Densely Worded And Plotted, But A Satisfying Read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  Not to mention harrowing, darlings.  Richard Flanagan's beautiful novel chronicles the wartime experiences of one Dorrigo Evan, an Australian, who finds himself a POW in a Japanese camp, among such other epic novel experiences as an eternal romance that tragically ends in an explosive death, a love that will never let go, in spite of an unhappy marriage to one who genuinely loves him, and torturous experiences so detailed the author puts the reader right amidst the muck and the mire.

                                  But he also manages to objectify the other side, showing both their evil, and its consequences for them, thereafter.  This is a carefully calibrated wartime chronicle that--I know I will get shot for this--is what "A Farewell To Arms" aspired to be, but which I could not make it through.

                                  Does Flanagan succeed more than Hemingway?  Definitely!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is one of the most affecting and gripping war novels I have read, and while some may have a difficult time with the writing style or the material, let me say, the effort is well worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   I've now got my eye on Flanagan's next book--whenever that may be!!!!!!!!!!!