The Narrow Road to the Deep North

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

This month we read a remarkable novel by Richard Flanagan.  The title, The Narrow Road to the Deep North comes from a book by Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho describing a dangerous journey he took on foot through Edo Japan in the seventeenth century.  A famous quote from the work is  "Everyday is a journey and the journey itself home."  These words describe the incredible story of prisoners of war  working on the Thai-Burma Railway during World War II under the harsh supervision of the Japanese.  This Railroad has also been described as the Death Railway.  22,000 Australians were taken prisoner by the Japanese during WWII and many were put to work to build this railway.  This novel is about those who survived and those who did not survive.  The novel is about how one copes with trauma and how one resolves be a part of the infliction of trauma on others.  

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a harsh depiction of a difficult story.  The writing is beautiful. Some members of Book Club said it was the best book they had read in the past five years.  All were moved in one way or another.  Ed's story of his friend who was taken prisoner by the Japanese and how this book affected his memory was moving.  Cindy and Lexi who had been without power for days in a storm found the pain filled pages difficult to read.  All were taken by the love story embedded within the story.  This was a book about grieving and we were all affected by the story of Dorrigo Evans.

For next month, we are meeting at Cindy's House on January 13th  for a discussion of An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine.