Flanagan graphically portrays the horrors of Australian POWs in WWII, building a railway through the jungle for the Japanese. Some of these descriptions are disturbing. The title refers to a journey taken by the Japanese Haiku poet Basho to the north of Japan in the 17th century. This novel shows a different and terrible Japanese mind. As the story unfolds, the emphasis is on the Aussies, but we are asked to reflect on post-war guilt by the Japanese, and recovery by the prisoners themselves. It is humankind at its harshest.
(Herb Roselle - bwl 99 Winter 2021 ) |
