Tuesday 21 October 2014

Review: The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan {2014 Man Booker Winner}


Book: The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Author: Richard Flanagan

Pages: 467

I Read it on: My Kindle

I Read it in: 9 hours (across two days)

Plot Summary: Richard Flanagan's story — of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian doctor haunted by a love affair with his uncle's wife — journeys from the caves of Tasmanian trappers in the early twentieth century to a crumbling pre-war beachside hotel, from a Thai jungle prison to a Japanese snow festival, from the Changi gallows to a chance meeting of lovers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Taking its title from 17th-century haiku poet Basho's travel journal, The Narrow Road To The Deep North is about the impossibility of love. At its heart is one day in a Japanese slave labour camp in August 1943. As the day builds to its horrific climax, Dorrigo Evans battles and fails in his quest to save the lives of his fellow POWs, a man is killed for no reason, and a love story unfolds.


Review and Thoughts: Let's get this out of the way- The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a BRILLIANT book! It deserves the Man Booker and more! I loved, loved, loved it! It moved me, it angered me and it made me think. Can't ask for more from any book. Quick bullet points on what I loved, loved, loved about this book:

1. The writing is just lovely. It is beautiful, evocative and has this poetic grace to it. The 467 odd pages just breeze past because the writing is so good. 

2. This was a hard book to read because so much of it takes places in the Prisoner of War camp (POW camp) on the Burma Death Railway. There were several occasions when I had to stop and just breathe because what I read was so damn horrifying. I also cried. A lot... but I read on because we have to bear witness to what men our age or even younger than us went through. The inhuman living and working conditions, the cruelty that they had to face, their spirit, their determination to not give up hope even things were so, so bleak.. it was heart-breaking... I only have the deepest respect and admiration for all those Allied POWs who went through this hell and lived to tell the tale. If for no other reason, read this book to bear witness to their suffering and heroism. 

3. This is a book that makes you think... mostly, about how futile war is... and that there are no winners.. and that humanity loses. Also, humanity is lost when one man treats another worse than vermin. 

4. Dorrigo Evans is an interesting character. He seems very disconnected from his true self- not because of the war and his experiences but even before. It is almost like he is a spectator in his own life. I won't say I could relate to him.. but I understood him and his struggles. Like everyone else in the POW camp, the war changed Dorrigo... but he was also changed by his encounter with Amy- his uncle's wife. I wish there was more of the Amy-Dorry love story in the book.. 

5. I really liked Darky Gardiner.. I liked his optimism.. how he was grateful for the smallest of things that he had while at the POW camp.. how he never gave up hope.. he never let go.. he never stopped being him. He was such a wonderful, heart-breaking, quietly brave character to read about. 

6. I also liked the snippets of post-War life of both the POWs and the Japanese army men. It was interesting to read how no one really survives a war and that it damages you in some sense or the other. 

7. Apart from Dorrigo's voice we also get to see events from multiple other perspectives- that of other POWs, Japanese soldiers, Amy, Dorrigo's wife- Ella... It was interesting to read two perspectives on some events and situations. Some may find multiple voices annoying but I enjoy it. 

Rating: 5/5 
Highly, highly recommend this book. Read it! 

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