A journalistic masterpiece. John Hersey transports us back to the streets of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945â??the day the city was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. Told through the memories of six survivors, Hiroshima is a timeless, powerful classic that will awaken your heart and your compassion. In this new edition, Hersey returns to Hiroshima to find the survivorsâ??and to tell their fates in an eloquent and moving final chapter… (más)
alco261: Hiroshima is a history of what happened on the ground when and shortly after the bomb dropped. Enola Gay is a history of what happened in the air with respect to transporting and dropping the bomb.
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Hiroshima: With a Final Chapter Written Forty Years After the Explosion
John Hersey
Yesterday marks the sixty-seventh anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It seemed to pass unnoticed in the media.
I first read John Hersey's Hiroshima in 1976, and at the time I was not really impressed with the destruction caused by the bomb. I recall writing a book report about it, and that was the end of it. I was disappointed to find that it was not a book about the glories of war, but rather a narrative about civilians coping with the aftermath of an explosion which destroyed most of the city's infrastructure. It was boring.
In 2008, I got a copy of this book from Easton Press. Below the title was the phrase "With a final chapter written forty years after the explosion." In the extra chapter, Hersey reports on what happened to the men and women afterwards. The book was a far more interesting read the second time around.
A few things struck me while reading this book. One was that the people of Hiroshima had a feeling that their city was due for a bombing. It turns out this was correct, as the American forces had decided to spare it so that they could see the effects of the bomb on an undisturbed city. While cities all around them were getting bombed, Hiroshima was left alone. It was near a staging area for bombers heading to other cities in Japan, so the people were used to hearing air raid sirens. Hersey seems to imply that the populace had grown complacent, and were not prepared for a bombing. On the morning of August 6, the alarms had gone off twice; once for a B-29 which was performing weather reconnaissance, and then later when the Enola Gay and the two bombers which accompanied it flew over the city.
I can't recall if it was in this book, but there is a story that some people saw the bombers turn away violently after dropping the bomb, and they thought that the aircraft had been shot out of the sky. Actually, the Enola Gay was turning away to escape from the anticipated blast. The other two aircraft were along to take recordings and photographs of the explosion and its aftermath.
The other thing which impressed me was how all of the people in the book kept on despite the effects of the atomic bomb on their bodies and souls. While I would not agree with how all of them lived after the war, they still are examples of how one can overcome setbacks as large as a nuclear explosion. I recommend this book for anyone who is considering military service; I encourage readers to get the version of the book with the follow-up chapter. ( )
At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima, Miss Toshinki Sasaki, a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works, had just sat down at her place in the plant office and was turning her head to speak to the girl at the next desk.
And when Father Kleinsorge gave water to some whose faces has been almost blotted out by flash burns, they took their share and then raised themselves a little and bowed to him, in thanks.
Do not work primarily for money; do your duty to your patients first and let the money follow; our life is short, we don’t live twice; the whirlwind will pick up the leaves and spin them, but then it will drop them and they will form a pile. (Dr. Sasaki)
Please distinguish this "New Edition With a Final Chapter Written Forty Years After the Explosion" (1985) from John Hersey's original Work, Hiroshima (1946).
A journalistic masterpiece. John Hersey transports us back to the streets of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945â??the day the city was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. Told through the memories of six survivors, Hiroshima is a timeless, powerful classic that will awaken your heart and your compassion. In this new edition, Hersey returns to Hiroshima to find the survivorsâ??and to tell their fates in an eloquent and moving final chapter
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John Hersey
Yesterday marks the sixty-seventh anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It seemed to pass unnoticed in the media.
I first read John Hersey's Hiroshima in 1976, and at the time I was not really impressed with the destruction caused by the bomb. I recall writing a book report about it, and that was the end of it. I was disappointed to find that it was not a book about the glories of war, but rather a narrative about civilians coping with the aftermath of an explosion which destroyed most of the city's infrastructure. It was boring.
In 2008, I got a copy of this book from Easton Press. Below the title was the phrase "With a final chapter written forty years after the explosion." In the extra chapter, Hersey reports on what happened to the men and women afterwards. The book was a far more interesting read the second time around.
A few things struck me while reading this book. One was that the people of Hiroshima had a feeling that their city was due for a bombing. It turns out this was correct, as the American forces had decided to spare it so that they could see the effects of the bomb on an undisturbed city. While cities all around them were getting bombed, Hiroshima was left alone. It was near a staging area for bombers heading to other cities in Japan, so the people were used to hearing air raid sirens. Hersey seems to imply that the populace had grown complacent, and were not prepared for a bombing. On the morning of August 6, the alarms had gone off twice; once for a B-29 which was performing weather reconnaissance, and then later when the Enola Gay and the two bombers which accompanied it flew over the city.
I can't recall if it was in this book, but there is a story that some people saw the bombers turn away violently after dropping the bomb, and they thought that the aircraft had been shot out of the sky. Actually, the Enola Gay was turning away to escape from the anticipated blast. The other two aircraft were along to take recordings and photographs of the explosion and its aftermath.
The other thing which impressed me was how all of the people in the book kept on despite the effects of the atomic bomb on their bodies and souls. While I would not agree with how all of them lived after the war, they still are examples of how one can overcome setbacks as large as a nuclear explosion. I recommend this book for anyone who is considering military service; I encourage readers to get the version of the book with the follow-up chapter. (