Sometimes when things aren’t going so well, it’s good to read a novel where the characters are going through something even worse. You can validate your shitty day with the realisation that these ‘people’ are having a far worse time than you are and give yourself a stern talking to. Other times this tactic is just depressing.
Flanagan’s Man Booker prize winner depicts the epic tale of an Australian military surgeon, Dorrigo Evans, who survives the horrors of the infamous Thailand – Burma ‘death railway’. Haunted by an intense affair with his Uncle’s wife, Dorrigo’s life lacks fulfilment as the despair and devastation of the Japanese POW camp continues to pervade his survival.
The harrowing descriptions of camp conditions, the brutality of the Japanese officers and the crude depictions of senseless death leave a lasting impression. Not recommended for a summer beach read but deeply moving if you can hack the trauma.
The Year of the Dragon 