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The Narrow Road to the Deep North  By  cover art

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

By: Richard Flanagan
Narrated by: Richard Flanagan
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Publisher's summary

A novel of the cruelty of war, and tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love.

August, 1943. In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway, Australian 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 savagely beautiful novel 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.

©2013 Copyright © Richard Flanagan 2013. The moral right of the author has been asserted. (P)2013 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Richard Flanagan is one of the most exciting novelists working anywhere, full stop." ( The Age)
"Flanagan can stop a reader's breath." ( Los Angeles Times)
"Mr Flanagan is a master of sleight of hand, adept at using words to conjure worlds, an indefatigable artist." ( The New York Times)

What listeners say about The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Average customer ratings
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Insert hyperbole here

Would you listen to The Narrow Road to the Deep North again? Why?

Yes. I was obsessed by this book, and counted the minutes until I could resume listening.

What other book might you compare The Narrow Road to the Deep North to and why?

So many, so few. Any book that makes you think. Anything that makes you consider shadows and blurred lines is worthy.

What about Richard Flanagan’s performance did you like?

If it wasn't the author, I would have been less generous with my rating here. Flanagan will never win the prize for narration, however, hearing a remarkable book read to you by its author adds an extra layer to the experience.

If you could rename The Narrow Road to the Deep North, what would you call it?

I wouldn't presume to rename it.

Any additional comments?

This is one of those once in a lifetime reads. Beautiful and lyrical, and prosaic and horrific by turn, it will stay with you for a very long time.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Masterful

Dorrigo Evans is an Australian doctor - a surgeon - who finds himself leading a group of 700 prisoners of war working on the Burma Thai Railway during World War Two. Before he goes to war he is involved in a love affair of life changing proportions. But, amazingly, life goes on after the affair and the war, and Dorrigo is for the rest of his life considered a hero by the nation, although he never understands why as he knows himself to be a very flawed character. Indeed, Flanagan shows us this character in full flight, a man of both high restraint and strong passion. This is a book of enormous scope and yet highly focused, with personal stories entwined with historical events, and universal human values muddied by culture and human frailty. Although there are many characters and a number of points of view, Flanagan succeeds in developing a structure which rewards the reader more as the book proceeds. Changes of time, place and character form a complex pattern, but one that makes sense. We are left with questions about the nature of love and just what makes people good or bad, both in the most personal of senses and as a group.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Insight and tenderness in a dark time in history

If you could sum up The Narrow Road to the Deep North in three words, what would they be?

Stirring, enlightening, tender

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Narrow Road to the Deep North?

There is a moment when the reader learns something the protagonist isn't aware of and it changes the complexion of the whole book.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Richard Flanagan?

Anyone else. Sam Neil (kiwi I know) or and australian with natural gravitas. Flanagan wrote the book but I didn't like his narration. The start of the book is read especially slow, I assume to add and artistic solemnity but it annoyed me.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A boring man's journey through the bitter trials of love and war.

Any additional comments?

Seriously, i enjoyed this book but (SPOILERS) the protagonist is a serial adulterer, a rock-star surgeon and a leader of men though horrific conditions BUT he is so dull!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

What Is Love?

Would you consider the audio edition of The Narrow Road to the Deep North to be better than the print version?

No, not better. Each one has so much to offer the person reading or listening. Both are intimately connected to Richard Flanagan in a remarkable way.

What other book might you compare The Narrow Road to the Deep North to and why?

I have not read a book quite like this one. Richard Flanagan has written so sensitively about human relationships - between people - and within oneself. The way he writes challenges the reader/listener to reflect on their own experiences, even if that person does not recognise what is happening to them as they work through the book.

Which character – as performed by Richard Flanagan – was your favorite?

For a lot of the book I was drawn to Darky Gardiner; and I was shocked to discover his origins. The revealing of his story, was as ironic as it was loving.

In the end, I had the greatest warmth for Amy. Her bewilderment, her illness, her life, mostly unexpressed after the early part of the book, brought out the caring, nurturing part of my soul. I felt good thinking about her.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was so very impressed with the way Dorrigo Evans' story is brought around at the end of the book. Such sensitive and insightful writing.

Any additional comments?

I was deeply moved to hear Richard Flanagan reading his book. Many authors are far from being adequate narrators. RF, using a flat voice, with very little intonation, allowed the characters to reveal themselves without any veiling.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

War, what is it good for?

After a somewhat slow start the books captures your full attention as the stories of the the characters unfold. Well worth the read

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Flanagan gives us bare bleakness, singing of true human turmoil.

The calm, bare honesty of Richard’s voice gives electricity to the incredible feelings he writes about. The words lift themselves to convey the emotions of the characters.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Spoiled by Dross

Needed severe editing to remove all the dross and highlight the gems. The story was an artifice to reveal the atrocities of the railway and left the reader with a sense of absurdity for the life of the central character. It was unwise to allow the author to read his book as his voice is too low and toneless.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A remarkable work ...

Compelling, chilling, provocative; this is masterful writing. Both complex and accessible, coherent and always interesting; this was impossible to put down. Recommended, and seriously good.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

What a waste of time

The story jumps around in time from post first world war, to 1980s and back to the Burma railway in the 1940s. The characters are stilted and rather dull. The conversations between characters are either short nonsensical or lifeless. Hard to listen to as they don't go anywhere with the story. Half the story does not move the other half along. Strangely I found the Japanese stories of the characters the most interesting. Within hours of listening to this book I wanted to stop, but I persisted. Once I got to the end I wanted the hours I put in back. I did not laugh, I did not cry, this book did not change my life. Actually this book wasted my time. Badly written, badly performed and not worth the time to even read the title.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hard Work

I struggled to finish this book. Relieved when it was over. Too long. Awful narration.

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