Special Book Review: A Dimly Burning Wick: Memoir from the Ruins of Hiroshima Algora Publishing, 2008 By Sadako Teiko Okuda with Pamela Bea Wilson Vergun Illustrations by Mia Nolting Order from amazon.com: A Dimly Burning Wick, Memoir from the Ruins of Hiroshima Web site: www.a-dimly-burning-wick.com Publisher's page: www.algora.com ***** The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 resulted in the unspeakable loss of 210,000 lives; thousands more succumbed to radiation poisoning in the years that followed, and others were maimed for life. Sadako Teiko Okuda lived right outside of Hiroshima when the bombs were deployed. She traveled for eight days in the ruins of Hiroshima in search of missing family members. A Dimly Burning Wick is Okuda’s haunting depiction of this journey and the suffering she encountered along the way. It aptly removes any arms-length historical justification of these events and brings the reader face-to-face with the physical and emotional anguish of war. Okuda’s tale was published in Japanese in 1979, and was introduced to Korea in 1983. We owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Pamela B. Vergun for bringing Okuda’s words to us in English in 2008. Her skillful accounting of this story allows us to better understand the consequences of nuclear warfare. The author writes, “…I witnessed firsthand the cruelty and ugliness of war, as families were torn apart, children were orphaned, and human beings were reduced to shells of their former selves. In the wake of the bomb, human dignity had been shredded and I was just a helpless bystander.” The atrocities inflicted on Hiroshima and Nagasaki have retreated to the safety net of our blurred collective memory, neatly categorized as an event that happened long ago in a distant place. Yet it hasn’t been that long, and this wartime tool could be employed again. A Dimly Burning Wick should be required reading in every school. It begs the audience to consider the innocents caught in the trajectory of war … it cries out for the elimination of barbaric methods to solve global differences … and in its noble prose, devoid of hatred yet brimming with sadness, it crystallizes the importance of peace. Jo-Ann Moss, Editor Raving Dove   Raving Dove® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a registered trademark at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Annual $1,000 Award   Membership   Past Editions   CafePress   Bookstore    Disclaimer/Privacy   Daily World News Raving Dove is a proud member of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, and The Nonprofit Association of Oregon. © 2004-2008 Raving Dove, Inc., P.O. Box 28, West Linn, OR 97068 / All writing, photography and art copyrighted to rightful owners.