Kim's Reviews > The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Although Richard Flanagan has been on the edge of my consciousness for years, this is the first of his novels I've read and I may not have read it at all (or at least not so soon after publication) if it hadn't been given to me as a gift.

The novel is about .... what? Life, death, despair, loneliness, love, connection, redemption, poetry. It’s a grim work, centred on the experiences of the Australian prisoners of war who were used as slave labour in the construction of the Thailand-Burma railway during World War II. In writing the novel, Flanagan drew on the experiences of his father, a survivor of that horrific ordeal, and the public life of his central protagonist is clearly inspired by that of the legendary Weary Dunlop.

The narrative moves back and forward in time and is mostly from the point of view of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian surgeon whose life is shaped by a love of literature, by an early, passionate affair with his uncle’s wife and by his wartime experiences. There are other perspectives as well: those of fellow prisoners, of Japanese guards, of Evans’ wife and of his lover. The prose is poetic but unflinching in its description of the unspeakable horrors faced by prisoners of war who worked on “the Line”.

This is a grim tale, with few light moments. It’s not an enjoyable book to read, but it is a powerful one. For me, though, the emotional effect of the work came not from developing a connection with the characters, from whom I felt a certain distance, but from the situation they found themselves in. That said, this is a novel which will haunt me for some time. I’ve given it five stars for that reason alone.

ETA: Readers interested in what inspired this work may like to read this article by the author.