The Narrow Road to the Deep North (novel)

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

File:The Narrow Road to the Deep North (novel).jpg
Author	Richard Flanagan
Country	Australia
Language	English
Genre	Fiction novel
Published	23 September 2013
Publisher	Random House
Media type	Print, e-book
Pages	352 pp. (hardcover edition)
Awards	2014 Man Booker Prize
ISBN	978-1741666700
OCLC	864700580

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is the sixth novel by Richard Flanagan. It received critical acclaim on its release, and won the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

Overview

The book tells the story of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian doctor haunted by memories of a love affair with his uncle's wife and of his subsequent experiences as a prisoner of war. Post-war, he finds his growing celebrity as a war hero at odds with his sense of his own failings and guilt.

Taking its title from 17th century haiku poet Matsuo Bashō's famous haibun, Oku no Hosomichi, best known in English as The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the novel is epic in form and chronicles an Australian century, with one horrific day at its heart on the Burma Railway in August 1943. As that day builds to its climax, the novel grows to encompass the post war lives of Japanese and Korean prison guards as well as Australian Far East Prisoners of War. The novel deals both with the effects of war and the many forms of love.

Background

Flanagan has described, in The Sydney Morning Herald, how his father's experience of being a Japanese POW influenced him to write the book.

References

Awards and achievements
Preceded by The Luminaries	Man Booker Prize recipient 2014	Succeeded by A Brief History of Seven Killings