Folding Paper Cranes: An Atomic Memoir

By Leonard Bird

Book Overview

Between 1951 and 1962 the Atomic Energy Commission triggered some one hundred atmospheric detonations of nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site. U.S. military troops who participated in these tests... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874808243
• ISBN13: 9780874808247
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: University of Utah Press
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Triumph of Hope, Triumph of Life

A short, profound book chronicling a young man's misfortune at the hands of the U.S. government's atomic testing, his resultant cancer and subsequently his life-long awakening from despair to the hope that is living. Mr. Bird's command of and feel for language make the pages fly by. I understand Mr. Bird is a poet, also; it shows in the beauty of his composition style and the poetry of his sentiments. I believe "Folding Paper Cranes'" hopeful message would be helpful to anyone going through whatever despair they may find debilitating, be it as dramatic as cancer from an atomic bomb or a depression from an unknown source. In that sense, I believe "Folding Paper Cranes" is an important work.

Folding Paper Cranes: An Atomic Memoir

"Folding Paper Cranes" is almost guaranteed to arouse anger and depression in the reader. However, it is also a book of hope and inspiration. Leonard Bird's book moved me to tears at times, a deeply affecting read. It is maddening that our Federal government chose to put men such as Bird at such great risk, using them as laboratory rats. The hope that resides in this engaging little book is how the Japanese people rose out of the nuclear ash and their dedication to peace. When you read of Bird's encounter with Mr. Tanaka and little Meiko and her family make sure the tissue box is nearby. Leonard Bird knows redemption. He has met it face-to-face, redemption with flesh on it.

Folding Paper Cranes

This is a very poetically written book about the author's experiences with United States atomic bomb testing and his coming to peace with the dropping of the bomb on Japan.

Incredible... haunting.

This incredible book feels like an intimate recollection between you and the author. The descriptive prose will shake you to your foundation as Mr. Bird describes with amazing clarity his encounters with nuclear horror. Although small in stature (its only 150 pages) it walks tall and you will emerge from the experience changed. I have had the pleasure of traveling and spending time with Red and amazingly I knew nothing of this book. When it was given to me a sat and read it instantly. The tears flowed down my cheeks as I read it cover to cover. I hope it will inspire you to think about our nuclear legacy, act to eliminate nuclear warheads from planet earth, and fold some paper cranes for good luck.

Finding Hope

This memoir chronicles the author's experience as a test subject for one of the hundreds of US Government nuclear bomb trials which took place in the desert of Nevada, and the aftermath of its effects on the author both physically and psychologically. As a young soldier, Bird was ordered to crouch in a trench with his squad a mere 4,000 yards from the detonation of the largest nuclear bomb explosion in North America, wearing only a WWII gas mask for protection. The memoir is framed by the author's three trips to Hiroshima which ultimately aid in his attempt to come to terms with both the terror and hope he shares with the victims and survivors of nuclear war in Hiroshima. His account brings to life the horror of Hiroshima that is only understood abstractly by many Americans. Additionally, it is very informative about the hundreds of nuclear explosions the government sponsors in our own country for the purpose of experimentation and the devastating effects of radiation disease caused by radioactive fallout. Folding Paper Cranes: An Atomic Memoir, is frank, sensitive, and searingly honest. It is sprinkled with poetry and though poignant with despair, ultimately brings a message of peace and hope.