Book Club: 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' by Richard Flanagan

Please join us for an exploration of love, memory and wartime trauma.
January's book club choice is The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan. This novel explores one man's experience of being a prisoner of war, a forced labourer on the Burma Death Railway during World War 2 and how it impacts his life many years down the line. The author's father was a POW in Burma. So the novel can be seen as the son trying to understand the man he never quite knew, especially during his formative years, the man who could not talk about those terrible years, the man who needed to look forward and never back...

What questions does the book raise? Many. What does trauma do to a person at the time and many years down the line? How does it affect their relationships with others, including their family? Does trauma form the key part of the identity of a trauma survivor, or is it more complex than that?

Many more questions can be asked. We would love to hear them, along with any other ideas and thoughts that you might have. We look forward to seeing you!

No time to read the book? Watch the five-part mini-series of The Narrow Road to the Deep North on BBC iPlayer. Some minor changes in the story, but it's worth watching.

This event is free, but any donations are welcome to help with our running costs. Register: https://humanists.uk/events/leeds-humanists-book-club-the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-by-richard-flanagan/