The Narrow Road to the Deep North in Retro Chapter Chicks

May 31, 2015 Candi rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

"For an instant he thought he grasped the truth of a terrifying world in which one could not escape horror, in which violence was eternal, the great and only verity, greater than the civilizations it created, greater than any god man worshipped, for it was the only true god. It was as if man existed only to transmit violence to ensure its domain is eternal. For the world did not change, this violence had always existed and would never be eradicated, men would die under the boot and fists and hor "For an instant he thought he grasped the truth of a terrifying world in which one could not escape horror, in which violence was eternal, the great and only verity, greater than the civilizations it created, greater than any god man worshipped, for it was the only true god. It was as if man existed only to transmit violence to ensure its domain is eternal. For the world did not change, this violence had always existed and would never be eradicated, men would die under the boot and fists and horror of other men until the end of time, and all human history was a history of violence."

While reading this powerful novel about the Australian POWs during World War II, I couldn't help but fall victim to the same dark sentiment expressed above. I may switch the television on to the news or read a headline in the newspaper and it does seem to fit. The senseless violence in our own communities or in the world at large – it seems to be a never-ending cycle. Flanagan rather bluntly depicts the brutality of beatings, starvation, horrific disease and gruesome deaths of the prisoners at the hands of their captors, the Japanese brandishing a wartime mentality and a pride for country in the service of their emperor. Central to this story is Dorrigo Evans, an officer and a surgeon, one who could repeatedly betray his vows of marriage but could never forsake his men. Dorrigo, as a human being, is an obviously flawed character. He doesn't even believe in his own calling to lead men. But, his men put their lives in his hands and never question his rank or his ability. Forced under grueling and unbelievable conditions to build a railway for the Japanese through the rugged landscape of the Asian jungle, the POWs honor Dorrigo with their unwavering respect. He never quite seems to grasp why they do so. "As if rather than him leading them by example they were leading him through adulation." But, this is one key to survival – finding something or someone in which to believe. Without it, one would undoubtedly give up. But what motivates Dorrigo to survive and carry on with his duties? Well, of course, back home there exists his one true love – a love that should be out of reach, but not for the ambitions of Dorrigo Evans. Amy will wait for him when he returns from the war… or won't she?

I think perhaps what I found to be the most compelling point of this novel was not the shocking events that we were obligated to witness in the camp itself, but the aftermath of the experience on all those involved, from the Japanese officers to the Korean guards to the Australian prisoners. What did these men feel after the war – sorrow, joy, guilt, or self-contempt? Would they be able to resume life as usual? Would the captors atone for what they had done to the prisoners? Well, in real life, we would probably see a range of outcomes, and that is exactly what Flanagan so masterfully recounts in these portions of the book. Some would never quite understand the blame placed on them for their crimes against humanity, others would perhaps try to come to terms with their guilt and find peace in the end. The POWs may block the evil from their minds and never turn back; others may never find true happiness again, always searching for it in the wrong places. Some would seek salvation in their family life; others would emotionally neglect their families.

I should note here that this novel is not written in a chronological timeframe, but rather with constant shifts in time and also between multiple characters. I have mixed feelings about this approach. In one way I found this to detract a bit from my understanding of the book. I often felt that perhaps I should go back and make sure I didn't miss something important at an earlier point in the book. Since I didn't have all the information up front, could I not have read enough into certain passages at the beginning to take away what Flanagan was trying to say? The prose was far from being cut and dry and maybe I missed some subtlety that initially did not seem to matter. However, the shift in time did help break up some of the more disturbing scenes within these pages. Just when I thought I could read no more of a certain grisly event, the narrative would switch to another time, another person. A little reprieve, if you will. The only other little quibble that I had bears pointing out. At times I felt it was overly dramatic, but in a visual sort of way. Not in a way that added to my understanding of individual motives or to aid with characterization, but in a manner that perhaps was used to increase the shock value a bit. I know others may not agree, as after all this is a book about a harrowing event in history and perhaps should be painted as such.

Overall, this book was excellent and one that I would not hesitate to recommend to others, as long as the reader is okay with some of the more graphic passages. I learned a lot about another piece of World War II that I previously knew nothing about, and the author is clearly well-versed on the subject. There are great moments of superb writing and keen insight into the minds of men we would otherwise fail to penetrate. In the end, when pondering life and death and why bad things happen to good people, why people can endure and survive such atrocities, only to later die a meaningless and senseless death, I have to agree with the POW Darky Gardiner's reflection, "Life wasn't about ideas. Life was a bit about luck. Mostly though, it was a stacked deck. Life was only about getting the next footstep right."
...more

103 likes · Like · see review

Aug 15, 2021 Maureen rated it really liked it

This was a difficult book to review. It took we awhile to get into it.
The constant change in time lines was very confusing to me. I had to constantly go back and re read sections. I almost feel like I need to re read this book for anything I may have missed.

It is a compelling story of Australian prisoners of WWII. It is written in the POV of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian surgeon, who is in love with his uncle’s young wife. Dorrigo now 77 years of age is reflecting his life being a prisoner of wa ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

May 13, 2015 Book Concierge rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: concierge, world-war-ii, library, relationships, audio, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, survival, booker-prize, australia

Audiobook narrated by David Atlas
3.5***

Adapted from the book jacket: Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is the senior officer of a group of POWs forced by the Japanese to labor on the Thai-Burma Death Railway in 1943. Moving deftly from the POW camp to contemporary Australia, from the experiences of Dorrigo and his comrades to those of the Japanese guards, the novel tells a story of love, death, and family, exploring the many forms of good and evil, war and truth, guilt and transcendence, as one Audiobook narrated by David Atlas
3.5***

Adapted from the book jacket: Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is the senior officer of a group of POWs forced by the Japanese to labor on the Thai-Burma Death Railway in 1943. Moving deftly from the POW camp to contemporary Australia, from the experiences of Dorrigo and his comrades to those of the Japanese guards, the novel tells a story of love, death, and family, exploring the many forms of good and evil, war and truth, guilt and transcendence, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost.

My reactions
Well I’m not so sure I’d say that this moves “deftly” between time frames. As other reviewers have mentioned, there are three time frames in the book – before Dorrigo goes to war, his experiences in the POW camp, and after the war. The largest section is the POW experience, and I found this the most compelling story. Make no mistake, it is brutally graphic in sections, but Flanagan also shows us men who endure with courage, grace, and even humor. I cheered them on in their small acts of defiance, and I marveled at Dorrigo’s success in “negotiating” terms with the Japanese commander.

But the section before the war and after the war didn’t do much for me. It seemed to me that Dorrigo was an emotionally damaged man before the war, and emotionally broken after it. He seems to only be going through the motions, which makes his one truly heroic act, which occurs towards the end of the book, a surprise.

Flanagan gives us some wonderful summaries of the themes he is exploring: “A happy man has no past, while an unhappy man has nothing else.” Or this: “...the emotion so raw and exposed it was like butchered flesh; the tormented hopeless feeling of two people who lived together in a love not yet love, nor yet not; an unshared life shared; a conspiracy of affections, illnesses, tragedies, jokes and labour; a marriage – the strange, terrible neverendingness of human beings.” If Flanagan is telling us that the drama of everyday life is sometimes greater than that of war, well … I can believe this, but I wish he had done more to SHOW me this.

The audio version is capably performed by David Atlas. His pacing is good, but he does not do much to differentiate the various characters (other than the handful of women).
...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 09, 2015 Celia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-read, book-shelf, vero-bc-prev-read, ma-booker, wholesale

Remember this is a prize winner and prize winners tend to be convoluted in their language. Prize winners also contain sentences that move you. This is the case with The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Most of the characters are not love-able; only a few are. Most suffer angst, pain, doubt, sadness. This IS a book about the horrors of war and its aftermath, so this is what you should expect.

I cannot recommend this book to most of my friends. It is not a feel good book with a happy ending. But it do ...more

Like · see review