Australian author Richard Flanagan took away the Man Booker prize; literary world’s most coveted prize, for his book ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’.
Flanagan’s book is the story of his father as a prisoner during war in a Japanese prison and was called a literary masterpiece by the jury.
Flanagan – the Tasmanian-born author is the third Australian to win the coveted prize which, for the first time in its 46-year history, is now expanded to include entries from writers of all nationalities, writing originally in English and published in the UK.
He joins an impressive literary canon of former winners including fellow Australians Thomas Kenneally (Schindler’s Ark, 1982) and Peter Carey (Oscar & Lucinda, 1988 and The True History of the Kelly Gang, 2001).
‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ is the sixth novel from Flanagan which centres upon the experiences of surgeon Dorrigo Evans in a Japanese POW camp on the now infamous Thailand-Burma railway.
Named after a famous Japanese book by the haiku poet Basho, The Narrow Road to the Deep North was described by the 2014 judges as ‘a harrowing account of the cost of war to all who are caught up in it’. Questioning the meaning of heroism, the book explores what motivates acts of extreme cruelty and shows that perpetrators may be as much victims as those they abuse.
Interestingly, the book is the real story of Flanagan’s father as a prisoner of war. He was a survivor of the Burma Death Railway. The author took 12 years to write it.
Ironically, Flanagan’s father died the day he finished the book
Flanagan was announced as the 2014 winner by AC Grayling, chair of judges, at an awards dinner at London’s Guildhall.
He was presented with a trophy from The Duchess of Cornwall and a £50,000 cheque from Emmanuel Roman, Chief Executive of Man Group.
The two US authors listed for the first time after the award was expanded to allow American nominees — Joshua Ferris for his tale of identity theft “To Rise Again at a Decent Hour” and Karen Joy Fowler’s for her family drama “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” — went home empty handed.
The Man Booker prize, which began in 1969, guarantees a huge upsurge in book sales and a worldwide readership, and being shortlisted is itself considered an accolade.
Previously, the award had been limited to the best original full-length novel written in English by a citizen of the Commonwealth, Ireland or Zimbabwe.
The favourite to win the prize had been Britain’s Indian-born Neel Mukherjee for his Calcutta-based family saga “The Lives of Others”.
Also shortlisted were Britain’s Ali Smith for an art novel “How to be Both”, while 2010 winner Howard Jacobson was also in the running with a dystopian work, “J”.
The decision to include US authors was criticised by some in the industry who said it would change the character of the awards.
Congrats on the win of the award.
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