THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH

Narrator David Atlas’s performance is true to the tone and spirit of Flanagan’s account of Australian WWII POWs’ building of the railway between Thailand and Burma. It’s a story of bravery, mateship, starvation, disease, abject misery, and death. Atlas perfectly captures the Australian character as well as conveying the stomach-churning horror of the death camps. This makes for mighty uncomfortable listening at times when steeling the nerves becomes necessary. Dorrigo Evans, officer and doctor at the camp, is praised for his courage during the war despite feeling undeserving of the accolades. Dorrigo is obsessed by the affair he had with his uncle’s wife before the war. It’s a pulpy and cheesy romance that doesn’t feel worthy of such an important story, but Atlas does his best to give it some dignity. A.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2014]