'Hiroshima' by John Hersey - A Book Review

For me, this was a surprisingly emotional read.

I was assigned this book for a class that took a look from other countries media perspective during global events, the Hiroshima bombing being one of them. I knew very little of what really happened in that Japanese city, but I knew that what I was told as a child wasn't right, wasn't the full story.

In case you have not heard about this story before, let me give you a quick run-down of what happens. John Hersey, an investigative reporter for The New Yorker, wrote and documented the stories from six survivors of the Hiroshima bombing on August 6th, 1945. (here is a link to the original TNY posting).  The first four sections of the story were published in The New Yorker, while years later he went back and wrote a new section on what happened with the six survivors and their lives. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes history and also to anyone who wishes to know a lot of the truth from what the United States did at 8:15 that morning.

A small synopsis of the survivors and who they are, are as followed:

1. Haysuyo Nakamura - The widow of a tailor, mother of three. Saved all three of her children after their house fell on them and brought them to the park with everyone else.
2. Dr. Terufumi Sasaki - A doctor at the Red Cross Hospital in Hiroshima. After the bombing he was the only doctor in the hospital with the help of a few nurses; he got very little sleep.
3. Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge - A German priest in the mission house. He spent a lot of the first day helping everyone who he came in contact with.
4. Toshiko Sasaki - (not related to the above doctor) A young woman working in the Tin Factory who was stuck under books and left in the rain.
5. Dr. Masakazu Fujii - Lost his hospital on the bank of the river.
6. Kiyoshi Tanimoto - The owner of a church who ended up becoming a figure in Japan and in some circuits in the United States on some of his tours to help raise money.

I am leaving out a lot of detail so that you can go out and find the stories for yourself if you're interested in learning; spoilers aren't fun for anyone.

Now on to my feelings about the book.

I gave Hiroshima five stars on Goodreads for so many reasons. One was the level of emotion that it brought to me as I read it. I found myself needing a lot of comfort food reading the six stories in this piece, or maybe that was just because I'm over emotional anyways. Besides that point, John Hersey does a wonderful job of bringing you into that day and feeling the emotions that all those other people felt when they saw neighbors and loved ones burned and having their skin coming off. I gave it five stars because it was historic, and accurately so. There was nothing false, these were true stories from real people on the bombing day.

Hersey's storytelling of the six different survivors was touching and quick. I felt like the book spent so much time explaining when in reality it took almost no time at all, that's good reporting.

It's so telling to see, especially now, that some people still to this day do not know the destruction of the A-Bomb that the U.S. dropped on the innocent people of Hiroshima, I knew some of it but was still shocked to hear the dirty details that were described in this book, because I was told the G-rated story. Not one of people burning, dying with pus coming out of all wounds, and families torn apart by fallen buildings. I was not told the stories of everyone who lost something, just that my country did what we had to do...but did we have to do it? I know this is a little too political and controversial for a book review, but I'm just saying, from what I am know learning, there was not a need to drop the bomb on the city. We did it for testing.

I am sorry for what my ancestors did to the Japanese, I am sorry that there are still people alive, who were not alive during the bombing and that are still suffering the effects of what my country did to yours. I apologize to all the explosion-affected persons who have lived (and are still living) their lives in pain from the after-effects of the bombing.

Reading 'Hiroshima' by John Hersey helped me realize that there is so much more to the stories that I have been told when I was younger, the lessons I was taught in class. I just need to get a new perspective on the stories, a new view from outside. It's the only way to see the whole picture. The only way to really try to go for peace.

What are your thoughts on Hiroshima (the book or the actual event)? Have you read this before and had a similar/opposite reaction to it?  What's another accurate historical piece that you've read that gave you a new look on what you've been told (and would you recommend it?)?  Let's have a conversation in the comments.

À beintôt!

Photo/Gif creds: book cover,