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The Narrow Road to the Deep North - this edition no longer available, see new edition at http://www.bookworld.com.au/p/9780857980366

The Narrow Road to the Deep North - this edition no longer available, see new edition at http://www.bookworld.com.au/p/9780857980366 5

by Richard Flanagan
Publication Date: 23/09/2013
4/5 Rating 5 Reviews

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Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2014.

 A novel of the cruelty of war, and tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love. August, 1943. In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway, Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his love affair with his uncle's young wife two years earlier. Struggling to save the men under his command from starvation, from cholera, from beatings, he receives a letter that will change his life forever. This savagely beautiful novel is a story about the many forms of love and death, of war and truth, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost. 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a big, magnificent novel of passion and horror and tragic irony. Its scope, its themes and its people all seem to grow richer and deeper in significance with the progress of the story, as it moves to its extraordinary resolution. It's by far the best new novel I've read in ages.' - Patrick McGrath 'Magnificent.' -- Michael Gorra, The New York Times 'Beyond comparison ...an immense achievement ...Wilfred Owen wrote of his Great War verse: "My subject is war, and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity." Flanagan's triumph is to find poetry without any pity at all.' - Geordie Williamson, The Australian 'A story of war and star-crossed lovers, the novel is also a profound meditation on life and time, memory and forgetting ...a magnificent achievement.' - Katharine England, Adelaide Advertiser 'A masterpiece ...The Narrow Road is an extraordinary piece of writing and a high point in an already distinguished career.' - Michael Williams, The Guardian
ISBN:
9781741666700
9781741666700
Category:
Contemporary fiction
Publication Date:
23-09-2013
Publisher:
Random House Australia
Country of origin:
Australia
Pages:
480
Dimensions (mm):
231x155x38mm
Weight:
0.64kg
Richard Flanagan

Richard Flanagan was born in Longford, Tasmania, in 1961. He is descended from Irish convicts transported to Van Diemen’s Land in the 1840s. His father is a survivor of the Burma Death Railway. One of his three brothers is Australian Rules football journalist Martin Flanagan. He grew up in the remote mining town of Rosebery on Tasmania’s western coast.

His novels, Death Of A River Guide, The Sound Of One Hand Clapping, Gould’s Book Of Fish, The Unknown Terrorist, Wanting and The Narrow Road to the Deep North have received numerous honours and are published in twenty-six countries.

He directed a feature film version of The Sound Of One Hand Clapping. A collection of his essays is published as And What Do You Do, Mr Gable?

His latest book The Narrow Road to the Deep North won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

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Reviews

4.5

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5 Reviews

Richard Flanagan has been writing books for a long time. Best known for The Sound of One Hand Clapping, this is Flanagan at his absolute best. Narrow Road has a dual narrative flowing through from the main character, Dorringo Evans time as a doctor in the Prisoner of War camp on the Thai-Burma railway to his successful life in Sydney as a well-known surgeon. Essentially this novel tells the story of love and the cruelty of war in its many forms, of mateship and heroism. At its heart is the impossibility of love and it explores the many ways this may take form. This is a powerful piece of Australian literature from one of Australias best writers.

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The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a compelling story of love, loss and death. In the beginning, I have to admit, I did not like the main protagonist Dorrigo Evans. His womanising and indifference to his family did not sit right with me. However, as I progressed with the novel, I came to understand why he behaved the way he did. It does not excuse his behaviour but I felt much more sympathetic towards Dorrigo.

I grew incredibly attached to Amy and Dorrigo and hoped so desperately that somehow, some way, the two of them would end up together. But alas, it was not meant to be. They were like ships passing in the night, circumstances and external factors keeping them apart. I particularly disliked Keith and Ella for lying to Amy and Dorrigo by telling them that the other had died. Both had the belief that the other was gone and they were now stuck with an emptiness that could not be filled. They were always alone despite the sea of people around them.

Mr Flanagan did a remarkable job in writing about the harsh realities of war and you could almost feel yourself there in the mud and thick of it with those soldiers. He highlighted that even when the war ends, it never truly ends for those who endure it. It haunts them. It was difficult to immerse myself into the story at first but after a few chapters, I was compelled to continue on and learn the fate of Dorrigo and Amy, as well as the other soldiers. Truly a haunting and breathing-taking read.

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This novel took me months to read. Not because it was at all boring, but because I felt that I had to savour it. I had to read it in instalments to properly understand it. At times, I did consider giving up, but something always drew me back in. That something was Richard Flanagans writing.

There were times when a sentence or paragraph would cause me to catch my breath. I had to put the book down and stare at the wall while I contemplated what he said and how he said it.

The book also took me a long time to get through because there are some seriously horrific scenes to take in - Systematic beheadings of Chinese POWs; vivisections of live US airman; the daily torture and living conditions of the Australian POWs. I needed to build my nerve and strength before plunging into the horror of war again.

I didnt always like Dorrigo Evans at least I liked Dorrigo Evans the doctor and during his time in the war, but Dorrigo Evans the husband not so much (probably due to the fact he was a serial adulterer and I admit I am quite judgemental about adulterers). I know men returned from the war as shells of their former selves, but the fact that he felt like he had to sleep with other women to validate his love for Amy really annoyed me. Yet at the end he redeemed himself as a husband and father.

The characters I fell for in this book were the ones on the periphery: Darky Gardiner, Tiny, even the old Greek owner of Nikitariss Fish and Chip shop. I loved reading about them.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a beautifully written, haunting read. It weaves the horrors of war together with its disastrous aftereffects. I am glad I stayed with it even if it took three months.

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