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The Narrow Road to the Deep North

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The Narrow Road to the Deep North

By: Richard Flanagan
Narrated by: Richard Flanagan
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About this listen

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 Contemporary Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Tear-jerking Imperial Japan

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)
All stars
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Such a powerful story - I didn't want it to end. Loved the performance by the author - made it an even more memorable experience. Where to go now from this is my only problem!

Not to be missed.

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Listen to the story on 1.25 speed or 1.5 speed for the best narration. Amazing story with an incredible narrative. Poetic and legendary.

Listen to on a faster speed for best experience

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A absolute brilliant read, but not so great listen. The beauty of this book was lost in Flanagan's monotone reading voice.

Great Read!! Not so great listen!!

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This book was recommended to me by everybody and I wasn't disappointed. Unlike anything I have read before, it is moving, insightful and rips your heart out several times. I went back over parts I had just read simply to hear the phrasing once more. A sad and harrowing story, but all war stories are, the human spirit never stops to amazing me.

A truly amazing story, expertly written.

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This book is brilliantly written but can't stand the monotone reading so am going to buy a hard copy and read it instead. I wish Richard Flanagan had chosen to get a professional to do the narrating. I've dropped off to sleep every time!

Going to read the book - can't listen any more

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This is one of those rare times that I agreed with this book as a Booker Prize winner.
It is a powerful novel of endurance and hope beyond the imagination of those who have not been to war and in particular to a Prisoner of War Camp. I found it hard to believe that the human spirit could survive such horror . I found it also difficult to come to grips with the suffering that followed in the post war life of these men.

A tribute to endurance

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This is an amazing story and it must have been a huge undertaking to write. I just wish it had been narrated by a professional narrator instead of the author. That would have improved my enjoyment of this incredible tale. It is well worth listening to despite this issue.

A powerful story

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life changing and beautiful, its perfectly narrated, a story that will never leave you.

incredible

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It took a while to get used to the rhythm of the book; once you did it became thoroughly immersive.

Such a well told story.

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The story is harrowing & difficult to read but I very much like the way Richard Flanagan narrated the book. His voice was perfect for an Australian war story.

The horror opposing love.

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