Book Review
Title: Hibakusha
Author: Thilde Barboni & Olivier Cinna (Illustrator)
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *****
Review: So, this is the story of Ludwig working as a translator in 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan, which isn’t a good time to be Japanese or German. We learn that Ludwig was crippled as a child which means he couldn’t be a soldier during WWII, but he had skills which were used by the German Reich. Ludwig dreams of escaping his loveless marriage as they only thing they share is a son and even fantasies about having an affair when he learns he is going to be sent to Japan on a mission.
Having grown up in Japan Ludwig feels like he has come home especially when he meets an old friend. He is originally sent there in 1938 but the story jumps to early 1945 so the war is now drawing to a close. However, life isn’t the best for Ludwig as he still works for the Germans and he meets a young Japanese woman who he falls in love with but as things get worse and more bombs are dropped on Japan, he urges her to flee which she does.
When Germany surrenders Ludwig is considered a traitor in the eyes of the Japanese and while he wants to see the woman, he loves one last time it isn’t possible, but he is allowed to go to the place where they confessed their love to one another. However, it is tragic to say that Ludwig was killed when the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. We then jump years into the future and we see the young woman as an old woman and a grandmother. She visits a stone in the park with the shadow impression of a tall man who she knows is Ludwig even if no one else does.
It was heartbreaking to watch her talk to the shadow telling Ludwig about his daughter who she had been pregnant with when she fled Hiroshima and their granddaughter who she passes the story onto so that even when she dies, they will be someone to visit him and remember who he was. This story was heartbreakingly beautiful and WWII Japan is something that I love reading about and the context of the story reminds me a lot of memoirs of a Geisha which is my all-time favorite book and movie to date. Highly recommended.
Buy it here:
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this review copy from NetGalley
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