Richard Flanagan Wins Man Booker Prize

On Tuesday night, Richard Flanagan became the third Australian to win the lauded Man Booker Prize for his war novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which follows a group of prisoners who were forced to build the “Death Railway” between Thailand and Burma. Aside from the war aspect, the “outstanding work of literature” as described by judge and philosopher AC Grayling, it is “much more about people, their experience and their relationships…as if everyone on the Burma railway, both sides of the story, were victims.” Flanagan’s father was a survivor of Japan’s determination to build the Burma railway. The award, in its 46th year, is regarded as a marker of international renowned and success.