Customer Reviews

Hiroshima

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It was very interesting to hear from 6 different points of view. There were many things that I was not aware of before reading this book, and certainly gave me a good appreciation of the disaster that happened that day in Hiroshima. I totally recommend this book!

This is an excellent book. It puts a face on the horrors of the atomic bomb. You can feel the revulsion of atomic warfare. It was quite unfortunate that it was dropped. If you believe it was right to drop it, this is the one book that could very well change your mind.

A stunning and compelling (MUSTREAD) story of 6 different people (Toshinki Sasaki, Masakzu Fujii, Hatsuyo Nakamura, Wilhelm Kleinsorge, Terufumi Sasaki, and Kiyoshi Tanimoto) who's lives are heavily affected by the atomic bomb USA dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6 1945. World War II was a war not to be forgotten and niether will this book when you read it. A little hard to follow however, when you get it, a wonderfully written story. John Hershy gives very factual details of the war, and handles the characters point of view well. He is a genious.

First of all, I would like to dedicate this little writing to all hibakusha, victims of the atomic bombings on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The most important thing I would like to say here is not making a protest like an anti-war campaigner but urging people to understand how the people of Hiroshima died manly in extraordinary serenity.
How was it possible when they were dying after experiencing such a hell on earth that is beyond description?

A survivor, Mr. Tanimoto wrote to his American friend just before the anniversary: gI never heard any one cried in disorder, even though they suffered in great agony. They died in silence, with no grudge, setting their teeth to bear it. All for the country!h

One of those who died after Mr. Tanimoto gave water in the first night told him: gLook, I lost my home, my family, and at last my-self bitterly injured. But, now I have gotted (sic) my mind to dedicate what I have and to complete the war for our country's sake.h gThus,h Mr. Tanimoto continues, gthey pledged to me, even women and children did the same.h
Mr. Tanimoto tells in his letter of a school girl and her friends who were buried under heavy fence of a temple after the explosion of the bomb. gThey could not move a bit under such a heavy fence and then smoke entered into even a crack and choked their breath.
One of the girls begun to sing `Kimi ga yo', national anthem, and others followed in chorus and died. Meanwhile one of them found a crack and struggled hard to get out.... They were just 13 years old.h

Mr. Tanimoto also mentioned Dr. Hiraiwa, professor of Hiroshima University of Literature and Science, who was buried by the bomb under the two storied house with his son, a student of Tokyo University.
gBoth of them could not move an inch under tremendously heavy pressure. And the house already caught fire. His son said, `Father, we can do nothing except make our mind up to consecrate our lives for the country. Let us give Banzai to our Emperor.'
Then the father followed after his son, `Tenno-heika (His Imperial Majesty the Tenno), Banzai, Banzai, Banzai!'
In the result, Dr. Hiraiwa said, `Strange to say, I felt calm and bright and peaceful spirit in my heart, when I chanted Banzai to Tenno.' Afterward his son got out and digged (sic) down and pulled out his father and thus they were saved. In thinking of their experience of that time Dr. Hiraiwa repeated;
gWhat a fortunate that we are Japanese! It was my first time I ever tasted such a beautiful spirit when I decided to die for our Emperor.h

gYes,h Mr. Tanimoto says, gpeople of Hiroshima died manly in the atomic bombing, believing that it was for Emperor's sake.h

As Hersey says, many hibakusha have repelled by the growing political coloration of these anti-nuclear movements such as the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs and have stayed away from the mass meeting s in Peace Park on the subsequent anniversaries.
Why? I think it is clear when you see that those anti-nuclea‚' weapon/ anti-war campaigners are often also of left-wing thoughts such as, particularly, as many comintern sympathisers that still survived in Japan put as their slogan, gAbolish the Tenno system!h, or even gKill the Tenno for the war responsibility!h

If you are a Japanese, you may instinctively know that this greligioush feelings of the Japanese towards Tenno is much more native than foreign communists have thought and has its roots in the depth of the Japanese spiritual culture itself that has been formulated for thousands of years in Japan's history. In Japanese mythology, the Japanese islands and other gods were gbornh from a couple of gods, and those first gods were the ancestor of whole Japanese.
So, in other words, the Tenno household is the head family of every household of the Japanese.
To prevent misunderstanding, I must say that this is not "elitism" or emphasis of the uniqueness of the Japanese like the left wingers criticise.
On the contrary, it is rather "universality" of the whole world that the father of all Tenno, or, more adequately, of all Japanese, said: "Hakko-Ichiu"___ "Let us make the whole world one family."

That is, I think, one reason why the memorial of the Peace Park in Hiroshima engraved: gPlease rest in peace, for we will never make the same mistakeh, not aggressive and vengeful gRemember Hiroshima!!h

To justify these horrible gcrimes against the humanityh, two experimental and exhibitionistic atomic bombings and 60 other indiscriminate incendiary bombings on civilian population, the U.S.A. needed to brand Japan as the evil criminal country as the Nazi Germany might be.
They fabricated numerous horrible crimes that never verified in the Tokyo Trial as the Dutch judge B.V.A. Roling criticized in the book gTokyo Trial and Beyondh so that the Allied Powers, especially the U.S.A. and the Soviet Russia and China, can avert their own war crimes get attention.
The 7 year occupation of Japan by the Allied (the U.S.A., mainly) with a brain-washing scheme called gWar Guilt Information Programmeh effectively gdisarmedh the Japanese fighting spirit and by that Japan was so effectively and openly labeled as gFascist/Militarist/Imperialisth country that every Japanese who try to refute those accusations are branded by the whole world as a gultra-right-wing revisionisth.

But, Herseyfs book made me realise that, fortunately, the Japanese spirits were never destroyed after all these persecution for half a century. It might have been expelled to a small corner of the bottom of hearts of the Japanese, but surely it has survived.
I felt it in my heart. And I believe many Japanese would feel the same when they read this great book of human spirits that never be destroyed even by the most powerful weapons on Earth.

I picked this tattered, yellowing paperback up at a yard sale, years and years ago for $0.25. It disappeared and re-surfaced over the years, still unread, until I grabbed it as a quick read on a business flight a couple years ago.

If there is one book that describes - powerfully, the horror, this is it. Simply put, it's a must read.

Our nation is once again, engaged in a war. We are exposed to dehumanizing military-speak designed to make clinical the atrocities we perpetrate on our nation. Everytime I hear a phrase like, "collateral damage" I think of Hershy's Hiroshima.

Effecting and surreal, reading Hiroshima is equivalent to Shindler's List for its imact. Unforgetable.

John Hersey¡s ¡§Hiroshima¡ is a tale of survival for the book depicts how and what the witnesses and survivors of the atomic bomb overcame. An outsider might consider someone who had escaped the life-threatening situation of the bombing lucky, but each survivor had to endure the aftermath. The effects, ranging from the guilt of living, lost of friends or family members, physical disabilities caused by the bombing, made the lives of survivors extremely difficult. Throughout the narratives of six different characters, they each went through diverse ways of surviving the bomb and many other side effects both physically and emotionally.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima was an unexpected event for the residents of the city. Surviving the initial blast proved to be only the first step in the emerging nuclear age. When the bomb struck, in knee-jerking reactions each victim reacted differently towards ¡§the tremendous flash of light that cut across the sky.¡ (p.5) Other than the nimbleness of the Hiroshima citizens, their escapes from death were a matter of luck. Some of the survivors were shielded by barriers and some by simply turning away. For example, Mr. Tanimoto, the pastor of the Hiroshima Methodist Church, ¡§threw himself between two big rocks in the garden¡ (p.5) in order to avoid the flash. As for Mr. Sasaki, a surgeon working at the Red Cross Hospital, ¡§he was one step beyond an open window when the light of the bomb was reflected¡ (p.14). He ducked in order to avoid the ¡§gigantic photographic flash.¡ (p.14) During this flash of light, thousands of people perished, yet Hersey¡s focus follows the trail of those who were spared.

After the bombing, the survivors not only have to face injuries and emotional pain, but also faced the challenge of rebuilding their lives. Hiroshima was left without the necessary requirements of life such as water and food. These needs were met by in the short-term by the outside aid agencies, but the long-term challenge of recreating a life was left to the determination of the hibakushas. Life was easier for the survivors twelve years later when the Hibakusha Medical Law was put into effect. The law provided a wider range for assisting the health, medical treatment and the welfare of the survivors. Yet, in each case, the six survivors have somehow constructed a meaningful life.

In the medium and long-term aftermath of the bombing, the struggle for survival continued. Researchers noticed unusual diseases and symptoms appearing in the hibakushas. Survivors were developing ¡§A-bomb cataracts¡ p.104, including stunted growth of children and mutated babies with heads smaller than normal. It was found that some of the pregnant women exposed to radiation had given birth to children with severe mental retardation. This condition is known as, microcephaly. These problems exacerbated the suffering of the survivors, especially given the traditional Japanese attitudes toward handicapped children. Other strange symptoms appeared also, some unexpected and some problems kept re-occurring, problems such as leukemia and cancers. A-bomb victims have to live through the fear of undetected diseases emerging without prior warning. The psychological effects also influenced the hibakushas, the deaths of family members or friends and the aftereffect of exposure to radiation can heighten survivor¡s anxiety and fears.

Aside from the physical wounds, emotional wounds were even harder to mend. The hard-gained properties of the survivors might be destroyed, leaving the hibakushas penniless and homeless. Not just the lost of material goods but the lives of family members might also be gone or endangered by severe injuries. More distressing, people also suffer from ¡§survivor guilt¡. For example, men lived while women died, parents outlived their children, and wives or husbands widowed. Even worse, some hibakushas might suffer because they ran away, ignoring people¡s ¡§Give me water¡ (p.31) and ¡§Help me.¡ (p.18) For instance, in the book, Mr. Tanimoto ¡§realized he was taking to much time¡ (p.31) to ¡§carry water to the suffering strangers¡ (p.31), he decided to ¡§run away¡ (p.31) from those who were ¡§crying their thirst.¡ (p.31)

The memories still linger and haunt the survivors¡ lives. Like in the story, Dr. Sasaki was bothered by not having to identify the corpses dragged out to the mass cremations, where ¡§with the nameless souls might still, all these years later, be hovering there, unattended and dissatisfied.¡ (p.109)

Hiroshima is a book I read when I was in 9th grade. I decided to reread this book after learning that my grandfather's brother died during the deadly atomic bomb massacre in Hiroshima on August 1945, when there was nothing but sounds of death everywhere.
Until this day, my country Korea fights with Japan for various reasons starting from entertainment to history. Reading a book with full of sympathy of my country's rival Japan may not sound appropriate, since the majority dislike Japanese people and several think they deserved the sufferings from the atomic bomb attack. After all, they were the ones who invaded Korea and did unforgivable war crimes during the Second World War. However, after finishing this book...I learned that I was wrong, very wrong indeed.
This book explains fully about the suffrages of the bomb from death, pain, anguish and sadness. After reading Hiroshima and my Grandfathers story of his dead brother I learned something special, Japan's pain from war was not any different to Korea's suffrage and the sadness and pain is what we all shared during war. Furthermore, I felt guilty to think that Japan deserved it, and that it is not right to blame Japan for everything.
This book is a collection of interviews by John Hersey, all interviewed straight after the bomb attack. Hersey managed to interview six survivors who managed to live and was able to escape from the edge of death. The six survivors include Miss Toshinki Sasaki, a clerk, Dr. Masakazu Fuji, a physician, Mrs. Nakamura, widow, Father Kleinsorge, priest, Dr. Sasaki, and Mr. Tanimoto. All six interviews were unbelievable, and sounded almost like a miracle that they managed to survive through the devastating bomb. Hersey writes his interviews very emotionally and this helped me understand the survivors feelings more closely, making me emotional as well.
Miss Sasaki's (Toshinki) interview was most interesting to me. Her experience during the attack was unique compared to the other survivors. What made her unique was her story of being a cripple, a hibakusha some say. Japanese called the survivors from the bomb, 'hibakusha?and this definitely was not a pleasant word to say. Miss Sasaki lost her fianc?due to this dishonorable name Hibakusha. Reading her sorrow of losing her waiting love, the letter of guilt from her fianc? and herself to live on as a Hibakusha, lead me to the peak of sadness. To get rid of her pain she decides to become a nun. She said 'More notice should be given to the causes than to the instruments of total war?and yes I fully agree with her, war is meaningless. Most of the time I felt sympathy in this interview and it was hard to stop reading.
My favorite quote and a quote that I would never forget come from Miss Sasaki's interview. 'I shall not dwell on the past, I prefer not to look back and I shall keep moving forward? Many of us dwell on the past and some take it hard to accept change. I experienced it, but I too learned that it is meaningless to dwell hopelessly on the past. The only solution is to have a dream, make an aim, move forward, and end your life without regret.
I really enjoyed reading this book, it helped me understand what war is like and like the New York Times said 'Everyone able to read should read it? I recommend this book to everyone studying WW2 or Japan's history. In addition, to read one's experience becoming successful under difficult conditions, which is rare to see in nowadays society.

Lastly I would like to conclude that Hiroshima doesn't aim only on the suffering and consequences of the bomb brought to Japanese people, but to show what terror we have done to those innocent people and to show our emotions as a human. It is an unforgettable disaster for our humanity, and the book wants to shout that this should never happen again, in future.

Hiroshima is a book that reconstructs the experiences of several people, including a German missionary, following the dropping of the A-Bomb on that city. It is a quite graphic and moving account, one that evokes the true horror that the survivors experienced. The debate as to whether the dropping of A-Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary will probably never be solved. Personally, I don't think it was necessary, but that is irrelevant here. The book is simply an attempt to put a human face on the incident, the failure or denial of which makes such heinous acts possible (I'm not defending the Japanese--they too committed unspeakable atrocities). The book's message is one of great importance, and therefore very much worth reading.

An extremely vivid picture of atomic energy. It is scary to think of the consequences that occur in wartimes. It is probably one of the best books I have ever read. I would highly recommend this selection.

One of the most socially important books of the twentieth century, inspiring thousands to work to eliminate these truly evil weapons, "Hiroshima" by John Hersey is composed in clear prose which lets the horrific event and its aftermath stand for itself, with no commentary or moralizing. It may be cliche, but this short book should be read by every citizen of our nation (the only country which shamefully used the worst weapon of mass destruction ever devised--not once, but twice). Nowadays, in our 24-hour media-saturated milieu, we seem to filter the tragic through a peculiar detached distance. "Expert" commentary and gloss go simultaneous with the news events themselves; indeed the media feeding frenzy becomes the story half the time. In contrast, "Hiroshima" is powerful in its understated prose and its six unforgettable narratives.