discounting all the other city-knowledge that the author is presumed to have when presenting us with funny or poignant new views of specific places - I find myself saying, "the author's not Torontonian, so this satire isn't quite on point." If I were a comic-book nerd, I might have similar responses to a mistake in the comic-book sections, or a Trinidadian native, to a mistake in the Trinidad details. This is the problem with very culturally or geographically specific work, and this novel is nothing if not dependent on its cultural and geographical details.
That said, I was irritated but not entirely put off. Samuel is Maharaj in his general cultural background (Indo-Trinidadian, immigrated to Ontario) though not in biographical detail or (as far as I know) character. So I read Samuel's Indo-Trinidadian-based viewpoints with confidence that they're based in experience, and enjoy the trip into something that's just as alien and interesting as cold, worried, hasty Toronto is for Samuel himself.
The book was more fun that I'm making it sound here, and anything that helps me understand the folks around me can never be a wasted investment of time. But I doubt I'd re-read it.
I hate to admit it, but a minor detail put me off what could have been a thoroughly joyful "alien" look at a city I've lived in for more than 30 years, Toronto. The Toronto Reference Library, which the author has almost certainly visited, is well described, but what a silly mistake - and a repeated one - to say it's on Bloor Street. (It's a block north of Bloor Street, and it's not possible to step out or look out of the library on to that street as Samuel and his acquaintances do). And so I find myself discounting all the other city-knowledge that the author is presumed to have when presenting us with funny or poignant new views of specific places - I find myself saying, "the author's not Torontonian, so this satire isn't quite on point." If I were a comic-book nerd, I might have similar responses to a mistake in the comic-book sections, or a Trinidadian native, to a mistake in the Trinidad details. This is the problem with very culturally or geographically specific work, and this novel is nothing if not dependent on its cultural and geographical details.
That said, I was irritated but not entirely put off. Samuel is Maharaj in his general cultural background (Indo-Trinidadian, immigrated to Ontario) though not in biographical detail or (as far as I know) character. So I read Samuel's Indo-Trinidadian-based viewpoints with confidence that they're based in experience, and enjoy the trip into something that's just as alien and interesting as cold, worried, hasty Toronto is for Samuel himself.
The book was more fun that I'm making it sound here, and anything that helps me understand the folks around me can never be a wasted investment of time. But I doubt I'd re-read it.
March 3, 2017
I really appreciated this book, mainly because it's mentions of my home island, Trinidad and Tobago. It certainly captured my attention and got me to appreciate how difficult it may be to be an immigrant (legal or otherwise) in another country.
This book may not be appreciated by others since they may not catch the references to the local slang and phrases.
Either way, I enjoyed the book. I wish there was more since I did want to know what eventually happened to Samuel and his father. In another book perhaps.
This book may not be appreciated by others since they may not catch the references to the local slang and phrases.
Either way, I enjoyed the book. I wish there was more since I did want to know what eventually happened to Samuel and his father. In another book perhaps.
January 20, 2013
I liked Absorbing Boy. It was a complex and disjointed story which took time to read but in the end I was glad I did. I think it gives a new perspective to the immigrant story for Canadians to understand.
Page 254:
I didn't get the opportunity to ask Danton about a typical Canadian because he never returned to Queen Bee. But on the day my classes ended, a week before Christmas, I was sitting on a bench not too far from the CBC building. On a nearby bench there were tweo men from Afghanistan. I was listening to their manner of clipping and hardening their words as if placing a little shield around each sentence. One of the men, who was tall and resembled my mother's Bollywood actors, was listening quietly to his friend while staring at two dead birds not too far from the couple. Perhaps like me he was wondering if some animal, maybe a sewer rat, had dragged them here. Just then there was a little thud and a bird landed on the same spot. The tall Afghan looked up at a glass tower and his friend went to the bird. He scooped it up and held it in his open palm like an offering. He walked away with the bird in his hand, his friend trailing him.
I sat there for another fifteen or twenty minutes, as it was not too cold that day Flurries were drifting down in merry little spirals. Everyone was walking quickly, perhaps to put up their Christmas decorations or visit family or whatever Canadians did in preparation for Christmas. I thought of all the people I had met in my ten months here. The coffeeshop old-timers. The chimera. Barbarossa. Danton. The seminar speakers. The Regent Park crowd. My father. All the worriers.
I got up. By the time I got to Regent Park I felt I had an answer for my uncle. A typical Canadian - or at leastthose I had met - was somebody who fussed all the time. About everything. Toronto was getting too modern and ugly. Toronto was stuck in the past. Too many immigrants. Too few. Foreign people were living all by themselves. Foreign people were walking bold-bold in places that shouldn't concern them. Too many American shows. Too few. Too much hockey violence. Too little. Too hot. Too cold.
When I entered out apartment I saw my father hunched up before the television, worried and frightened like anything. I wondered what was going through his mind. From his posture I felt he might be repeating. Trapped! Trapped! Not too long ago, I felt clos to hating him - now I just felt sorry for him.
Page 254:
I didn't get the opportunity to ask Danton about a typical Canadian because he never returned to Queen Bee. But on the day my classes ended, a week before Christmas, I was sitting on a bench not too far from the CBC building. On a nearby bench there were tweo men from Afghanistan. I was listening to their manner of clipping and hardening their words as if placing a little shield around each sentence. One of the men, who was tall and resembled my mother's Bollywood actors, was listening quietly to his friend while staring at two dead birds not too far from the couple. Perhaps like me he was wondering if some animal, maybe a sewer rat, had dragged them here. Just then there was a little thud and a bird landed on the same spot. The tall Afghan looked up at a glass tower and his friend went to the bird. He scooped it up and held it in his open palm like an offering. He walked away with the bird in his hand, his friend trailing him.
I sat there for another fifteen or twenty minutes, as it was not too cold that day Flurries were drifting down in merry little spirals. Everyone was walking quickly, perhaps to put up their Christmas decorations or visit family or whatever Canadians did in preparation for Christmas. I thought of all the people I had met in my ten months here. The coffeeshop old-timers. The chimera. Barbarossa. Danton. The seminar speakers. The Regent Park crowd. My father. All the worriers.
I got up. By the time I got to Regent Park I felt I had an answer for my uncle. A typical Canadian - or at leastthose I had met - was somebody who fussed all the time. About everything. Toronto was getting too modern and ugly. Toronto was stuck in the past. Too many immigrants. Too few. Foreign people were living all by themselves. Foreign people were walking bold-bold in places that shouldn't concern them. Too many American shows. Too few. Too much hockey violence. Too little. Too hot. Too cold.
When I entered out apartment I saw my father hunched up before the television, worried and frightened like anything. I wondered what was going through his mind. From his posture I felt he might be repeating. Trapped! Trapped! Not too long ago, I felt clos to hating him - now I just felt sorry for him.
February 25, 2017
It started out strong with great character development. Once the main character reached Canada it went down hill from there. It turned into a show and tell rather than an interesting narrative. I abandoned the book about half way through when I started to skim large parts.
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