reluctant and confused hero Dorrigo, post-prison camp, is forever lost to life following a torrid and idyllic pre-internment affair with his uncle’s younger wife. Flanagan goes far beyond,


though. Interspersing the sublime pre-war love Evans never recaptures in his lifetime with the hell of the prisoner-of-war camp, he explores humanity in its flawed, distorted and changed state. Flanagan’s comprehension and


understanding that war is exactly what it is – terrible, life-changing and unfathomable to those who have never lived it – is the essence of the novel. He explores the fate of the


oppressors suddenly oppressed, tossing aside sentimentality and nationalism openly and evenly, which illuminates the novel much more fully. In beautiful passages that


capture life as lived after such a soul-destroying experience, he unravels and follows the aftermath of all. Both those subjugated and ultimately victorious – and those who experience the reverse – he follows to the finite end with evenhandedness, bearing no rancor. There are no heroes in Flanagan’s


dynamic novel. There are no villains, either. His intent is much greater: to address life-changing, life-defining circumstances with resonation while bringing closure to a part of his life (and his father’s) in attempting to find meaning 75 years after the fact. The Narrow Road to the Deep


North is an elegy of sorts, but at its heart it’s a story of courage, will, folly, weakness and all the other unimaginable emotions war unleashes; a searing indictment of human emotions laid bare and actions taken told starkly and eloquently. Complex and demanding, its


focus is the larger picture beyond a small slice of a vile war. It is a parable of life seen through a distinct and difficult lens, deserving of its many praises.


www.bounder.ca BOUNDER MAGAZINE 59


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