Barefoot Gen: v. 1: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima: No. 1 - Softcover

Nakazawa Keiji

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0867196025 ISBN 13: 9780867196023

Publisher: Last Gasp,U.S., 2005

Synopsis

The reissue of this classic manga's first volume has impeccable timing. It recounts the bombing of Hiroshima from the perspective of a young boy, Gen, and his family. But the book's themes (the physical and psychological damage ordinary people suffer from war's realities) ring chillingly true today. Despite its harrowing nature, this work is invaluable for the lessons it offers in history, humanity and compassion. Published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

About this title

Review:

'The greatest work of manga ever. The awkward earnestness of Nakazawa artwork, the terrifying details and the honest, egoless portrayals of the agony endured by the characters make this also one of the most important stories ever told. --The Times

The art is sharply drawn and expressive, and the narrative has such a natural rhythm, it's easy to get pulled into the family's life, making the cataclysm readers know awaits them all the more real, intimate and difficult to take. --Publishers Weekly

Polemical, strident and unrelenting, A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima is also a great piece of craft: graphic narrative at its most effective and powerful. Gen is a flawed but likable hero, big-hearted and trustworthy, a source of cathartic laughter of the best slapstick kind, and a beacon of tragedy, hope and (im)patient understanding. --Comics Review

About the Author:

Keiji Nakazawa was six when the atomic bomb dropped on his city. His first published cartoon work appeared in 1963 and he has since has had over fifty book-length serials published. Now retired from cartooning, Nakazawa lives in Tokyo.

About this edition

• Publisher: Last Gasp,U.S.
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0867196025
• ISBN 13: 9780867196023
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288