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Richard Moss's Reviews > The Narrow Road to the Deep North
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
by
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For the first 100 pages, although there was some really fine writing, I was struggling to see why The Narrow Road had garnered so many five star reviews and accolades.
The love story between Dorrigo and Amy seemed uncompelling, and the narrative fractured and episodic. The pre-war and post-war early sections seemed pallid compared to the brief bursts on the Death Railway.
Indeed it was only when we reached the section set in the Burmese jungle, that the book came alive for me. Flanagan doesn't stint on the horror - at times it's hard to turn the pages. The breathtaking cruelty and hideous conditions are catalogued in brilliant prose. And the author has the advantage of moral authority as his father was one of the POWs who worked on the Death Railway. This is no gruesome horror show - it's the testimony of a war crime.
But it's more than that - Flanagan also explores the mindset of a Japanese officer and a Korean guard. Without excusing their sadistic cruelty, he explores why they could also be seen as prisoners of the relentless drive to build the railway at any cost.
As we move into the post-war sections, the shadow of Burma looms large. Survival brings guilt, and neither perpetrator nor victim adjusts well to what becomes a form of life after death. But not everything is hopeless. One redemptive scene in a Tasmanian fish shop reduced me to tears.
The book isn't perfect - there are some convenient coincidences, and at times Flanagan overeggs his exploration of the fight between the good and the bad within an individual. But I forgive all that for the power and impact it has overall.
And as we near the end, Flanagan reveals some final vital and devastating details that help explain the hollowness of Dorrigo's post-war world - including a Kafkaesque moral choice he faced in the jungle.
I am not surprised this won the Booker. For novels to win awards, they don't merely have to read well once - they need to read even better a second time. Having completed the novel, the knowledge and insight makes those early sections seem powerful rather than pedestrian. They now have purpose in a book that will surely become a classic. It's a fitting memorial to Flanagan's father, who died shortly before publication.
The love story between Dorrigo and Amy seemed uncompelling, and the narrative fractured and episodic. The pre-war and post-war early sections seemed pallid compared to the brief bursts on the Death Railway.
Indeed it was only when we reached the section set in the Burmese jungle, that the book came alive for me. Flanagan doesn't stint on the horror - at times it's hard to turn the pages. The breathtaking cruelty and hideous conditions are catalogued in brilliant prose. And the author has the advantage of moral authority as his father was one of the POWs who worked on the Death Railway. This is no gruesome horror show - it's the testimony of a war crime.
But it's more than that - Flanagan also explores the mindset of a Japanese officer and a Korean guard. Without excusing their sadistic cruelty, he explores why they could also be seen as prisoners of the relentless drive to build the railway at any cost.
As we move into the post-war sections, the shadow of Burma looms large. Survival brings guilt, and neither perpetrator nor victim adjusts well to what becomes a form of life after death. But not everything is hopeless. One redemptive scene in a Tasmanian fish shop reduced me to tears.
The book isn't perfect - there are some convenient coincidences, and at times Flanagan overeggs his exploration of the fight between the good and the bad within an individual. But I forgive all that for the power and impact it has overall.
And as we near the end, Flanagan reveals some final vital and devastating details that help explain the hollowness of Dorrigo's post-war world - including a Kafkaesque moral choice he faced in the jungle.
I am not surprised this won the Booker. For novels to win awards, they don't merely have to read well once - they need to read even better a second time. Having completed the novel, the knowledge and insight makes those early sections seem powerful rather than pedestrian. They now have purpose in a book that will surely become a classic. It's a fitting memorial to Flanagan's father, who died shortly before publication.
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Reading Progress
June 20, 2015
–
Started Reading
June 20, 2015
– Shelved
June 20, 2015
– Shelved as:
2015
June 25, 2015
–
Finished Reading
