Rape of Nanking
The crimson stained ground in the background becomes the frame behind the Japanese flag. Bloody bodies lay in the background while a Japanese soldier with intense eyes cautiously stands with a bayonet. Just by looking at the cover of °The Rape of Nankingą one realizes that this is no ordinary history book. The author, Iris Chang, writes the history of the Japanese invasion of Nanking by telling the story through the viewpoint from three different perspectives: the foreigners, the soldiers, and the Chinese inhabitants. Through the graphic descriptions and heart-wrenching stories of the massacres the book, published by Penguin Books, in 1997, tell the sad story of the systematic slaughter of hundred of thousands of Chinese. This book argues that under Japanese rule, regular civilian Chinese were the persecuted savagely. Iris Chang is trying to expose the second Holocaust of World War II through this novel. °The Rape of Nankingą begins by illustrating how the Japanese came into power in China and the savagery of their actions. In December of 1937 the Japanese army swept into Nanking and left a trail of carnage surreal in its horror. The death toll was staggering, far exceeding that of the American raids on Tokyo (an estimated 80,0
After I had read this book I was appalled at how ruthless someone can be. The author conveyed the events as impartially as possible, which is a really commendable thing. I think the ways that the Japanese tortured the Chinese is absolutely disturbing and abhorring. I think the intertwining of personal stories and statistics was a great way to convey the personal hardships that people went through and the scale of destruction that occurred. I fully agree with Chang, that an event like what happened at Nanking cannot be left to obscurity but exposed fully. George Santayana had said, °Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat itą and I believe that Chang has written this book to prove that point. I recommend that this book be a requirement for graduation at our school because events like Nanking should not be forgotten but remembered for its atrocity. All in all the book was difficult to read because of its graphic nature but I believe that this book in a benefit to all who read it. The author writes the novel from three different perspectives as mentioned before, as a result the events are presented in an unbiased way. In some ways the novel reads like a textbook because of the voluminous historical facts. One very explicit fac
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Approximate Word count = 844
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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