I think the most horrific aspect of Black Rain is the details that relate to the immediate effects of the atomic blast on people and animals, as well as the long-term effects of radiation. What is even more horrifying are the extremes that our political leaders will resort to to achieve their wartime goals. I should, because there is not an issue that I feel more strongly about.Īs an American, my study of the effects of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Japanese civilians, who were predominantly women, children, and elderly men, as are all civilians in war, has been horrifying to me.
It has been a life study, actually, starting at about age 11, though I have never written about it. My book Women during the Civil War (2004), included dozens of my essays dealing with the effect of the Civil War on women and children. I mention it because I have studied the effect of war on civilians in many, many wars. Yet I find it interesting to note that I have devoted the most extensive study to the effect of war on civilians during the Second World War. Fortunately I was able to download it onto my Nook, because my entire library system (30+ libraries) did not have a single copy.įirst off, I think I should say that for decades I have been intensely interested in the effect of war on civilians. I am extremely grateful to Caroline of Beauty is a Sleeping Cat and her Literature and War Readalong for steering me toward Black Rain, an exquisite Japanese novel about the bombing of Hiroshima and the horrifying days and months that followed.
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