I am seriously becoming a fierce fan of Graphic Novels lately. This one was recommended by a generous GoodReads friend Pooja, and I will be ever so grateful to her for this. This is my introduction to the world of Japanese Manga and boy, am I blown away!

Keiji Nakazawa is a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in Aug'45. Barefoot Gen is his alter ego. He says he imagined his alter ego standing atop a roof, barefoot, raising his voice loud and clear, over and against the destruction his dear city of 4, 00, 000 residents was subjected to.

The characters in Barefoot Gen have been inspired by the lives of the people in the life of Nakazawa and the ones around him.

Graphic novels bear this eerie ability to assist your imagination exactly to that level, where it sets in motion its own series. Nothing more (unlike movies) and nothing less either. Just the exact right amount.

The last 40 pages (and a few of them in between) had me literally howling. I clenched my fists and stretched my fingers and toes, as if it was here, in front of me, right now. I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of effort Nakazawa must have put in re-imagining the whole thing for us. My heart goes out to him and the lakhs of citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who had to suffer because a few people sitting at the top of a decision machinery could not decide whether to surrender or keep fighting. The war did end, but the lives impacted did not get their fair chance at survival.

I highly recommend this one, just as I recommend The Maus, both stories of a holocaust so horrible, that we can never afford to forget. NEVER.