Rating: 
Summary: Grisly Nonfiction Novel
Review: "Five Past Midnight in Bhopal" documents the story of the famous disaster at the Union Carbide plant in India that killed between 16,000 and 30,000 people. The reason the death toll is so variable is because most of the victims were among the very poorest in a country that has a staggering numbers of such people. Whole familes were killed, leaving nobody behind to report their deaths. Authors Dominic Lapierre and Javier Moro recount the disaster by using the technique of the non-fiction novel rather than reporting the events in a straight narrative. There are no notes and no bibliography, just a 400 page narrative of the story from the inception of the plans to build the Union Carbide plant to the aftermath of the tragedy.The authors build the story through interviews with the workers at the plant, survivors from the city and several Union Carbide employees. The tale that emerges is one of an unfortunately preventable disaster that occurred because of misguided corporate decisions, the faultiest of which was probably the decision to build and run such a technologically complex and potentially dangerous facility in a third world country in the first place. Union Carbide also suffered from a misreading of the Indian marketplace and ultimately from a horribly misguided cost cutting plan that decimated safety proceedures at the plant and directly led to the disaster. Lapierre and Moro are excellent writers whose prose is compellingly readable, though a bit overly dramatic at times. The style of the book is likely to put off some readers, who may be expecting more straightforward reporting. I should also note that the book concludes with an appeal for donations to help the poverty stricken in India, further illustrating that it is not a work of journalism. Nevertheless, this is an important story that deserves to retold as a cautionary note to both big business and to governments. Overall, a gruesome story of man made disaster that most readers will likely find both moving and enraging.
Rating:
Summary: Grisly Nonfiction Novel
Review: "Five Past Midnight in Bhopal" documents the story of the famous disaster at the Union Carbide plant in India that killed between 16,000 and 30,000 people. The reason the death toll is so variable is because most of the victims were among the very poorest in a country that has a staggering numbers of such people. Whole familes were killed, leaving nobody behind to report their deaths. Authors Dominic Lapierre and Javier Moro recount the disaster by using the technique of the non-fiction novel rather than reporting the events in a straight narrative. There are no notes and no bibliography, just a 400 page narrative of the story from the inception of the plans to build the Union Carbide plant to the aftermath of the tragedy. The authors build the story through interviews with the workers at the plant, survivors from the city and several Union Carbide employees. The tale that emerges is one of an unfortunately preventable disaster that occurred because of misguided corporate decisions, the faultiest of which was probably the decision to build and run such a technologically complex and potentially dangerous facility in a third world country in the first place. Union Carbide also suffered from a misreading of the Indian marketplace and ultimately from a horribly misguided cost cutting plan that decimated safety proceedures at the plant and directly led to the disaster. Lapierre and Moro are excellent writers whose prose is compellingly readable, though a bit overly dramatic at times. The style of the book is likely to put off some readers, who may be expecting more straightforward reporting. I should also note that the book concludes with an appeal for donations to help the poverty stricken in India, further illustrating that it is not a work of journalism. Nevertheless, this is an important story that deserves to retold as a cautionary note to both big business and to governments. Overall, a gruesome story of man made disaster that most readers will likely find both moving and enraging.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book...
Review: A good book on Bhopal, the worst tragedy after industrial revolution
Rating:
Summary: A FASCINATING READ
Review: A great and interesting read .. Beautiful coverage and master story telling
Rating:
Summary: Felt like Heart Filled with "Hydrocyanide Gas"
Review: A sad and nauseating feeling when the final pages of the book was read. The book would have easily got a five star rating from me - Had it been written by any other mortals...But not for Dominique Lapierre. Dominique Lapierre is perhaps the greatest living historian of our times. This book pales in comparision to his previous collections like "Freedom At Midnight", partly because this is a "tiny Incident" that created a "catastrophy", unlike his other books where the theme spanned along a protracted period of time ( Freedom at Midnight, for example depicts a two year time frame) Neverthless, The author has no control over events at that time - Explaining to some of the critics here as to why the book is at times not that gripping.Bhopal was definitly one of the worst that could have happened to Humanity and the way he unfolds the tragedy commends appreciation - Beginning all the way with noble intentions of Union Carbide - Greed that crept in later- Irresponsibility, a classic ingredient of any safety department in India - Indifference of employees sipping Tea as the gas leaked etc.. Similar to the start in "City of Joy", it is Ratna Nadar, a poor migrant who begins his saga....Greedy Arjun Singh (former Chief Minister ) Reporter Tejswani, Padmini - the Young child to get married, Hydrocyanide gas, MIC all blended in perfect proportions to make this book a good novel too.... Only problem is the people who died in this book are all real - They died in excruciating pain.foam, froth and oedema and the author is able to successfully portray with full impact almost after twenty years.. Atleast I hope this book is another ammunition for the 30,000 dead victims and 500,000 survivors in getting more than the paltry 470 million Dollars settlement and bringing the "golfing" leaders ( Anderson , the chairman) living in the mansion of "Palm Beach" to justice.
Rating:
Summary: Felt like Heart Filled with "Hydrocyanide Gas"
Review: A sad and nauseating feeling when the final pages of the book was read. The book would have easily got a five star rating from me - Had it been written by any other mortals...But not for Dominique Lapierre. Dominique Lapierre is perhaps the greatest living historian of our times. This book pales in comparision to his previous collections like "Freedom At Midnight", partly because this is a "tiny Incident" that created a "catastrophy", unlike his other books where the theme spanned along a protracted period of time ( Freedom at Midnight, for example depicts a two year time frame) Neverthless, The author has no control over events at that time - Explaining to some of the critics here as to why the book is at times not that gripping.Bhopal was definitly one of the worst that could have happened to Humanity and the way he unfolds the tragedy commends appreciation - Beginning all the way with noble intentions of Union Carbide - Greed that crept in later- Irresponsibility, a classic ingredient of any safety department in India - Indifference of employees sipping Tea as the gas leaked etc.. Similar to the start in "City of Joy", it is Ratna Nadar, a poor migrant who begins his saga....Greedy Arjun Singh (former Chief Minister ) Reporter Tejswani, Padmini - the Young child to get married, Hydrocyanide gas, MIC all blended in perfect proportions to make this book a good novel too.... Only problem is the people who died in this book are all real - They died in excruciating pain.foam, froth and oedema and the author is able to successfully portray with full impact almost after twenty years.. Atleast I hope this book is another ammunition for the 30,000 dead victims and 500,000 survivors in getting more than the paltry 470 million Dollars settlement and bringing the "golfing" leaders ( Anderson , the chairman) living in the mansion of "Palm Beach" to justice.
Rating:
Summary: Why did it happen: GREED!
Review: Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster, Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro - The gas leak in Bhopal in the winter of 1984 claimed 3,787 lives. That's the official count; unofficial estimates range from 20,000 dead and half a million suffering from the after-effects of inhaling a noxious gas. Why did the tragedy happen? Simple: greed. Union Carbide, in a zeal to supply more pesticide than could be used in the subcontinent, built a plant to produce the pesticide locally. When the Indian droughts and distribution problems conspired to reduce their revenues, UC did what any western corporation does with pride: reduce costs. In this case, costs were reduced by allowing the safety systems of the plant to atrophy. The air-conditioner which should have maintained a regulating temprature was shut down; the flare which would normally have burned off the excess gas was extinguished; the pipes which would have shunted the execss gas to other tanks were left to rust; the employees who should be monitoring the saftey functions of the plant were let go. After all, UC thought, a plant that was not producing any pesticide could not turn into an environment disaster. They were wrong.
Due to a series of unfortunate occurences, gas pressure built up in the tanks causing it to escape, with deadly results. Since UC had not seen fit to provide information on the composition of the gas (Methyl isocynate, or MIC) to the local government, no effective antidote could be used by the hospitals when affected people started to arrive. By the morning of December 3, 1984, thousands were dead.
The name Bhopal is synonymous with the disaster that occurred there 20 years ago. To this date, no criminal proceedings have been held to hold UC responsible (UC was bought out by Dow Chemicals in 2000, and no longer exists as an independent company; Dow absolves all responsibility of the disaster). UC settled with the Indian government on a sum of US $470 million. After 20 years, about US $300 million are still with the Indian government awaiting disbursements to people who are no longer alive, or even if they are alive, are dying a slow and painful death. The Indian government, maybe out of inertia, or maybe out of the mistaken belief that future multi-nationals may not invest in India if UC is charged with criminal neglect, has not done anything to prosecute UC. UC, for its part, blames the accident on a disgruntled employee! The CEO of UC, Warren Anderson, lives in anonymity in the US; he is a wanted person in India. Thousands of lives have been lost and millions affected, all brushed aside by a UC statement that distills these enormous losses to a "per share loss of 0.43 cents!"
This is a great book, written in the same style that Dominique Lapierre uses for "Freedom At Midnight". 2/3 of the book is devoted to glimpses in the lives of the people who were the hardest hit by the gas leak; the remaining 1/3 is devoted to the actual leak. This book should be a must read for all multi-nationals that espouse to exploit the cheap third world labor market. It is a telling fact that when smaller amounts of gas leaks in UC plants occurred in the US, one of the affected women went to college to get a degree in environment issues and armed with it, battled UC in the courts (and prevailed). The affected people in Bhopal did not have such a chance, nor can they even comprehend this as a way of battling corporations. India has a long way to go before it considers itself a first world country. For more information, see Union Carbide's official site on the Bhopal Disaster (http://www.bhopal.com), and a non- government organization site (http://www.bhopal.org), which to me is far more believable than UC's site.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was excited when I heard that a new book came out about the incident in Bhopal, but extremely disappointed in this book. It is a great story, written in a terrible style. The authors write as though they are anticipated a hollywood screenplay. Needless to say, this makes for an unconvincing storyline that never truly engages the reader.
Rating:
Summary: So We Never Forget
Review: Rarely I start a book and can not put it down until the very last page. Being a avid reader of various topics for many years, Five Past Midnight at Bhopal was one such book, that made me stay till two in the morning, unable to put it down.
I faintly remember the incident at Bhopal, having been fairly young at the time to take in all the details, or appreciate the human tragedy that has occured, so I did not hesitate to buy this book as soon as it was published, being previously unfamilair with the works of Lapierre and Moro.
What makes this book so powerful is its unflinching humanity. Some of the thousands of victims that died that night, suddenly were alive with a history, and the authors with obvious sympathy, transform wretched, destitute, outcast people into heroes..their lives, joys, aspirations, optimism in the face of impossible odds is a wonderful triumph of the human spirit, regardless of how many gods it worships.
The moment when one of these people gets the first TV set, to the amazement of all the slum dwellers, is very touching and powerful..When the wedding preparations are made, and the joy of the parents borrowing money from a usurer to make it the most beautiful day of their daughter's life, is full of dignity..In short, the authors succeed on one level, to pay hommage to people that are forgotten in their own country and certainly in the world.
Yet the whole book is about the tragedy of the factory, and although I believe that the incident was partly caused by the cost cutting of Union Carbide,partly because of the inefficiency, and lack of training of the employees..(I did not join the authors in their apparent anti globalization undertones), the effect and devastation was mind boggling.
Yet why this book works beautifully, is simply because the authors have presented us with the lives of many characters, and when the tragedy strikes, we care enough about these people to turn every page in anticipation to know their fate.
It also reads like a thriller, escalating tension up until the fateful moment..
I did not finish the book accusing anyone, it is a tragic accident, rather I had a great feeling about how great the human spirit can be, the notion of selfless sacrifice coming alive.
If anything, I think the proceeds of this book will help some of the victims, which will make it an essential buy.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: Reading this book on a plane back from India, I admired the way the author was able to blend in the texture of the city and all the different forces at work: from people struggling for their daily existence to the enthusiastic engineers who built the plant . From cursory knowledge of the incident, I always thought that Union Carbide skimped when building the plant--not installing adequate safety measures, etc. I also had read carbide literature which blames the accident on sabotage, tea breaks, and other nonsense. Lapierre gives a balanced view and shows how the plant, which was initially closely monitored, was allowed to deteriorate in order to save costs. What makes the book worth reading is the people--especially the heroism of people during the night of the tragedy, amazing. Definitely worth reading.
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