Hiroshima

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad book. Very interesting.
Review: While Hiroshima was interesting, it was not as exciting or suspenseful as a fictional story might be. It was, however, a compelling story that helped give a better view into what happened on the fateful day when Hiroshima was bombed, and it did hold my interest. While it was somewhat graphic, I was at times enthusiastic to get back and read more. It was a fascinating account of the bare truth. I would recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945
Review: Hersey let the facts speak for themselves. They did so with terrible eloquence...100,000 men women and children were killed. However it had to be done to stop the Japanese taking all of Asia.

Rating:
Summary: Provides a different take on an all-too-familiar subject.
Review: Much has been written and taught on the ethics of using atomic weaponry on Hiroshima as well as the justifications for doing so. Hersey covers what we WEREN'T taught...the perspectives of those most affected by the atomic bomb and the extremely detailed horrors that they experienced. This book, in and of itself, is not enough information to comprise the entire history lesson on Hiroshima. It is, however, an excellent supplement to history lessons as an account of the true effects of atomic weaponry as viewed by the people who are most qualified to tell the story...the hibakusha.

Rating:
Summary: This book was historical and interesting- but no cigar.
Review: HIROSHIMA by John Hersey was historical and educational, but I had no emotions for the situations or characters for some reason, and c'mon- that's what gets people drawn. The only situations that got me stirred up were the many gruesome ones. If you do read it, read it for pleasure. Not for a class that will force you to destroy the story's mood by writing notes. Try this book though, it DOES show the strong effects the A-bomb did and the reactions and destruction the helpless city of Hiroshima faced.

Rating:
Summary: This book was great in informing me about what happened.
Review: It was a great book. It tells what actually happened on the day the bomb was dropped and it is told through the memories of six survivors. Some parts of the book were a little too vivid, but I like that part. Two thumbs up!

Rating:
Summary: John Hershey is a genius
Review: John Hershey makes you feel like you're one of the survivors. He really brings out the Nakamura's story and Dr.Saski's struggle. Thought he did not write much about Ms.Sasaki, it still came out great.

Rating:
Summary: Hersey grabs you with his "facts only" story.
Review: The book may be small, the writing may seem simplistic, but this account from several survivors of the first atomic bombing truly drives home the horror of what happened. By leaving out the "drama", Hersey effectively translates the shock, the mind-numbing horror that was experienced by the people of Hiroshima during and after the dropping of the bomb.

Rating:
Summary: A quiet and unassuming writing packs a punch
Review: In a style reminiscent of Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember," John Hersey succeeds in presenting quite literally the ground-zero view of the horror of what human beings can do to each other, given the right (or wrong) ingredients. The writing is very matter-of-fact, and Hersey succeeds. With his talent, he could have very well made an elaborate drama out of Hiroshima, to make it so-called an "interesting" read. Instead, Hersey seems to have focused on the raw but still intimate fact of what happened, and left it with the reader to react to it, instead of spoon-feeding a "proper" response. As such, the book leaves an impression of being unsophisticated, and accomplishes its task because of it. This is an excellent piece.

Rating:
Summary: Eyewitnesses to the bomb
Review: This slender volume is to Hiroshima what "Night" is to the Holocaust. It doesn't explain how the bomb was made, or why it was dropped. Rather, Mr. Hersey writes about Hiroshima from the perspective of survivors, who are fairly average people. The experiences he describe are uniquely personal and, deliberately, I think, related matter-of-factly. The stories told here remind us why we should always think differently about weapons of mass destruction.

Rating:
Summary: Hiroshima had a good message, but it was hard to understand
Review: The book Hiroshima was not what it seemed to be to me. I thought it would have a lot more depth to it and the six people that John Hersey interviewed were usually just being normal and didn't really show real deep emotion toward the tragedy that has happened in this book. The people in the book were interesting to read about but they were just too plain. If there was a country's president or someone really important, not to say that they weren't important because that is a great gift to be saved from dying in an explosion that had an impact on the whole world. If you choose to read this book, try to look at it as if you were one of those people so then you can get into the book a lot more than what I did. I did do that in the first and fifth chapters so I understood it much more than what I did in the chapters in between. I would like to recommend this book to those people that are into real climax stories and role-playing stories. I also recommend this book to those of you that choose a tragedy over a comedy or suspenseful novel.