Richard Flanagan

 The Narrow Road to the Deep North

A story of a father who was once a prisoner of war motivated his son to write a world acclaimed novel. This is The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Australian novelist Richard Flanagan.  The novel won the Man Booker Prize in 2014. Richard Miller Flanagan was born in 1961 in Langford, Tasmania.  He grew up in western Tasmania in a family of six children.  Flanagan couldn’t finish school.  He left school when he was 16 years old.  After six years at the age of 22, he entered the University of Tasmania. Flanagan was successful to get a scholarship to Oxford University.  

Including The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan has written another five novels and four nonfiction books.  But the last novel made him even more famous by winning the international prize.  He wrote his first novel in 1994, titled ‘The Death of a River Guide’.  The book was well received.  One of the The New York Times book reviewers praised the novel and wrote ‘would be worth reading’ Reese (April 8, 2001).  According to Flanagan’s official website, the rest of the four novels are listed as: The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997) Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish (2001) The Unknown Terrorist (2006) and The Wanting (2008).

Richard Flanagan is a hardworking and passionate writer. In his interview with the ABC TV (2014), he mentioned that he spent 12 years to finish The Narrow Road to the Deep North.  All the time he was illustrating the harsh experiences of his father during the war along with love, passion, dignity, and humanity in the novel. Mysteriously Flanagan’s father died on the same day that the novel was finished. The writer provided his father with an eternal life as his novel has mentioned as a ‘masterpiece’ by the Man Booker judge Prof Grayling (2014). 

Richard Flanagan is not a rich man neither he has been doing a big business as being a writer and descendant of a POW. During the years Flanagan has worked hard to keep continue with writing.  He mentioned he was decided to go for a job in the mines in northern Australia.  He described writing as a ‘penurious profession’. Despite the fact that he has experienced so many difficulties in his own life, he donated $40,000 of his award to Aboriginals Literacy Foundation. The news was covered by ABC News in which Flanagan quoted his father who used to say with regards to money that: ‘Pile it up and it stinks. Spread it around and you can grow things. ABC News (9 Dec 2014, 2:46pm). 

Richard Flanagan lives in Tasmania with his wife Majda Smolej and their three children. The Man Booker Prize has granted him a sufficient contribution to keep writing for the rest of his life. There will be no contemplation of working in a mine anymore for him. 

 References 

Jennifer, R 2001, ‘As I Lay Drowning’, The New York Times, Books, viewed 29 May 2015, <https://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/08/reviews/010408.08reeset.html>.

Nick, M 2014, ‘Richard Flanagan wins 2014 Man Booker Prize for The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ , The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 30 May 2015, <http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/richard-flanagan-wins-2014-man-booker-prize-for-the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-20141015-1165ol.html#ixzz3bhphD4PZ>.

Rachael, B 2014, ‘Richard Flanagan shares PM's Literary Award win; gives away prize money’, ABC, viewed 31 May 2015, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-09/richard-flanagan-wins-pm-literary-award-gives-away-prize-money/5953222>.