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In light of the release of Oppenheimer, people have been talking about, basically, the other side of the development of atomic weapons. John Hersey's "Hiroshim
by durkie 3y ago
In light of the release of Oppenheimer, people have been talking about, basically, the other side of the development of atomic weapons.
John Hersey's "Hiroshima" article from the August 23, 1946 edition of the New Yorker came up as the definitive piece on the immediate impact of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, and it is a gripping read: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima
- seizethecheese 3y agoI’ve read this a few times and every time I’m left gobsmacked for at least a day. I recommend everyone read it.
- Baeocystin 3y agohttps://web.archive.org/web/20230130070028/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima https://web.archive.org/web/20230130070028/https://www.newyo...
- koheripbal 3y agoYes, although they touched on the impact of the bomb on Japanese civilians a little, they didn't really do it justice, and it's a shame because I think it would have really provided an important insight on why Oppenheimer's views changed over time. The movie lacked a cohesive story anyway, so that would have added some meaning.
- ransackdev 3y agoThe movie was about the man, not the bomb, which is why it focused primarily on a man, and not a bomb. The actual testing of the bomb was a small part of the movie and the real deployments of it were but a couple sentences. The movie Oppenheimer was never a movie about Hiroshima and while I think there needs to be more coverage in general about our impact on Japan by dropping those bombs, I think giving the movie Oppenheimer shit about it isn't reasonable just because the man worked on it. It covered everything from the his view point, and what he personally lived. He read about the bombs being used the same as everyone else, and it wouldn't have fit the movie to suddenly jump to Japan to show the impact of his work. It did however try to visualize the impact and eventual realization of what he had played a part in, in the visuals at the compound when he's giving the speech to the fanatical coworkers stomping their feet (which was very Aronofsky like imo)
- jorgesborges 3y agoIt’s still true to say the movie lacked a cohesive story — it may have been “about the man” but it was an incoherent battery of spoken facts rather than a personal journey with growth and progression.
- randallsquared 3y agoWould you prefer that we only get biopics about people who have storybook personal growth or would you prefer that more of the biopics we get are fictionalized? 'Cause that's the choice we have, if we act on your complaint. People tell stories. They are not themselves stories. Most people, even really important, impactful people, were just doing something interesting, or putting one foot in front of another, or pursuing short-term goals.
- jorgesborges 3y agoMy complaint is that it was boring, not that it wasn't storybook -- although come on the scenes with Einstein (and many others) were terribly storybook.
- squarepizza 3y agoAt some point I just closed my eyes and pretended I was listening to a radio drama, which is what it could've / should've been.
- ransackdev 3y agoSome people don’t have personal growth just because time passes. Maybe that’s true for this person.
- justinclift 3y agoUgh. Clearly the author was paid by the word. That's painfully super stretched out writing. :( Couldn't even make it a 10th of the way through that without losing all interest and moving on.
- seizethecheese 3y agoEveryone is entitled to their own opinion. For me this is one of the best pieces of reporting I’ve ever read.
- Baeocystin 3y agoI've certainly read pieces that were padded and tedious. This one genuinely, truly is not. Take the first section: every vignette is tightly constructed; you get a sense of the person, the zeitgeist of fear they were living in, and the arbitrary moment that made All The Difference. This structure is repeated point-by-point for each of the survivors, deliberately, to hammer home each element. Part II has its own structure, emphasizing the chaos. Each part flows well from one to the next. The entire article is an excellent example of writing. It's clear that the author himself is grappling with what to feel about it all. It's powerful stuff.
- hulitu 3y agoThere are those articles which talk about a date, and in the process you get to know the whole extended families of the victims, together with a 30 years history of the families.
- numpad0 3y agoThis is news writing in non-English plus translation. Translated text is always off-putting, especially beyond same language groups. I found the link to the original if anyone needs it, by the way. 1: https://mainichi.jp/articles/20230728/k00/00m/040/198000c https://mainichi.jp/articles/20230728/k00/00m/040/198000c
- evrimoztamur 3y agoThat was a hard read. I also recommend Barefoot Gen, the comic series, by Keiji Nakazawa. The depth of the visuals added a lot to my understanding and empathy.
- veonik 3y agoBarefoot Gen was also adapted as an anime movie and it's... rough. Another heart-wrenching anime related to the bombings is Grave of the Fireflies.
- asynchronous 3y agoGrave of the Fireflies is about the Tokoyo firebombing raids btw.
- Baeocystin 3y ago*Kobe, not Tokyo. FWIW.
- ThrowawayR2 3y agoPost-war Japan has had some really good marketing. You'll never see films or comics depicting Nazi Germany under Allied bombing and the suffering of those on the homefront loyal to the Third Reich; anybody who who tried to create a "Barfuß Jens" or "Das Grab der Glühwürmchen" would be torn to shreds for being pro-fascist and few would consume anything so tasteless. Yet ordinary Japanese people conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army committed the equivalent of the Holocaust across Asia, widespread atrocities terrible enough to revolt even Nazi observers. It's not like they would have treated Westerners any better either; look at what they did to Allied POWs. But whitewashing with articles and films, not even that many really, and today Westerners are expressing "understanding and empathy" to the wartime Japanese, loyal to their country and divine Emperor, receiving the consequences of a war they themselves started. Understanding and empathy are good but let's not be uncritical about what their purpose is or unaware of the larger historical context.
- throw0101a 3y agoThe word "article" is used loosely, as it was later published as a (31,000-word, 160p) book: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_(book)
- lostlogin 3y agoThat should be required reading for everyone everywhere.