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1.64k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
1.64k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
"Prometheus, in eternal punishment, is chained to a rock in the Caucasus, Kazbek Mountain, where his liver is eaten daily by an eagle, only to be regenerated by night."
American Prometheus is such an aptly named book, with influential (influenced ?) and certainly extensively researched text ; but only to evoke ambivalent and dangling thoughts towards man with such enigmatic personality.
If authors have intentionally tried to weave this enigmatic web around Oppie (Robert Oppenheimer) or is this just inherent to him is another mystery.The way authors revisit same incident by every conceivable angle is tiresome but necessary, especially Pash interview.
Author's refreshing view on Oppie's love for Perro Caliente(His ranch in New Mexico), and Sangre de Christo mountains and from there his melancholic dissent in Princeton, New Jersey, his scrutinized view at his students to his ignorance towards non-confirming colleagues, his eccentric behaviour, his canonical mood shifts and inevitable utterly devastating end to this charisma and Kitty's(Wife) composed yet already devastated stature just puts you there to envision downfall of Dr. Manhattan.
American Prometheus is such an aptly named book, with influential (influenced ?) and certainly extensively researched text ; but only to evoke ambivalent and dangling thoughts towards man with such enigmatic personality.
If authors have intentionally tried to weave this enigmatic web around Oppie (Robert Oppenheimer) or is this just inherent to him is another mystery.The way authors revisit same incident by every conceivable angle is tiresome but necessary, especially Pash interview.
Author's refreshing view on Oppie's love for Perro Caliente(His ranch in New Mexico), and Sangre de Christo mountains and from there his melancholic dissent in Princeton, New Jersey, his scrutinized view at his students to his ignorance towards non-confirming colleagues, his eccentric behaviour, his canonical mood shifts and inevitable utterly devastating end to this charisma and Kitty's(Wife) composed yet already devastated stature just puts you there to envision downfall of Dr. Manhattan.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
An incredibly researched biography of a seemingly still mystifying man, nearly 60 years after his death. Arguably one of the most important men in history, the gravity of Oppenheimer's personality leaps off the page, with all the moral complications to boot. The authors do an airtight job of remaining morally ambiguous, leaving the reader to synthesize their own perspectives. Frank, Peter, and Toni- you all deserved better, good LORD
Anyone can guess why I chose to read this book and why now. I started it a little before I saw the film, and my intention was to read it first. However, then I realized that by the time I finished it, the film could be gone from the theaters. I was wrong again. I watched it more than two weeks ago, and I just finished reading it, but the film's box office has anything but cooled down.
The film, as you can imagine, is a condensed version of the book. After all, it is impossible to cover all the details of a 700 page, fact-filled book. Therefore, reading the book first would have been helpful to fully comprehend the film, but they were independently enjoyable, though that is not the adjective I wanted to use, experiences.
The power of this book is in laying out all the facts that can be known about this moment in history and all the characters that played any role, without necessarily interpreting it for the reader. Most of the moral interpretation is left up to us. It makes us realize that people are far more complex than we would like to see. There is not a single character in the book that has a clean, linear character. Throughout the story, we encounter these complex characters being thrown into history's one of the biggest moral dilemmas. There is no simple right or wrong position. It also constantly reminded me that right and wrong in history is a time-based notion. Our moral positions today are most likely to change over time. Therefore, it is extremely hard to judge historical characters without considering the times they lived in. Looking back, almost anyone who ever lived may seem morally guilty.
A great read!
The film, as you can imagine, is a condensed version of the book. After all, it is impossible to cover all the details of a 700 page, fact-filled book. Therefore, reading the book first would have been helpful to fully comprehend the film, but they were independently enjoyable, though that is not the adjective I wanted to use, experiences.
The power of this book is in laying out all the facts that can be known about this moment in history and all the characters that played any role, without necessarily interpreting it for the reader. Most of the moral interpretation is left up to us. It makes us realize that people are far more complex than we would like to see. There is not a single character in the book that has a clean, linear character. Throughout the story, we encounter these complex characters being thrown into history's one of the biggest moral dilemmas. There is no simple right or wrong position. It also constantly reminded me that right and wrong in history is a time-based notion. Our moral positions today are most likely to change over time. Therefore, it is extremely hard to judge historical characters without considering the times they lived in. Looking back, almost anyone who ever lived may seem morally guilty.
A great read!
emotional
informative
reflective
Incredibly thorough and captivating look into the life of arguably the most important figure in modern history, the man who made the bomb. This book left me with the stark impression that no one but Oppenheimer could have accomplished what he did, which makes the fallout on his life and career all the more tragic.
Surprised at how little artistic license Nolan took!
This is beautiful tribute to a very complex man. Robert Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist who taught at Caltech and UC Berkeley, and was recruited to direct the Los Alamos Laboratory in the 1940s. He had a great love of Northern New Mexico and had some property with a cabin where he spent his summers horseback riding. He was also Jewish and politically very leftist which caused him to be harassed by the FBI and eventually have his security clearance revoked. There were spies at Los Alamos but he was not one of them. There was a great deal of political propaganda at that time concerning nuclear bombs and many US citizens were exposed to radiation poisoning during the testing. The scientists at Los Alamos, many of which were Jews, that the bomb would be used against the Nazis but it was Japan that was bombed. The book is very long at 1100 plus pages, but describes the history of a period of time that there is much misconception. I live about 50 miles from Los Alamos now, and I share Oppenheimer’s love of Northern New Mexico so I enjoyed learning about the history.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced