The Book Nook
Dramatic look at Passion, Irony and Heroism
So many of the World War II novels I’ve read have focused on European or American events and characters that I sometimes forget the larger extent of that war. But in Richard Flanagan’s “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”, other parts of the world take center stage in this historical war novel.
The plot centers on eastern Asia and the Pacific, focusing on an Australian doctor who is haunted by personal memories and his tour of duty. It’s a moving tale of a someone at odds with his past and his status as a war hero.
The book opens with Dorrigo Evan’s early childhood memories in Tasmania, and his life unfold in a non-chronological timeline. We learn of his school and military experiences, his relationships and his post-war fame. Two major events shape Dorrigo’s life – the war and an illicit, torrid love affair.
After enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force, his regiment is captured during the battle of Java. Dorrigo and his men become POWs and are forced to work on what became known as the Thai-Burma Death Railway or “The Line”. As an officer he feels his duty is to keep as many of his men alive as he can, but ghastly living conditions and a starvation diet prove to be huge obstacles. Sub-standard hygiene and the lack of supplies and an operating room make his role as a surgeon equally challenging.
The declining numbers of men eat at him and he notes that his words and actions are frequently out of synch with his true nature. In spite of the obvious attrition, most of the men want to believe they’ll survive the war, and Dorrigo carefully watches his captors for any signs of hope.
The theme of camaraderie plays an important role, with the most memorable pictures coming from that aspect of the story. The author also gives us viewpoints from some characters in the Japanese military, providing insights into a culture that will be unfamiliar to some readers. One example is the important role that duty and honor play in the Japanese psyche, letting us into the minds of those from that background.
Flanagan’s view of the war doesn’t avoid unpleasant truths but doesn’t overplay them either. Brutality is balanced with beauty, infidelity with loyalty and self-hatred with love. We will also learn the fate of several character and may be surprised at some outcomes. The addition of these other voices gives the book its best moments, adding a rich layer to the question of what it means to be a good person.
Dorrigo rejects the title of war hero as the result of other’s mistaken impressions of him as he tries to reconcile his past and present. He’s a flawed hero who is at times filled with self-loathing who feels his only redeeming quality is the consistent loves he feels for a woman. The theme of examining opposites in the human condition has recurred in earlier works by Flanagan, although on a less ambitious scale.
The author admits this was not a novel he wanted to write, which may explain why he took a dozen years to complete it. He says half the novel was inspired by his father, who was captured during the war and survived his time on “The Line”. Ironically, he died the same day his son completed the novel’s final draft. The other source of inspiration came from the tragic tale told by a neighbor, who, after returning from war, was mistakenly told his wife had died. Years later he saw her with two young children and the author mirrors this in a scene with someone from Dorrigo’s past.
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” is Flanagan’s sixth novel and was published in 2013 and won the prestigious Man Booker prize. The title is taken from a mysterious haiku by Basho, a 17th century Japanese poet. Readers may be familiar with one account of the Thai-Burma Railway, which was dramatized in a book and movie adaptation titled “The Bridge Over the River Kwai”. Flanagan read memoirs from POWs, which gives those sections a sense of immediacy.
It took me a couple of tries to get through this thoughtful, sometimes painful examination of Dorrigo’s life and choices. I had problems with overly-ambitious prose that I thought detracted from the plot, and the timeline was so fluid I had to backtrack a few times. I’m sure it didn’t help that at the time I had more highly-anticipated books competing for my attention.
That aside, there were wonderful treatments of people’s differences and commonalities which provided the best moments in the book. The author blends the banality of life with loftier themes, such as the heroic act of simply surviving. From his early, austere life to the dramatic disaster near the end of the book, there are many moments to which we can relate. The unrelenting style is powerful and, at times, touching. Readers can appreciate the author’s gift for storytelling that has resulted in a moving war novel.
