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rdgit 's review for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
by Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
After seeing the movie, Oppenheimer, this summer (2023) I just had to read this book. The movie was very good but it left me with so many questions and I had to find answers.
This is one of the best books I've ever read! Granted, loving a book is very individual and I realize others could think a book I love is a book they hate, but I loved this book. That's saying a lot. I am a slow reader and just looking at a book with this many pages is daunting. But I found "American Prometheus" fascinating.
I have recently finished "Death of a President" by William Manchester, another daunting 700 page book and when finished, I was glad to be done. Personally, I thought the writing in "Death of a President" was terrible. So when I started "American Prometheus" I was worried about the writing style but found it very readable. There are hundreds of characters in this book and the authors realized that the reader would not be able to keep track of many of them. So they constantly threw in reminders as to who each character was but were careful not to over do it. This was greatly appreciated. The writing was smooth and understandable.
The entire book was a page Turner although I felt the "trial" portion dragged. But the trial portion was a huge part of Oppenheimer's life and that story had to be told. I don't think it could have been told differently. So that's not really a complaint.
I do have one negative comment. I felt the authors told the story with a very positive bias towards Oppenheimer but were still willing to show his negative aspects. I feel a biography should simply tell the story as it is. But early on, I formed a positive opinion of Oppenheimer and was perfectly willing to see him in the light that he was portrayed. After reading this book, I am a huge Oppenheimer fan.
Great read!
This is one of the best books I've ever read! Granted, loving a book is very individual and I realize others could think a book I love is a book they hate, but I loved this book. That's saying a lot. I am a slow reader and just looking at a book with this many pages is daunting. But I found "American Prometheus" fascinating.
I have recently finished "Death of a President" by William Manchester, another daunting 700 page book and when finished, I was glad to be done. Personally, I thought the writing in "Death of a President" was terrible. So when I started "American Prometheus" I was worried about the writing style but found it very readable. There are hundreds of characters in this book and the authors realized that the reader would not be able to keep track of many of them. So they constantly threw in reminders as to who each character was but were careful not to over do it. This was greatly appreciated. The writing was smooth and understandable.
The entire book was a page Turner although I felt the "trial" portion dragged. But the trial portion was a huge part of Oppenheimer's life and that story had to be told. I don't think it could have been told differently. So that's not really a complaint.
I do have one negative comment. I felt the authors told the story with a very positive bias towards Oppenheimer but were still willing to show his negative aspects. I feel a biography should simply tell the story as it is. But early on, I formed a positive opinion of Oppenheimer and was perfectly willing to see him in the light that he was portrayed. After reading this book, I am a huge Oppenheimer fan.
Great read!