The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

***WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2014*** Forever after, there were for them only two sorts of men: the men who were on the Line, and the rest of humanity, who were not. In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Burma Death Railway, surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his love affair with his uncle's young wife two years earlier. Struggling to save the men under his command from starvation, from cholera, from beatings, he receives a letter that will change his life forever. This is a story about the many forms of love and death, of war and truth, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost.

If you like a light read, do not pick up this book.... It might, it will, it should disturb you.

We have come at a time where very few survivors are still around to tell their story. Meanwhile, it seems far enough away so that we can look at situations from the perspective of both parties involved. Flanagan's writing makes the horrors of the WW2 POW camps come closer than you might feel comfortable with. I put down the book regularly while reading, but I always picke it back up again. This book definitely deserved the Man Booker Prize, in my humble opinion

Given the glowing reviews and awards bestowed on this book I was really surprised how poor this book is. It's amazing how this book makes a very interesting and emotional subject boring, disjointed and cold. Very dissapointing.

This novel took me months to read. Not because it was at all boring, but because I felt that I had to savour it. I had to read it in instalments to properly understand it. At times, I did consider giving up, but something always drew me back in. That something was Richard Flanagan's writing.

There were times when a sentence or paragraph would cause me to catch my breath. I had to put the book down and stare at the wall while I contemplated what he said and how he said it.

The book also took me a long time to get through because there are some seriously horrific scenes to take in - Systematic beheadings of Chinese POW's; vivisections of live US airman; the daily torture and living conditions of the Australian POW's. I needed to build my nerve and strength before plunging into the horror of war again.

POSSIBLE SPOILER: I didn't always like Dorrigo Evans – at least – I liked Dorrigo Evans the doctor and during his time in the war, but Dorrigo Evans the husband – not so much (probably due to the fact he was a serial adulterer – and I admit I am quite judgemental about adulterers). I know men returned from the war as shells of their former selves, but the fact that he felt like he had to sleep with other women to validate his love for Amy really annoyed me. Yet at the end he redeemed himself as a husband and father.

The characters I fell for in this book were the ones on the periphery: Darky Gardiner, Tiny, even the old Greek owner of Nikitaris's Fish and Chip shop. I loved reading about them.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a beautifully written, haunting read. It weaves the horrors of war together with its disastrous aftereffects. I am glad I stayed with it – even if it took three months.