Barefoot Gen: Out of the Ashes (Vol 1) [Paperback]

Keiji Nakazawa (Author), Art Spiegelman (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2001

Graphic Novel. "This vivid and harrowing tale will... burn a radioactive crater in your memory that will never let you forget it. Gen is one of those very few commix that actually pulls off the essential magic trick-those little marks on paper come to fully realized life"-Art Spiegelman. Now a full-length feature film, BAREFOOT GEN depicts the powerful story of the bombing of Hiroshima as seen through the eyes of a young boy. OUT OF THE ASHES resumes nine days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima as Gen and his mother struggle to provide food, shelter and water for themselves and Gen's baby sister. At the heart of the story is the indomitable human spirit which prevails amidst chaos and vast human suffering. Keiji Nakazawa was born in Hiroshima in 1939, and was six years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on his city. He now lives in the suburbs of Tokyo with his wife and daughter.

"This vivid and harrowing tale will...burn a radioactive crater in your memory that will never let you forget it. Gen is one of those very few commix that actually pulls off the essential magic trick--those little marks on paper come to fully realized life." --Art Spiegelman"

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Barefoot Gen: Out of the Ashes is the final volume in the graphic novel depicting the powerful story of the bombing of Hiroshima as seen through the eyes of a young boy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Robert Perry weaves history, traditional information, family stories and his own fiction to create a facinating look into the magical world of the Little People. Follow Him into this world. You will be enthralled." -- Gatle Ross, author of How the Turtle's Back was Cracked.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Last Gasp (December 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867194537
• ISBN-13: 978-0867194531
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,645,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tragic, September 12, 2006

By 

Steve Fuson "comics geek" (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Barefoot Gen, Vol. 4: Out of the Ashes (Paperback)

Japan has surrendered, the war is over, and American troops are securing the mainland. Gen and his family are suffering from malnutrition. The Americans aren't allowing Japanese police to carry weapons, so criminals and black-marketeers are running rampant. People are still dying from radiation poisoning. Gen's little sister is kidnapped. These are some, but not all, of the problems that Gen and his family are facing.

This book is powerful and moving, but it is heartwrenching and very difficult to read. Technically this book is fiction but Keiji Nakazawa did live through the bombing of Hiroshima and these stories are based on his experiences. It will make you cry.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The indomitable human spirit prevails, May 10, 2003

By 

F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barefoot Gen: Out of the Ashes (A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima) (Paperback)

Barefoot Gen: Out Of The Ashes is the final volume of a four part series. The atom bomb has been dropped on Hiroshima, destroying most of the city, killing many people, and causing others to become sick with radiation sickness. Gen's hair has fallen out from radiation exposure. He, his mother, and his newborn sister, no longer able to live in Hiroshima, are refugees in the town of Eba.

As this volume opens, the Emperor has just announced the surrender of Japan. Gen's two brothers return to live with them in Eba, one from the Navy and one from an evacuation camp. US soldiers are landing to study the results of the bomb. The distrust and hatred of the local community eventually becomes too much and the family moves back to what is left of Hiroshima. We see the U.S. occupation and the rebuilding of the city through the eyes of seven year old Gen.

Gen's compassion, humanity, and determination make this an inspiring book about the strength of the human spirit. The close loving values of his family are in sharp contrast to the amoral self interest of the black marketeers and the criminals who thrive in the disorder and poverty.

The work has been wonderfully translated from the Japanese original: Hadashi no Gen. It was originally published in serial form in 1972 and 1973 in Shukan Shonen Jampu, the largest weekly comic magazine in Japan, with a circulation of over two million. The drawings are all in black and white. This US edition was published as part of a movement to translate the book into other languages and spread its message. It is a powerful testimony to the strength of the human spirit and the horrors of nuclear war. There are a few introductory essays at the front of the book that help to put this book into perspective. It is a tragic but uplifting story that I highly recommend for anyone interested in the topic. This and the other volumes in the series are important books for their message on the dangers of nuclear war.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cartoon-novel re Hiroshima bombing from eyes of Japanese boy, June 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Barefoot Gen: Out of the Ashes (A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima) (Paperback)

Barefoot Gen is the name of a series of novel-length cartoon books telling the story of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima through the eyes of a young Japanese boy who lived through the experience. (The story is autobiographical; the author is a Hiroshima survivor.) These books are splendidly touching and believable, and readers will walk away with a fuller understanding of the horrors of World War II, and all wars in general. There is no pro-Japanese bias nor is there a pro-U.S. bias: these works give a real rendering of how nightmarish that particular nuclear blast was. Keiji Nakazawa, the author, has given us a priceless treasure in creating these books which can be enjoyed by everyone aged ten and over; they will further your understanding of history and of the indomitability of the human spirit, and they will cement your opposition to the use of nuclear weapons