My rating: Three Stars
I would have given this book a higher rating, but had trouble with a few things. First, although I expected this to be an erudite look at an historical atrocity I was astounded to find that the author could not form a barrier between her material and her own strong reaction to it. I can't blame her, honestly, but it does manage to inhibit a personal reaction. By this I mean that I was forced to respond on a personal level to not only what happened to the citizens of Nanking, but also to Iris Chang's barely restrained fury. This division actually removed my ability to examine my own reaction to the horrors inflicted on innocents by an invading army. Again, I cannot blame the author for her outrage, but her overt presence in the prose was at times simply overpowering. I can also see how this could have influenced her ultimate decision to end her own life. The deep depression as well as a perceived threat against her which could very well have been real (my inclination is that it was) had to have seriously damaged what seems to have already been a rather fragile psyche.
Secondly, the book came perilously close to simply listing atrocities. More commentary accompanied the stories of one survivor and several foreigners who risked much in an attempt to save lives. Certainly the sheer volume of stories necessitated the abbreviation of anecdotes, but the listing affect was almost clinical. Perhaps this was an effort to limit a sort of voyeurism which is often attached to stories of mass murder and extreme degradation. Kudos for that if such was the case. I will also accede that I personally could not handle expanded versions of the atrocities that were listed.
Having said all of that, I must say that this is a must read if only to honour the lives of those who perished so terribly, but I would hope that it would also continue to be an albatross around the necks of a government which has refused to acknowledge its culpability in an almost unbelievable horror.
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