Hiroshima

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Summary: Hiroshima explores the tragedies of the atomic bomb.
Review: Hiroshima is good book, but confusing and a dry reading. The way in which Mr. Hersey presents the actual horrors of the atomic bomb are both compelling and heart wrenching. One instance that stands out as a moment of horror, is when the heat of the bomb etches flowers and designs from the clothing of women on their skin. The only problem with this book is the way in which Mr. Hersey organizes the information. The reader follows people who are in Hiroshima on the day of the bomb, and how the bomb affects the rest of their lives. The only problem with this is Mr. Hersey drops a character, then picks him or her up again several chapters later. This forces the reader to try and remember all the details that were previously stated. Hiroshima by John Hersey is a valiant effort to retell the horrors of Hiroshima, but in the end gets too caught up in recounting the actual tales.

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Summary: The novel was a dull read and a waste of time.
Review: John Hersey's novel, Hiroshima, valiantly tries to give an interesting and factual view to the tragic story of Hiroshima. Yet, it fails to captivate the reader throughout. Hersey's style of writing, although intriguing, leaves the reader on a "cliff hanger" every other page; the novel tries to cover to much at the same time. In this novel he tries to explain that many people got A-bomb sickness, such as one of his many characters, Wilhelm Kleinsorge. This sickness would stay with a person for the rest of their life, and eventually kill them. Hersey does a good job of expressing individual cases of this radiation sickness, but as each story gets more intriguing, it is suddenly interrupted to begin a new section of another story. In my opinion, Hersey would have been much better off if he changed the style of the book into a "make your own story" book, so if the reader wanted to see the next part of a certain persons story, then he/she could flip to the certain page that it is on.

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Summary: It is about six people who lived through the Atomic Bomb.
Review: To me, the most compelling moment in Hiroshima is when a mother of three children dug desperately to free them from the rubble after the bomb hit. Her name is Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura. She had two girls, Yaeko and Myeko, and one boy, Toshio. At the time of the blast, Mrs. Nakamura was in the kitchen cooking rice, and the children were in bed going to sleep. After all of the rubble fell on top of them, Mrs. Nakamura immediately started digging herself out of the rubble. Once out, she heard her children crying, she began to dig them out. Everyone was fine except for a few scratches. This is just one of the many stories that are told in this factual book. Hiroshima is touching, and it gets in depth about each of the six hibakusha survivors. However, it is a dull read, and it gets confusing when it skips around from person to person.

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Summary: John Hersey's novel about the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
Review: Hiroshima is the story of six survivors of the first use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan. Through the story, the reader is thrown into the world of Japan on August 6, 1945. The most interesting part of the book is the story of Dr. Sasaki as he tries to help the people in the overrun hospital after his normally long shift. Although this is an interesting and informative analysis of the bombing, the book is definitely not for the weak of heart, as many parts of the book are extremely graphic.

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Summary: A touching, but unorganized collection of memoirs.
Review: Hiroshima, by John Hersey is a collection of memoirs from the atomic attack on Japan in 1945. It gives the reader a seldom-seen perspective of the bombing. While many books on this subject deal with the American perspective of the attack, Hiroshima tells of the tragedies of various Japanese who survived this near-fatal assault. Among the most poignant stories told in Hiroshima is that of Hatsuyo Nakamura, who dug desperately through the rubble of the bombing in an attempt to free her weeping children. Although all ended well for Mrs. Nakamura, the majority of the people who were annihilated in the bombing ended fatally. The reason why I do not find this book worthy of five stars is that it is extremely repetitious. Although Mr. Hersey is a touching author, he does not demonstrate a strong ability to organize his book efficiently. Overall however, I recommend Hiroshima to anyone who wishes to study the Pacific War to a deeper extent.

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Summary: A story of six lives before, during, and after the bomb.
Review: One moment from the book that caught in my memory is what happens to Mr. Tanimoto when the bomb dropped. Mr. Tanimoto and a a friend were walking to a house to drop off perishables from their church and when they arrived the bomb was dropped. Mr. Tanimoto remembered that there was a flash of light across the sky and he threw himself between two large boulders in the garden. When he raised himself from the ground he saw that the house had collapsed with his friend inside of it. He was thankful that he hadn't dived into the entryway like his unfortunate friend. He walked away from the house thinking that the bomb must have dropped right on top of it because of the destruction caused. Hiroshima is an accurate story of the tales of six survivors but it is a completely dull read. It starts to be captivating, but when Hersey changes abruptly to another character it becomes confusing and tests your memory too much.

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Summary: The Bombing of Hiroshima
Review: Hiroshima, by John Hersey, deserves a high four for its intriguing story. The book is very interesting as it tells the story of six survivors of the bombing. His facts are realistic and his descriptions are very thorough and comprehensive. The book is very pleasing and a great read for anyone who is interested about the bombing of Hiroshima.

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Summary: Hiroshima is great for anyone interested in World War II.
Review: One of the most compelling elements in John Hersey's Hiroshima is the great detail of the book. The descriptions make you feel as if you are there experiencing the horror of the bombing. Dr. Sasaki, a survivor of the bombing, works at a hospital and has to receive many people who suffered injuries during the days after the bombing. This is a moment that I will always remember, along with the five other stories of the survivors.

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Summary: Told through a survivor's perspective, informative/graphic
Review: John Hersey's book, Hiroshima, gives a vivid depiction of the bombing on the civilians of the Japanese city in the first use of the atomic bomb. The story is told through the perspective of six survivors of the bombing, in the time just before the bombing and how they carried on with their lives afterwards. From the descriptions of the silent, blinding light to the idea that they only survived because of specific choices they made during the day, it gives the reader a real sense of what it was like to be in the city at the time.

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Summary: Tries hard, but leaves an uninteresting impression
Review: Although this subject has been touched upon multiple times, John Hersey manages to cover what we AREN'T told. The book has some strong moments, which are a little too vivid at times. The book tries to give the reader a sense of what the A-bomb did, but it misses often.