Hiroshima

Rating:
Summary: Powerfully objective
Review: This book is powerfully objective. The facts and the details, the hardships that the six main characters go through make you question President Truman's morals and true consideration in his execution of the operation that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

The novel loses some steam in the last twenty pages or so, but I still highly recommend it if you don't have to read it for school.

Rating:
Summary: Does What It Was Written To Do
Review: Don't be fooled by the 5 stars, Hiroshima is not the best written, nor most challenging book one will ever read, in fact, in those areas this book does not even come close. However, John Hersey's promise of opening the world's eyes to the horrors of the "bomb" is fulfilled to the very last sentiment in this classic book.

This book was simply a school assignment for me, I honestly can say I would not have read it otherwise. Nevertheless, after reading it I began to question my indifference towards World War II, and even more- the threat of nuclear war. Bombs like the "A-bomb" have never fallen on the USA, and that may be why most Americans don't blink at the mention of atomic warfare.

For those of you who have two or three hours to spare, and are interested in the chaos that about 10 pounds of uranium and 5 pounds of radium can create, this is a succint and timeless novel (which would pass for a mass-biography) which will hopefully remain on college and high school English cirriculums for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."
Review: Hersey brought to light the true horror that thrust humanity into the atomic age, Hiroshima. Often, in the United States, we see the bombing of Hiroshima as a means to an end. Some say the use of atomic weapons during World War II saved millions of American lives, and perhaps those sentiments are true. However atomic weapons have also brought Americans to the doorstep of hell all too often. It wasn't so long ago that Kennedy and Khrushchev stared down the barrel of nuclear annihilation, both holding the fate of humanity in the palms of their hands.

Oppenheimer was right. Following the first atomic test, he recited words from the Bhagavad-Gita, 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.' And in a way, he had become death. He opened a Pandora's box that can never be resealed.

Since we are destined to live with the threat of nuclear weapons, it is all we can do to attempt to halt the proliferation and use of said weapons. Hersey's book reveals the havoc that even the smallest atomic weapon can cause. Today, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima is nothing more than a child's cherry bomb, compared to the multi-megaton warheads that point across national boarders. And this revelation is what makes Hersey's book so important. It gives us a taste of what is to come if we 'cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.'

Rating:
Summary: Solid and important work.
Review: Very good book. I also have enjoyed the audiobook.
It's non fiction, so it's not for pure entertainment, but for people who really want to see the unvarnished truth of what happened.

Rating:
Summary: Hiroshima
Review: On August 6, 1945 a noiseless flash of the first atomic bombing spread out into the early morning sky of Hiroshima. This is the story of six surviors of the diaster. With no detail held back, John Hersey has written an excellent novel that should be read by everyone. It is written as the surviors of the destruction of Hiroshima excatly remember it. This book tells of the horrors these people had to endure. Even though all these people witnessed the same thing, they all have many different points of view about what happened on that fateful day. A masterpiece of literature, this book should and must be read by everyone.

Rating:
Summary: John Hersey's "Hiroshima"
Review: My name is Steve and I go to St. Pius School in Lombard Illinois, and i had to read Hiroshima for a literature class. This book is a diffacult read, but it is very enjoyable. The story starts off in Hiroshima when the bomb drops. Hersey writes about six people in the town when the bomb dropped and follows what they do through the entire book. I liked the idea of starting off the book with a big event. Most books lead up to the climax, but Hersey decided to take a chance and make the climax right at the beginning. I think that the chance he took made the book very enjoyable. This book is very descriptive and Hersy is does not leave very much to the imagination. Another thing about the book is that it is sort of divided into two sections: when the bomb dropped and all of the events that followed, and fifty years later. I thought that this idea was very neat. Also what made the book even better was that all the characters were real and Hersy tracked down their lives for fifty years just to write this book. The only down-side to the book was that it was a rather challenging book. Many times I had to re-read many paragraphs. Besides that I really enjoyed the book and I hope that you will to!

Rating:
Summary: The age of The Atom Bomb
Review: HIroshima is an equsite book. It details 6 survivors of the Atom Bomb at the end of World War Two. The book outlines these survivors' lives and how they helped their fellow men. The story shows a great deal of humanity, and how even when all seems lost there is still hope in the world. I recomend this book for Teenagers and above due to the fact of some graphic details of the injuries resulting from the Bomb. Hersey is a great author!

Rating:
Summary: Another View
Review: In America we are never shown the human side or the after affects of the Atomic Bomb. We are only told that it ended the war and saved countless American soldiers lives.

This book sheds some light on the human side and the Japanese view of what happened. The fact that nearly 100,000 people had been killed or doomed in one blow and 100,000 more injured in a city of 245,000 is something to contemplate in itself. The human tragedy is explored a bit in this book. The wounds, the eybrows burned off, the eyes melted out of their sockets, skin hanging from faces and hands. Vomiting and burn patterns on bodies. It can be a bit gruesome but it is important to know the devestation that this bomb brought. The after effects of radiation poisoning and the lifelong health problems of many of the survivors are explored. The increased rates in cancer and luekemia are discussed.

This is an eye opening book that tells the story of 6 different survivors. The horrors in the aftermath of the Atomic explosion. The human side, the emotions, the injuries, the recovery and rebuilding. Told through the eyes of normal everyday people. The story is engrossing.

I highly recommend this book be read by many. Although I think they should read others on the subject as well to see the entire picture. This book covers the human perspective but not the political or military perspective. A very interesting read.

Rating:
Summary: Good...But hard to follow
Review: When I read the book Hirsoshima I was a bit dissapointed. I was given a Language Arts Project, which I had to read a novel and do twenty entries. I chose Hiroshima, because I thought i would be able to learn more about history and what not. I learned more about history, yes, but the book in itself was quite dumb in my opinion. The book is about when we (America) dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan. It tells the story of six Japanese people, and what they had to do to survive throughout the "war". Having six people, however, made the book very hard to follow. John Hersey (the author of the book) had to switch stories every three or four paragraphs, so that got pretty annoying and hard to follow. If your are looking for a book to read for a history project, this is one I would reccomend. If you are looking for a book to read just for the sake of a good book, this is one that is good, but hard to follow. Not recommended. By me anyway. Thank you for reading this reveiw, I hope this helped you with your decision of the book. Mitch Smucker

Rating:
Summary: Informative, Yet Hard To Follow
Review: I recently read the book Hiroshima, By John Hersey, for an L.A. book report and was in some ways very happy about the book and how it was written, and in other ways, not. The story is about the time when America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (hence the name of the book) Japan. The Book was very informative, giving you five points of veiw, all which are true, and combined them into one whole story. This, However, made the book hard to follow. It (the book) would go for example, by telling the story of Mr. Fujii (one of the people in the book, who was a physician) And in the next paragraph, would all of the sudden start talking about Father Kleinsorge (another person in the book) who, had little to nothing to do with Mr. Fujii. This made the story somewhat hard to follow because I would become interested in one persons story, and then it would change to another person, which was sometimes frusterating. I would have personally much rather have had one ongoing story about one person (maybe two would be fine) That's just my preference. Some people may prefer many different stories. If you're reading this review and thinking, wow, sounds like he hated the book, well, i did! I learned a lot about the war with Japan, and all of that. But if I wouldn't have had to read the book, I definitly would have stopped reading after the second chapter. But who knows, maybe you'll enjoy it. If you like stories about how people help other people to survive, and stories about history, then I think you probably will enjoy this book. Thanks for taking the time to read my Review.

Mitch Smucker
September, 24, 2002