A novel about war's harshness, the fragility of life, and the impossibility of love.
In Richard Flanagan's novel, Dorrigo Evans, an Australian
doctor haunted by a love affair with his uncle's wife, travels from Tasmanian trappers' caves to a crumbling pre-war beachside hotel, from a Thai jungle prison to a
Japanese snow festival, from the Changi gallows to a chance meeting of lovers on the
Sydney
Harbour Bridge.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North takes its title from the travel log of 17th-century haiku poet Basho and is about the impossibility of love. One day at a
Japanese
slave labour camp in August 1943 is at the centre of the storey. Dorrigo Evans struggles and fails in his attempt to rescue the lives of his fellow POWs as the day progresses, a guy is slain for no apparent cause, and a love tale emerges.
Richard Flanagan, an author, historian, and film-maker from
Tasmania,
Australia, was born in 1961 and wrote this book for Vintage Australia on September 23rd, 2013. He was a
Rhodes Scholar and the president of the Tasmania University Union. Each of his works has received widespread acclaim.
