The Special Prisoner

by Jim Lehrer and James Lehrer

Book Overview

"Special Prisoner" is the designation the Japanese government gave to captured U.S. airmen during World War II -- the objects of their most horrific torture -- and John Quincy Watson was one of them.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375503714
• ISBN13: 9780375503719
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Is it wrong to get mad again?

As a 60+ reader, I felt a long suppressed anger rising like bile while reading "The Special Prisoner". Like so many other readers, I had problems putting the book down; finishing it in one read. I had never read any of Mr. Lehrer's work before, rather admiring him solely for his exquisite handling of the news. In this day of political correctness, it was refreshing reading the thoughts expressed in the book by this straight-shooting author. Japan's treatment of their fellow human beings, be it in Nanjing, Hong Kong, Bataan or Guam, (where I was stationed for two years)is universally condemned for it's xenophobic brutality. Who said - "Those who forget the past will be doomed to re-live it." also, at the entrance to the National Archives in DC are two plinths, one says, "The past is prologue" the other says " Study the past." Thank you Jim Lehrer for allowing me the quiet luxury of heeding both these caveats.

Hits hard at the heart, teaches us about true forgiveness!

`The Special Prisoner' is a special book. Jim Lehrer has scripted a beautiful and emotional tale about a WWII American B-29 pilot coming to grips with horrid memories that he would like to have forgotten over the past 50 years and his ability to forgive.Quincy Watson, known as Big Red during his runs over Japan today is a fragile shell of what he could have been. Today as a retired Methodist Bishop, he `accidentally' runs into the man who tortured him so many years ago in a POW camp. The man known as `Hyena' killed many of Watson's compatriots in numerous and sickening ways, the whole time playing mind games with Watson. But Watson didn't escape easily after the war. His leg is maimed, his reproductive organs shattered, he is numb to death, and hate begins to bubble down inside. This is where Quincy spends the next 50 years recovering, an emotional hurdle to overcome, where religion is discovered and forgiveness is a key element. But his life is put to a new test in his 70's, as the world as he knew it was over, a shocking sight open up all wounds. What do you say to the man who controlled whether you lived or died if you bumped into him today?The story is amazing, simply put. It is a fairly easy read, but the images and descriptions of the atrocities of what happens in the POW camps will leave the reader not only speechless but asking themselves of their own capacity for forgiveness. What is equally presented here is the opinions and perspectives of the Japanese. Is it really that cut and dry for Americans? I challenge you to read the side of the Japanese mentality and you may learn more about yourself than you thought you knew.There is a `great surprise' that happens about half way through the book that I promise changes everything, but does not detract from the story, but rather adds a new challenging dynamic to it. This is not just a story you read about an old American Pilot and his Japanese nemesis, this is a story that really takes you on an emotional roller coaster and will hit you in the deepest psychological, religious, and moral ways. You don't even have to be of that generation. Jim Lehrer delivers an accurate account of human behavior in the worst conditions, and yet teaches us about love, and getting over horrific events and how we deal with them. Don't miss out, you will not be disappointed!

A special book!

This is a special, thought provoking book about the horrors of war; specifically how American POW'S suffered at the hands of the Japanese. This truely a thriller with something to say. The writting is compact and economical moving the reader along through the story, a very enjoyable read (I finished it one night!). The binding together of the past with the present was gripping and imaginative. Buy this book you will not be disappointed!

A special story...

I'm not a regular reader or necessarily a fan of short or long fiction. When I heard this book hyped on IMUS, I decided to give it a try. Of course, I've been a fan of Jim Lehrer for years -- his no nonsense approach to journalism."The Special Prisoner" is an easy terrific read -- short but surprisingly complex in its treatment of major issues associated with war and theology. The book's essence is heavy and somewhat depressing. There is nothing the least bit light and funny about this story. A great story to read in remembrance of our veterans who gave so much that we might be free.Highly recommended.

A haunting story of revenge and forgiveness

This is a novel about the best and worst of the human spirit; and some of the terrible legacies of war. The main character in the story is Bishop John Quincy Watson of the Methodist Church. In 1945 Watson was a B-29 bomber pilot, flying missions over Japan. On his seventeenth mission his plane went down over Tokyo, and he was taken prisoner by the Japanese. The Japanese authorities called downed American airmen "Special Prisoners", and reserved for them especially brutal treatment and death. Bishop Watson survived the war, but his body and soul had been permanently maimed in the Japanese prison. After the war Watson became a minister. One day fifty years after the war had ended Watson was in the Dallas Airport, and he saw the face of a man that he believed was one of the main commanders of the prison camp in Japan. Every day of his life for fifty years he had suffered pain and disability from his time as a prisoner of war in Japan, and now the source of his pain was standing before him in the airport. Watson began following the Japanese man, seeking a confrontation with him. The chapters in the book begin switching back and forth from the past to the present, describing events from the war and Watson's confrontation with the Japanese commander. Much of the little known history of American prisoners of war in Japan is given in the novel. As a minister Bishop Watson believed in forgiveness; but could he find a way to forgive a very real monster from his past? There are several moments in the novel that will go straight to your heart. There is a rising sense of tension as you keep reading; and a deep sense of wrenching truth about the nature of forgiveness and the lasting horror of war. There is a very haunting, moving quality to this novel that I will always remember. This is a deeply felt novel that I highly recommend.