Ground Zero, Nagasaki, by Seirai Yuichi, Translated by Paul Warham.Colombia University Press, Fiction.
Seirai Yuichi's "Ground Zero, Nagasaki" tells six short stories centered around Nagasaki's Christian community and the ongoing trauma of its atomic bombing. Paul Warham's clear translation means Yuichi's writing retains a beautiful honesty and engaging symbolism, which is reflected through the unostentatious prose. Particularly affecting is the closing story "Birds," where an old man — who was rescued as a days old baby boy in the rubble just after the bombing — reflects back on his life one night as he and his wife suspect someone has broken into their home.
These stories offer a nuanced insight into the psyche of Nagasaki's survivors.
