I'll admit that this book is, at least in the beginning, one of the most difficult to read. And that is what Man Booker Prize winners sound like, don't they? But somewhere around the 20% mark, I don't know if the writing became "simple" or I got a hang of it -- it just flowed.
I am not going to put spoilers here -- this WWII classic explores the different kind of people we all are, at different times in our lives. The shades of grey, blacks and whites that we all are. No one is a man of glory at all times - we all have our imperfections yet we all are capable of being near-perfect human beings too.
The prose is beautiful, once you get the hang of it, and you may pause at various points to read and re-read the lines, grasp them, maybe underline them before moving on.
Before starting the book I searched this sub-reddit for its mentions and tips to read this book. One of them said to hang on with the book if you find it too difficult -- If you ever want to give this literary classic a try, I think, that is the perfect advice.
All in all, a beautiful book. 4.5/5 for me. I may even want to re-read it again, because I am sure the lines will mean something more to me when I am a bit older.
Edit: I would like to add further to my post. The book left me with feelings that were hard to describe and in that way, this remains an uncomfortable book. It is depressingly beautiful, if there is any such thing. This isn't a book that will make you feel better. It's a book about adversities and about life before and after those adversities, and how mortal men react to it.
Anybody finish/ still reading this? I got about halfway through and gave up for now - I will return to it because I think it is a good book. I just had to put it down for now because I found it so bleak. I think it's great that the author can evoke these feelings in me, because it is a very bleak subject but I just needed to be reading something that made me feel less hopeless. Anyone else?
I know many of you have already finished this novel, but I downloaded this awhile ago on the recommendation of this subreddit and I just finished reading it. I say finished it, really I started reading two days ago and I just now finished it. I'd like to submit my review, biased as it is on my own experiences. Please criticise everything about what I wright....
The Narrow Road To The Deep North
I started this book not expecting to enjoy it. I started it twice before I bulled through and kept reading. It was tough wrapping my head around the lack of quotation marks. I quickly got used to it; and more importantly, I felt the lack added to the intimacy of it. Like I was involved in the conversation. I first started empathizing with the characters when the author began describing the dichotomy of relationships and love. I have a failed marriage and I felt he nailed that aspect of mutual respect and lack of love perfectly. I also empathized with loving someone, even though everything and everyone is telling you that you shouldn't. But since we parted, nothing has voiced my separation quite like this book described the despair both parties feel after they separate, and again when both realize that the other party is alive. I never experienced war or deployment on the level that most of the characters do, but having been part of the military, as small of part as it was, I can definitely empathize with the commodore, and even hate, the characters feel for each other. I was moved to tears multiple times as this novel forced me to reexamine my own place in the military machine. I am lonely, and I fear nothing in this world can change that. As sad as it is to read about that, it's just as sad to realize that it's closer to the truth than any of us care to admit. I equally hate and enjoy novels that make me reminisce, and appreciate life this much.
I just finished this yesterday and am dying to hear some people's thoughts on it.
Personally, feel that it's a compelling read throughout and there are definitely some moments in the book that I will remember for a very long time. Not necessarily because of their emotional or physical brutality (there is some of that) but more as a result of Flanagan's ability to take you into the minds of of all the various characters: he resists the urge to separate people into categories of good and evil, ultimately all the characters are simply human.
^- ^Live ^tweets ^from ^1943 ^(@RealTimeWWII) ^| ^January ^3, ^2021
https://preview.redd.it/r2eed4sn24m61.png?width=1254&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f599ff79518e791e3f104ce2dd67321071d25f4
I finished this book last night and have been blown away by the poetic yet amazingly simple raw emotion that was portrayed in the writing. The story, the richness in the way each life was shared, and the pain... oh the pain of love so laid bare for the reader.
I would love to hear what other people have thought about this book, which is so deserved of the Man Booker prize in 2014.
Okay, everything about my monumental drive to the south pole of Kerbin now goes here. I'd hate to clog up the subreddit with all my future updates, and since every finished day on Kerbin gets its own summary, it would be a lot of future updates.
Each update is recorded at sunset of the mentioned day. The rover stays in one location throughout the night. At this time, comms are opened, and Jeb is free to take a break for snacks, conversing with friends, sleeping, and whatever else he needs/wants to do.
This is going to take me a loooong time, especially because I don't time warp. I recommend just saving the thread if it is interesting to you (pfft, interesting, yeah right). When I reach the south pole sometime in the far-off future, I'll make a separate post to announce it.
Just to be clear, the days are based on Kerbin time, not Earth time.
Link to the post that started it all.
Day Two
Currently, Jebediah is 53.1 kilometres away from KSC, as measured by distance to the planted flag.
Lat/Long: (4ยฐ 34' 17" N / 287ยฐ 24' 41" E) Map screenshot.
A video of KSC airdropping the current Southbound V2. (Sped up a lot.)
Planned route to the south pole.
If you have comments/questions, please post them. Talking about the project helps keep my morale high.
The Journey Continues...
I'm channeling the spirit of Scott Kerman here. If you get the reference, I applaud you.
Here are a few points I found out and the time I've been here
- You like free stuff
- You have good manners
- Everyone so friendly
- So hungry for games
- I'm still feeding you
- Here is another one King's Bounty: Warriors of the North
- Goood, good, fight for the prey
- One winner to rule them all
24 hours from NOW!!
- Link to my steam profile is still up if you wanna post, chat, lurk or just say hi :)
Winner pick by Reddit Rafffler -> /u/Oryuki
