Book Blog #153: Hiroshima by John Hersey

Title: Hiroshima
Author: John Hersey
# of Pages: 152 (hardback)
Genre: Non-fiction, War, History
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Told through the memories of survivors, this timeless, powerful and compassionate document has become a classic "that stirs the conscience of humanity" (The New York Times).

Almost four decades after the original publication of this celebrated book, John Hersey went back to Hiroshima in search of the people whose stories he had told. His account of what he discovered about them is now the eloquent and moving final chapter of Hiroshima.
Review: After reading - and enjoying - BOMB by Steve Sheinkin and Night by Elie Wiesel, I wasn't surprised that I gravitated towards Hiroshima.

It wasn't as insightful as I was hoping for. I wanted to learn more about the bombing of Hiroshima that I already didn't know, and I didn't learn as much as I wanted. The writing style left a lot to be desired; it didn't explore as much of the emotional side as I wanted it to. It wasn't until the fifth section, the Aftermath, when I really started to enjoy the book.

One major aspect of this book that I disliked was the fact that it was about six different people. Even though it is written in third-person, the constant back-and forth is as degrading and confusing as first person. This may be the reason why I liked then ending the best; it went through each person without the switching.

IF you are interested in learning more about the bombing of Hiroshima, then, yes, read this book. If you are looking for recreational reading, this may not be the book for you.

Book Blog #152: Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave Shyima Hall

Title: Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave
Author: Shyima Hall
# of Pages: 232 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Memoir, Non-fiction
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt’s capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima’s servitude—but her journey to true freedom was far from over.
Review: While Shyima's story is a great one to learn of, it's presentation through this book degrades its quality.

I was hoping the writing wouldn't be as simplistic as it was....something that may have been fixed with better editing and writing help. She would also tend to repeat herself excessively. Due to the writing style, I couldn't sympathize with Shyima as much as I might have been able to.

In addition, most of the story was about her life AFTER slavery. It was very inspirational to read about how accomplished she became after escaping bondage, but I didn't think it was going to be a memoir of her whole life.

There was a lot left to desired. If you want to learn of Shyima, it would be much faster if you Googled her.