mjhsttlr 's review for:

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

5.0

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So the question that I wanted to answer when I started this book, was is it or is it not a masterpiece. The buzz was saying yes, and that always make me skeptical. Naturally, the answer isn't that simple. I can't think of a single actual criticism of the book. It's so well written, so well crafted, the characters are so well drawn that I think that estimation is probably fair. Not many authors could handle the shear scope of this book, the jumps in time and perspective and have it not only make sense but seem seamless. That said, I still didn't love it. I think my issue was with the main character and my connection to him. Without giving things away, we find out very very early on that he has spent most of his adult life pursuing multiple infidelities and generally being unfaithful to his wife of many years. And while there are many circumstances as the book progresses that made me more and more sympathetic to this, I still couldn't quit justify it well enough to keep me from disliking him. Yes, he experiences loss and pain and some unspeakable things in the course of the war that I can't imagine. BUT it seems to me that it's a bit unfair to all the other people who have hurt and loved and lost to use this as a justification for hurting another. Knowingly and willingly hurting another person who openly loves you. And while Dorrigo Evans isn't ever made out to be a hero by himself nor the author, his callus attitude toward the pain he causes kept me from moving from an outside place of appreciating this book to one of being absorbed by it. Does that make it a true masterpiece or not? I don't know.

Here is a really good article by the author about the book's influence http://m.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/freeing-my-father-20130916-2ttiz.html