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Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Homecoming single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2003... 2003 Homecoming
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Some wars are never over.

'From an award-winning author, a breathtaking new novel that holds a mirror up to contemporary Australia. Martin Godwin is a man alone. Divorced from his wife, in an uneasy relationship with his son, and with complicated, guilty feelings towards his lover, Nora, he is also a veteran of Vietnam, haunted by the fear that his exposure to dangerous chemicals such as Agent Orange has triggered his son's depression; and haunted too by the events of one sweltering afternoon during a raid on a village. These memories become more urgent when an old soldier comes calling, asking for Martin's silence as he establishes a political career. This powerful novel winds the strands of Martin's life – father, comrade, lover, unwilling conspirator and reluctant spiritual searcher – into a seamless and compelling whole. Through its lens we are given a snapshot of contemporary Australia, groping towards meaning in a rapidly changing world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Pymble, Turramurra - Pymble - St Ives area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Harper Perennial , 2003 .
      image of person or book cover 8055833308122820772.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 262p.
      Note/s:
      • Dedication: For those Australians who went to fight in Vietnam and came away to discover the war within themselves.
      ISBN: 0732277086
Form: audiobook
First known date: 2004
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording and braille.
Find library holdings on Trove

Works about this Work

‘Wars Don’t End When the Fighting Is Over’ : Adib Khan’s Homecoming and the Australian Literature of the Vietnam War Geoffrey V. Davis , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies of Australia , vol. 8 no. 2 2017;

'The Bangladeshi-Australian writer Adib Khan's fourth novel Homecoming (2003) marked a significant change of direction in the author's work. No longer concerned to give fictional representation to the diasporic experience which had preoccupied him since his own migration to Australia in 1973, he now embarked on a work which addresses one of the most controversial issues of his new country's recent history, its involvement in the Vietnam War and the traumatic consequences for those who fought in it. As an Asian-Australian writer engaging with the legacy of the war, Khan offers an alternative view from a new perspective. His novel presents a compelling psychological study of a veteran's struggle to confront his experience and reconstitute his identity. This article seeks to locate the novel within the wider tradition of Australian war literature, to examine Khan's representation of the war and its aftermath for Australians and Vietnamese alike, and to identify the particular contribution this Asian-Australian novelist has to make to central concerns of his adopted country.'  (Introduction)
Re-storying the Past, Re-imagining the Future in Adib Khan’s Homecoming and Spiral Road Stefano Mercanti , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Postcolonial Writing , December vol. 52 no. 5 2016; (p. 622-633) Mediating Literary Borders : Asian Australian Writing 2018; (p. 96-108) 'This article argues that Adib Khan’s fiction challenges the orthodoxies of rigid cultural boundaries and dominator systems by creatively reconfiguring histories, landscapes and identities into forms of transcultural dialogue. Both Homecoming (2003) and Spiral Road (2007) tell the story of the disquieted lives of their protagonists, Martin and Masud, who struggle to inhabit an empathetic consciousness in a world ranked and measured by labels, points of origin, skin colour and religion. Their sense of displacement and yearning to belong – a feature in all Khan’s novels – enable them to move beyond the anxieties of finding a fitting place within the culture around them and embrace new ways of overcoming disconnection, violence and other forms of cultural stereotyping common to all cultures, thus rethinking their past and recreating a more equitable future.' (Publication abstract)
Burdened by Baggage Patricia Irvine , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , June no. 249 2004; (p. 30)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
War and No Peace Katharine England , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 10 January 2004; (p. 11)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
Dreams and Nightmares of a Soldier Who Served in the Vietnam War Claudia Hyles , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 27 December 2003; (p. 4a)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
One Soldier's Search for Meaning Annie Greet , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 1 November 2003; (p. 5)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
Vietnam Worth the Return Matthew Condon , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 November 2003; (p. 10-11)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
Anything Goes David Matthews , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 256 2003; (p. 52)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
One Man's War is Never-Ending A. P. Riemer , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15-16 November 2003; (p. 15)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
Untitled Eliza Metcalfe , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , October vol. 83 no. 4 2003; (p. 34)
— Review of Homecoming Adib Khan , 2003 single work novel
Re-storying the Past, Re-imagining the Future in Adib Khan’s Homecoming and Spiral Road Stefano Mercanti , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Postcolonial Writing , December vol. 52 no. 5 2016; (p. 622-633) Mediating Literary Borders : Asian Australian Writing 2018; (p. 96-108) 'This article argues that Adib Khan’s fiction challenges the orthodoxies of rigid cultural boundaries and dominator systems by creatively reconfiguring histories, landscapes and identities into forms of transcultural dialogue. Both Homecoming (2003) and Spiral Road (2007) tell the story of the disquieted lives of their protagonists, Martin and Masud, who struggle to inhabit an empathetic consciousness in a world ranked and measured by labels, points of origin, skin colour and religion. Their sense of displacement and yearning to belong – a feature in all Khan’s novels – enable them to move beyond the anxieties of finding a fitting place within the culture around them and embrace new ways of overcoming disconnection, violence and other forms of cultural stereotyping common to all cultures, thus rethinking their past and recreating a more equitable future.' (Publication abstract)
‘Wars Don’t End When the Fighting Is Over’ : Adib Khan’s Homecoming and the Australian Literature of the Vietnam War Geoffrey V. Davis , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies of Australia , vol. 8 no. 2 2017;

'The Bangladeshi-Australian writer Adib Khan's fourth novel Homecoming (2003) marked a significant change of direction in the author's work. No longer concerned to give fictional representation to the diasporic experience which had preoccupied him since his own migration to Australia in 1973, he now embarked on a work which addresses one of the most controversial issues of his new country's recent history, its involvement in the Vietnam War and the traumatic consequences for those who fought in it. As an Asian-Australian writer engaging with the legacy of the war, Khan offers an alternative view from a new perspective. His novel presents a compelling psychological study of a veteran's struggle to confront his experience and reconstitute his identity. This article seeks to locate the novel within the wider tradition of Australian war literature, to examine Khan's representation of the war and its aftermath for Australians and Vietnamese alike, and to identify the particular contribution this Asian-Australian novelist has to make to central concerns of his adopted country.'  (Introduction)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (12)

Awards

2004 shortlisted Commonwealth Writers Prize — South East Asia and South Pacific Region — Best Book
VIEW ALL AWARDS (1)
Last amended 18 Oct 2024 11:15:52
Subjects:
Settings:
  • Melbourne, Victoria,
  • Daylesford, Daylesford area, Creswick - Daylesford area, Ballarat - Bendigo area, Victoria,
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