“Hiroshima” Book Review
[This is a book review of John Hersey’s Hiroshima. I read Hiroshima over the summer as a summer reading book and this is one of the first projects of the year for English class. It takes the role of a literal book review.]
Hiroshima: One for the Classic History Shelf
John Hersey’s Hiroshima starts off with a bang; “Then a tremendous flash of light cut across the sky. Mr. Tanimoto has a distinct recollection that it traveled from east to west, from the city to the hills. It seemed a sheet of sun” (5). Hersey’s Hiroshima tells the amazing story of six survivors of the first atomic bomb ever dropped. To this day, the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, is still being debated. Many innocent Japanese lives were lost on August 6, 1945; the numbers are incredible but at the same time, the stories of the survivors are amazing. This is what makes Hersey’s book so remarkable. Hiroshima follows the surviving tales of two doctors, two women, and two religious men, all fighting for survival in the immediate aftermath of the blast.
When you hear the word, “Hiroshima,” you already know what the conversation is going to be about. Everyone knows that word; it’s where the first atomic bomb was dropped. That is why Hersey’s book didn’t need a fancy or catchy title. “Hiroshima” is a powerful enough word to get the point across. From just that you know the when, where, what, and maybe the why. Hersey knew that and decided to write a dramatic narrative following six different viewpoints during and after the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
Hersey beings his epic narrative with chaos, as the bomb drops. Hersey does a good job of introducing the six main characters as the havoc is breaks loose. We are introduced to Dr. Masakazu Fujii who is a physician and has his own medical clinic that gets destroyed by the bomb. Three years after the attack, he rebuilds the clinic and continues to be a doctor. Dr. Fujii is the most boring character because the atomic bomb hardly changed his life. It doesn’t really make sense as to why Hersey would put a character like this in his narrative. It is very interesting, and I think he was put in the narrative for a purpose. Hersey might have been making a point that not everyone changed dramatically from the attack. I do know that if something like that happened to me it would sure be a life- changing experience. I enjoy the other doctor’s character much more.
Dr. Terufumi Sasaki is a courageous character who thinks of other people before himself. He helps the sick and dying people of Hiroshima as much as he can throughout the story. Hersey describes one of Dr. Sasaki’s brave attempts to help the injured; “Dr. Sasaki worked without method, taking those who were nearest him first, and he noticed soon that the corridor seemed to be getting more and more crowded” (25).
The two women of the story, Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura and Toshiko Sasaki, represent similar characters to me, but Mrs. Nakamura is more unique. During the story she cares for her three kids, who are the only family members of any characters mentioned in the book. The Nakamura family suffered from poverty in Hiroshima since the beginning, so their perspective during the narrative is different then everyone else’s. Hatsuyo and her children’s ride escaping the attack on Hiroshima is suspenseful and makes you wonder if they are all going to make it out alright. Hersey delivered this gripping line while Mrs. Nakamura is fighting for her child; “Having struggled up from under the ruins of her house after the explosion, and seeking Myeko, the youngest of her three children . . . crawled across the debris, hauled at timbers, and flung tiles aside, in a hurried effort to free the child” (18). Toshiko Sasaki differs from Hatsuyo in that Toshiko doesn’t take care of her family during the narrative.
Toshiko is a young clerk who also is also faced with a family problem. She is looking after her brothers and sisters along with her parents when the bomb drops. This part of her character makes her more exciting. She is injured in the attack but her route to religious hood is something of value. She converts to Christianity and becomes a nun with the encouragement of one of the other five survivors, Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge. Toshiko’s story amazes me in how she is able to turn her life around into something great.
Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge is somewhat of an odd character because he is the only one that isn’t Japanese. When the bomb hits, Hersey tells the reader exactly what he does; “Father Kleinsorge, in bloody underwear, running out of the house with a small suitcase in his hand” (21). He is a German Jesuit priest. Father Kleinsorge is a courageous and helping man just like Dr. Sasaki. However, Kleinsorge aids people in a different way, with the spiritual aspect. Wilhelm’s thoughts on the attack and aftermath events give the reader a non-Japanese view of things, an overall different perspective on the experience. It was a good idea for Hersey to include a character from a different heritage to show how different survivors saw it. Hersey needed a character like this because it wasn’t just a Japanese incident, it involved the whole world.
Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto is the other nice, grateful religious man. He is a Methodist pastor who is a caring person. This warm spirited man would do whatever he could to get the injured people of Hiroshima to safety. I have to say, Reverend Tanimoto is my favorite character just because of how brave he is. Here, Hersey gives the reader an example of that bravery; “Mr. Tanimoto lifted them away from the boat, and as he did so, he experienced such horror at disturbing the dead” (37). I also found myself trying to understand his character; he is a very multifaceted character. Reverend Tanimota has connections with America that make him seem like a suspicious person but you find him trying to prove his loyalty to Japan after the chaos is over. He also does a lot of good things after the war, which makes his character even more enjoyable.
Community is the main re-occurring theme that takes place in Hiroshima. The bombing makes the whole Japanese community come together to help one another in need. Hersey barely touches on the idea of family; most of the characters are by themselves, along with the people of Hiroshima since the attack destroyed many families and homes. This almost makes the community come together. Without the community there to help each other, things could have been a lot worse for everyone.
Some people may think this narrative makes the United States look like an evil country, but I don’t think that’s true. Sure, the atomic bomb killed a lot of innocent people in Hiroshima, but think what would have happened if the U.S elected not to drop the bomb. There’s a possibility me or you might not be here right now, and America could be completely different. It was a matter or national security and I believe the U.S did the right thing.
Author’s Afterword of “Hiroshima” Book Review
The idea for my cover page for my book review was not a very complex one. I simply went onto google.com and typed in the word ‘Hiroshima’. I thought that the word was popular enough to give the results I was looking for, and I was right. I made a collage of digital images taken of Hiroshima, Japan after the bombing. It just gave the reader a little idea of what great destruction was made, and what the six characters had to go through in the narrative. I also included a different looking picture which I made the biggest because I think it has the most powerful effect. It is a picture of three chalk outlines of people memorializing the people who died in the attack. Next to the chalk, on the ground writes ‘Hiroshima 1945’. This is just a little, but moving memorial of the atomic bomb attack in Hiroshima and was important to include on the cover page.
Writing this book review was no walk in the park; it was harder then I thought it was going to be. I thought a book review was simply, just reviewing the book; although I did know a few things. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to summarize too much, but at the same time not just give your opinion for 3 pages. Instead you do a little bit of both, but without giving the ending away. Other then that there are a few new things I learned about book reviews. I didn’t know that themes were supposed to be discussed; I thought it was just summary and criticism. I also learned we could be as critical as we wanted to, I figured we could but wasn’t sure it would be alright.
I believe the strongest aspect of my book review is my introduction. I believe it’s well written and leads into the story well. I give a little bit of historical facts of Hiroshima then refer it to how remarkable the narrative really is. It also gave the reader enough but not too much information about the story.