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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I started this book 2 years ago and finally finished it. It was a chore, but one worth completing. I never really understood what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is a beautiful and devastating reflection on that time. I can’t believe anything exists there now given the damage that was done. I will wonder what happened to Yasuko, although I can guess. Good book overall and a challenging read.
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Masuji Ibuse's Black Rain is a stunning account of a horrific tragedy and standing proof that Tim O'Brien was wrong in The Things They Carried. You do not have to lie to tell the truth. The truth will always be enough in itself.
A chilling recounting of the days leading up to and following the bombing of Hiroshima as told by just your average joe. As with most Japanese novels, it was necessary to get into a different mindset to read this, because it's so very detailed on the, for me as an American, strangest things. The story was plodding and there was no plot. It was simply a fictionalized tale based off a journal. But I think the "everyday" feeling of the book is what made it so moving. Excellent war literature from a civilian point of view.
What Are We Now?
Only in Japan could the dropping of the atomic bomb be written about in the same even tone as the stocking of fish in the local lake. The details of death, injury, radiation sickness and physical destruction are given equal billing with the care and feeding of farmed carp, their preferred ambient temperature, and the use of abalone shells as weasel deterrents.
Is there a way to describe Black Rain as anything other than Zen? What happens, happens. War happens; pain happens; disappointment happens. But the comforting routines of daily life, and the familiarity of friends and family, and the joy of food also happen. The neighbours may get on one’s nerves from time to time; but they remain neighborly. Tragedy is embedded in success and vice versa. All is there to be lived. How could it be otherwise?
The most enduring part of the bombing in Ibuse’s novel is not the memories of its immediate or direct physical effects but the underlying cultural implications. The post-explosion black rain, although not in itself lethal, is a serious issue that impedes an arranged marriage for the protagonist’s, Mr. Shizuma’s, niece. Was she corrupted by her exposure to it? The question is not so much medical as spiritual. This obviously makes it more difficult to answer. It also makes the bomb something central to Japanese life in a way which challenges its phlegmatic equilibrium.
Ibuse’s prose is meticulously delicate. This more than anything else, it seems to me, is his Japan: intricate, balanced, confident in its abilities, its history and its worth. It was less than one hundred years since the American-provoked demise of the shogunate and the economic and social disruption which ensued. But Japan had recovered itself then; so why not now in the wake of the latest American invasion? Ibuse’s objections, for example, to the use of inferior ‘Western ink’ - with its tendency to fade with age - for the making of a copy of his diary of the bombing is but one indication of his confidence in what is traditional. This, even as he must deal with the untraditional problem of his niece.
Japanese stoicism and apparent tranquility mustn’t be confused with lack of emotion. Mr. Shizuma’s immediate reaction to the blast at Hiroshima is “Why don’t people realize how we feel?” He means his own government as well as the Americans. Perhaps because they haven’t been told? He then realizes that the survivors of the blast don’t recognize even members of their own families. Something profoundly more important than the vulnerability of the human body has been revealed by the bomb. Only years later, however, in dealing with his niece’s problem does he begin to understand what that revelation might be.
But stoicism may be functionally indistinguishable from fatalism. At what point does a cultural virtue become an impediment to cultural regeneration? Mr. Shizuma’s “best to leave everything in the lap of the gods” may longer be an adequate response to the new world signaled by the bomb. As he transcribes his diary, the individuals he encountered during his escape from Hiroshima come to mind. Why had they been absent from the diary? He doesn’t pose the question. That’s up to the reader, who in Ibuse’s narrative has a superior point of view. It’s as if Ibuse is seeking guidance.
Only the reader as detached observer can make a judgment about how the tragedy has affected both Japanese culture as well as the marriage prospects for his niece. Mr. Shizuma rebukes his wife for thinking he might harbor a theory that implies such a judgment; he wants only to describe circumstances as realistically as he can, however inadequate that may be. Besides, the condition of his carp is a more pressing matter. And tomorrow is the annual ceremony to commemorate the insects that might have been killed during the harvest. Tradition calls,... and binds. But is it the balm of tradition itself which created the war? The dropping of the bomb? The misery and confusion that has resulted?
The tension between Mr. Shizuma’s culture and the realities of his world persists throughout the novel. As an outsider to Japanese culture, I cannot know whether Ibuse resolves that tension or makes it more pronounced. What is clear is that he has turned a profound tragedy, one not just for Japan but also for the world, into a profoundly moving work of art that has relevance for us all. Japan was uniquely affected by the destruction of the atomic bombs. But no culture can be free of their insidious effects, nor of the question of the adequacy of any culture to deal sanely with the power it has at its disposal.
Only in Japan could the dropping of the atomic bomb be written about in the same even tone as the stocking of fish in the local lake. The details of death, injury, radiation sickness and physical destruction are given equal billing with the care and feeding of farmed carp, their preferred ambient temperature, and the use of abalone shells as weasel deterrents.
Is there a way to describe Black Rain as anything other than Zen? What happens, happens. War happens; pain happens; disappointment happens. But the comforting routines of daily life, and the familiarity of friends and family, and the joy of food also happen. The neighbours may get on one’s nerves from time to time; but they remain neighborly. Tragedy is embedded in success and vice versa. All is there to be lived. How could it be otherwise?
The most enduring part of the bombing in Ibuse’s novel is not the memories of its immediate or direct physical effects but the underlying cultural implications. The post-explosion black rain, although not in itself lethal, is a serious issue that impedes an arranged marriage for the protagonist’s, Mr. Shizuma’s, niece. Was she corrupted by her exposure to it? The question is not so much medical as spiritual. This obviously makes it more difficult to answer. It also makes the bomb something central to Japanese life in a way which challenges its phlegmatic equilibrium.
Ibuse’s prose is meticulously delicate. This more than anything else, it seems to me, is his Japan: intricate, balanced, confident in its abilities, its history and its worth. It was less than one hundred years since the American-provoked demise of the shogunate and the economic and social disruption which ensued. But Japan had recovered itself then; so why not now in the wake of the latest American invasion? Ibuse’s objections, for example, to the use of inferior ‘Western ink’ - with its tendency to fade with age - for the making of a copy of his diary of the bombing is but one indication of his confidence in what is traditional. This, even as he must deal with the untraditional problem of his niece.
Japanese stoicism and apparent tranquility mustn’t be confused with lack of emotion. Mr. Shizuma’s immediate reaction to the blast at Hiroshima is “Why don’t people realize how we feel?” He means his own government as well as the Americans. Perhaps because they haven’t been told? He then realizes that the survivors of the blast don’t recognize even members of their own families. Something profoundly more important than the vulnerability of the human body has been revealed by the bomb. Only years later, however, in dealing with his niece’s problem does he begin to understand what that revelation might be.
But stoicism may be functionally indistinguishable from fatalism. At what point does a cultural virtue become an impediment to cultural regeneration? Mr. Shizuma’s “best to leave everything in the lap of the gods” may longer be an adequate response to the new world signaled by the bomb. As he transcribes his diary, the individuals he encountered during his escape from Hiroshima come to mind. Why had they been absent from the diary? He doesn’t pose the question. That’s up to the reader, who in Ibuse’s narrative has a superior point of view. It’s as if Ibuse is seeking guidance.
Only the reader as detached observer can make a judgment about how the tragedy has affected both Japanese culture as well as the marriage prospects for his niece. Mr. Shizuma rebukes his wife for thinking he might harbor a theory that implies such a judgment; he wants only to describe circumstances as realistically as he can, however inadequate that may be. Besides, the condition of his carp is a more pressing matter. And tomorrow is the annual ceremony to commemorate the insects that might have been killed during the harvest. Tradition calls,... and binds. But is it the balm of tradition itself which created the war? The dropping of the bomb? The misery and confusion that has resulted?
The tension between Mr. Shizuma’s culture and the realities of his world persists throughout the novel. As an outsider to Japanese culture, I cannot know whether Ibuse resolves that tension or makes it more pronounced. What is clear is that he has turned a profound tragedy, one not just for Japan but also for the world, into a profoundly moving work of art that has relevance for us all. Japan was uniquely affected by the destruction of the atomic bombs. But no culture can be free of their insidious effects, nor of the question of the adequacy of any culture to deal sanely with the power it has at its disposal.
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A novel that tells how one family coped with the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.
Shigematsu Sizuma, as guardian of his niece Yasuko, is concerned that rumours that she suffered from radiation sickness might harm her prospects of marriage. He decides to transcribe both Yasuko's and his own diaries of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, with a connecting narrative, to show potential suitors that she was out of town at the time the bomb fell. The result is an account of the nine days between the dropping of the bomb and the end of the war,
Shigematsu describes what he and his family saw and did in those nine days, supplemented with accounts from other people's diaries. It is a sober and sobering account of the effects of a nuclear bomb on a city. Though it is published as a novel, it reads like a historical documentary. Perhaps it was based on actual diaries, with a few names and places changed.
Shigematsu was at a station waiting for a train to take him to work when the bomb fell, and was slightly injured by the blast. He walked home to find what had happened to his family, and encountered many injured refugees fleeing from the city, where fires were spreading rapidly.
Novels about disasters often have a kind of survivalist theme. The disaster causes a total breakdown of societal cohesion and law and order, and the protagonist is usually trying to save a small group from the general disorder. The overwhelming impression in this book, however, is the spirit of "Keep calm and carry on". Mr Shizuma and his family go to stay at a house near the factory where he works, after their own house burns down, and he then carries on trying to procure coal to keep production in the factory going. There a strong sense of discipline in the face of disaster.
The events are not overdramatised, but are told in an almost scientific way, trying to describe as exactly as possible the impressions what had taken place.
Shigematsu Sizuma, as guardian of his niece Yasuko, is concerned that rumours that she suffered from radiation sickness might harm her prospects of marriage. He decides to transcribe both Yasuko's and his own diaries of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, with a connecting narrative, to show potential suitors that she was out of town at the time the bomb fell. The result is an account of the nine days between the dropping of the bomb and the end of the war,
Shigematsu describes what he and his family saw and did in those nine days, supplemented with accounts from other people's diaries. It is a sober and sobering account of the effects of a nuclear bomb on a city. Though it is published as a novel, it reads like a historical documentary. Perhaps it was based on actual diaries, with a few names and places changed.
Shigematsu was at a station waiting for a train to take him to work when the bomb fell, and was slightly injured by the blast. He walked home to find what had happened to his family, and encountered many injured refugees fleeing from the city, where fires were spreading rapidly.
Novels about disasters often have a kind of survivalist theme. The disaster causes a total breakdown of societal cohesion and law and order, and the protagonist is usually trying to save a small group from the general disorder. The overwhelming impression in this book, however, is the spirit of "Keep calm and carry on". Mr Shizuma and his family go to stay at a house near the factory where he works, after their own house burns down, and he then carries on trying to procure coal to keep production in the factory going. There a strong sense of discipline in the face of disaster.
The events are not overdramatised, but are told in an almost scientific way, trying to describe as exactly as possible the impressions what had taken place.
خیلی پیش اومده که در مورد هیروشیما بشنوم ولی هیچوقت در مورد احساسات مردم و یا اتفاقات بعد بمباران از زبان محلی ها نخونده بودم.
تو این کتاب برای اولین بار ماجرا را از دید یه ژاپنی دیدم.
سردرگمی ها مردم که نمیدونستن چی شده، نمیدونستن بمب اتم چقدر خطر داره و برای پیدا کردن عزیزانشون تو هیروشیما زیر بارون سیاه میگشتن دنبالشون که این باعث آلوده شدن خیلیا شده بود با اینکه اونا تو زمان بمباران نبودند!!
یا اینکه مردمی که خونه هاشئنو از دست دادند ولی چون جایی نداشتن برند و از همه مهمتر عدم آگاهیشون از بمب منفجر شده هنوز تو هیروشیما موندن و چادر زدند و همین باعث وخیم تر شدن سلامتیشون شد.
اینکه خیلیا نمیتونستن بعد از بمباران ازدواج کنن و تشکیل خونواده بدن.
و یا اینکه خیلیا فکر میکردن سالم هستن ولی بعد چند سال نشانه های بیماری اتمی پدید اومد!
و در آخر اینکه مردم چقدر احساس پوچی کردن که تسلیم شدن و اون همه کشته را بخاطر هیچی دادند.
اگه در کل نظرمو بگم، چون موضوعش برام تازگی داشت و تاحالا در این مورد کتابی نخونده بودم بنظرم کتاب خوبی محسوب میشه اما خیلی جزییات داشت که فکر کنم عمدا نویسنده این کارو کرده بود که بیشتر درگیر ماجرا بشیم ولی من آدمی نیستم زیاد از جزییات خوشم بیاد واسه همین این همه طول کشید تا تمومش کنم.
تو این کتاب برای اولین بار ماجرا را از دید یه ژاپنی دیدم.
سردرگمی ها مردم که نمیدونستن چی شده، نمیدونستن بمب اتم چقدر خطر داره و برای پیدا کردن عزیزانشون تو هیروشیما زیر بارون سیاه میگشتن دنبالشون که این باعث آلوده شدن خیلیا شده بود با اینکه اونا تو زمان بمباران نبودند!!
یا اینکه مردمی که خونه هاشئنو از دست دادند ولی چون جایی نداشتن برند و از همه مهمتر عدم آگاهیشون از بمب منفجر شده هنوز تو هیروشیما موندن و چادر زدند و همین باعث وخیم تر شدن سلامتیشون شد.
اینکه خیلیا نمیتونستن بعد از بمباران ازدواج کنن و تشکیل خونواده بدن.
و یا اینکه خیلیا فکر میکردن سالم هستن ولی بعد چند سال نشانه های بیماری اتمی پدید اومد!
و در آخر اینکه مردم چقدر احساس پوچی کردن که تسلیم شدن و اون همه کشته را بخاطر هیچی دادند.
اگه در کل نظرمو بگم، چون موضوعش برام تازگی داشت و تاحالا در این مورد کتابی نخونده بودم بنظرم کتاب خوبی محسوب میشه اما خیلی جزییات داشت که فکر کنم عمدا نویسنده این کارو کرده بود که بیشتر درگیر ماجرا بشیم ولی من آدمی نیستم زیاد از جزییات خوشم بیاد واسه همین این همه طول کشید تا تمومش کنم.
An assigned book in highschool English, I went out and re-purchased this one for my library in the last few years. I really appreciated the book when I read it. As a child of the nuclear age, I wondered and cared about the effects of a nuclear holocaust.... mostly because I think I was pretty sure I was going to experience one in my lifetime. This book portrays the life lived by civilian Japanese after the bomb and amazingly does so without interjecting blame. By avoiding deliberations or recriminations on the decision to bomb, the book succeeds in it's apparent goal of telling how very sad the result was.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No