Review: Hiroshima by John Hersey || Always Doing 

Wonderful review Kazen! I loved all the background information about the author you gave. Knowing all the religious and language stuff would really change the way I would read this book, I think.

This isn’t a subject I know much about so it was super interesting to hear you speak about it. I love that you are able to catch translation hitches.

I first read this boon during 1970 while living in Japan, a mere 25 years after the bomb was dropped. I was a 7th grader, and my dad was a USAF officer stationed at Fuchu. I greatly appreciate your personal knowledge and insights into Japanese culture, as it adds so much relevant context to your review. Thanks so much . . . greatly appreciated!

Thank you 🎉

I just bought this book yesterday and I will receive it tomorrow Thank you sister for your wonderful review .

What an exquisite review! It’s one of those books I thought I had heard so much about that I didn’t need to bother reading it. Now I think that I probably should read it!

I had an world yellow copy but never got to reading it before it disappeared. After your qualified review, I definitely would like to read it, but along with books by Japanese authors. Thanks, Kazen!

This is a wonderful review. I’ve been looking over your playlist and I’m very impressed. I was a teacher in KobeFor three years and was able to visit Hiroshima. It’s very sad visiting the museum yet the city Is vibrant and modern . I think I’ve read this book, but I’ve read a lot of books on Hiroshima so I could be wrong. I’ll keep looking over your videos. Aloha Maya

I love your reviews! They are so eloquent and well-planned! I really want to read this book despite the plagiarism claim, because I'm curious about the subject. I think it speaks volumes about the Japanese people that they don't want to known as the victims and the fact that they hate the bomb! I can understand your annoyance with the language! Also, thanks for mentioning the Bells of Nagasaki - will keep an eye out for that.

_Hiroshima_ is occasionally taught in high school when discussing nonfiction. I never taught it, but do remember reading it a number of years ago. I didn’t know Hersey wrote fiction, let alone acquired a reputation for plagiarism. Sheesh!

What a great review, which reveals things about this novel I hadn't heard before. BTW A doctor I knew was among the first M.D.s going into Hiroshima after the bombing. He was stationed on Tinian Island and walked past the Enola Gay regularly, not knowing the plane's purpose until the bomb was dropped. Why are you interested in Japanese culture and in medicine, Always Doing? And why does the Catholicism of the sources matter to you? Are you biased?

So interesting to get your thoughts as someone who speaks and lives in Japan. I’m not sure this is a book I would pick up, I’d perhaps pick up some fiction about the same topic instead but as always enjoyed hearing your review.

I haven't read Hiroshima before, though I did get Hiroshima Diary from the library after you mentioned it a while back and have been enjoying that (if 'enjoying' is the right word for it)

Thank you so much for making this video. I'd wanted to ask you about this, and about the topic of the bombs and their aftermath. I read Hiroshima and Hiroshima Diary many years ago, when I was a teenager in NYC. I remember being shocked, stunned may be the better word. I've been wanting to reread both books, which at the time I considered to be very well written and believed to be accurate portrayals. In the years since I read the books, I met two older adults who were young people in Japan at the time. One of my neighbors is a Japanese woman who was a ten-year-old in Nagasaki at the time it was bombed. A man I worked with at MD Anderson in Houston some years ago was a medical student in Hiroshima at that same time. I know this because each of them, who I only ever knew casually, mentioned those facts kind of out of the blue during conversations completely unrelated to anything nuclear … just completely out of the blue. And, of course, I had no idea what to say, except to mumble 'how terribly awful for you, I'm so very sorry you had to go through that, it must have been so ...' They simply nodded and went back to talking about other things. So I'd been wanting to ask you about these and any related books. I still can't get my mind around what it must have been like to be there, especially as these were events no one had seen the like of before, no one knew what to expect next. I just can't imagine ...

I am really interested in this book. Thanks for the review, though I'm hesitant after the plagiarism stuff.

As always, I love your quibbles regarding language. With nonfiction, I’d doubt the accuracy of a book when mistakes are made like the Japanese you mentioned. Oh wow Hersey is known to plagiarize? Complicated feelings for sure!

Best review! Live long di

Thank you for reviewing the book ‘ Hiroshima ‘ by John Hersey. I appreciate your effort. If you have time, please watch the videos ‘ White Light Black Rain ‘, HBO Documentary Film and. the ‘ 24 Hours After Hiroshima ‘, National Geographic Channel video. I hope we will understand how nuclear weapons destroy our ordinary life. Thank you very much.

Hello! Thanks for your video. A few years ago I read the translation of Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse and found it very eye-opening and compelling. Have you read it? It may be of interest if you want a fiction angle (but based on records, interviews and diaries) by a Japanese author alive during that time.

Interesting! I was doubting between a few books on the subject and I don't think John Hersey will be my first choice now. I might pick this book up someday, but like you say, his choice of people to discuss and his plagiarism... meh, it's a pity.

I thought only one was Catholic and the other was a Rev. of a Methodist church. 2 different religions. However, to better understand this book why do you feel it was "fishy" that Hersey included them in the story?