News / Articles

Go Spotting: "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" & "Temptation of a Monk"

Mark Sachon reports that in Richard Flanagan's novel "The Narrow Road to the Deep North," "References to playing go are found on pages 264, 269 and 295 in the hardback edition. "Moving deftly from a Japanese POW camp to present-day Australia, from the experiences of Dorrigo Evans and his fellow prisoners to that of the Japanese guards, this savagely beautiful novel tells a story of the many forms of love and death, of war and truth, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost." (Amazon). Sachon also found go in the 1993 movie "Temptation of a Monk," (You Seng), noting that "two rivals play weiqi in the first few minutes of the film." Set in 7th century China, the film, directed by Clara Law, stars Joan Chen as a beautiful princess and destructive temptress who wreaks havoc in a young general's life, telling "the epic story of a disgraced man's journey into self-discovery."