In The Narrow Road to the Deep North, our protagonist, Dorrigo Evans, grapples with feelings of guilt that stem from his affair with his uncle’s wife, memories & flashbacks of his experiences as a POW in World War II, and the unwanted recognition he receives as a war hero. Additionally, the book is said to be in honor of Flanagan’s father, Archie Flanagan, was an allied POW in 1943, and is said to have worked the on road while on the Burma Death Railway. The book gets its title from a book of the same name by Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho. (McKenna) It is said his most applauded novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North was so renowned because “the two great themes from the origin of literature are love and war: this is a magnificent novel of love and war written in prose of extraordinary elegance and force, it bridges East and West, past and present, with a story of guilt and heroism” (AC Grayling, Masters). The Tasmania born author of award winning novels such as Death ofRiver Guide, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, and The Unknown Terriorist is a master at drawing in his audience. As with most soldiers’ returning from war, we see how one can try to put the horrors and suffering of war in the rearview mirror and somehow get on with life.
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