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1.63k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
1.63k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I was hoping this book covered the Manhattan project in detail cause I find that really interesting, but that wasn't the focus. This massive (1,000 page) biography was really focused on Oppenheimer's relationship with the Communist party when he was young and how he was eventually persecuted for that relationship by people (and the government) who didn't like that he was speaking out about war and nuclear bombs after Hiroshima & Nagasaki. It was a little bit of a struggle to get through, but I found the last 1/3rd where they finally got around to how the politics were manipulated to destroy his career and how he eventually was redeemed by Kennedy/Johnson was very interesting. Overall, not what I expected and extremely in-depth. If that's what you're interested in, it makes sense why this is a Pulitzer winning biography & you'll enjoy it a lot.
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
man. incredibly interesting and sad as hell. christopher nolan I get why you were like “I must make a movie about this” after reading lmaoo.
This book wasn't entirely what I expected. It's not about the literal bomb so much as its symbolic impact on the globe. I'm some ways it feels like two separate books. One might argue this text indicates the Cold War began in Hiroshima. (I'm not an authority in the subject). Though none of the narrative feels superfluous, the read feels a bit lengthy to me. Minor details (e.g., Oppenheimer's love of martinis) give the novel moments of warmth amidst a caustic history. A book about this scientist feels too detached from the science itself, but I doubt I could have comprehended it in-depth. The McCarthy era scrutiny echoes early from Conservative camps of the past into the modern American mindset; for that reason, I think much of this read is essential. I am looking forward to Christopher Nolan's forthcoming adaption of this solemn work.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Need to just pick this back up when I get back into non-fiction! Great so far, just on a fiction kick right now