Published in 2013, and winner of the 2014 Man Booker Prize, Richard Flanagan‘s The Narrow Road to the Deep North is really two stories woven together. The first recounts the harrowing experience of Australian soldiers in Japanese PoW camps; the second, the life of the protagonist, Dorrigo Evans, both before the war and after his return home.
The first narrative thread is likely to carry more immediate impact: it’s brutal and sad and violent and full of the kinds of detail that make it all too real. The emaciated bodies driven beyond their capacity, the callousness of their Japanese captors, the futility of their efforts, all combine to pack a significant emotional punch. But it is the other story–that of Evans, hailed publicly as a hero, but carrying a devastating level of self-doubt and guilt–that shows, I think, Flanagan’s consummate skill. The portrait of the successful man, rationalizing his infidelities and haunted by his past, is quite memorable.
Just be warned: this is a “man’s book,” fully concerned with war and brotherhood and whoring and father-son (and uncle-son) relationships. There are strong female characters, but they orbit around the men in the book as decoration or reward or foil. As long as that–and the unrelenting brutality of the PoW camp material–doesn’t put you off, this is a deeply rewarding read, a book fully deserving of its accolades.
As far as I know, there is no movie deal, but that has to just be a matter of time: Evans is a role built for a star vehicle for a male lead.
#WhatIWishICouldDo
Other than be this successful? Tackle a monstrous topic while retaining the humanity that lives at the core of great fiction. Evans remains a compelling character, despite the setting and his various peccadilloes. That’s a great accomplishment.