Embracing Defeat

 

Embracing Defeat – by John W. Dower

This was not an enjoyable book for me.  For the majority of the time, I didn’t feel like I was reading a book that was designed to keep a reader interested.  This book reminded me of a boring Sociology course that you accidentally signed up for in college.  A course you probably dropped before the term was over because the only thing the professor did well was cure your insomnia.  This book was simply too deep in the weeds for my enjoyment.  If someone, say, bought a new Apple watch and you asked them to show you the features, you’d probably be more interested in what the watch does as opposed to the chips and whistles in the interior that make the thing work.

In most cases, when I (finally) arrived at a new chapter, my interest would last for maybe two pages and then I quickly became bored.  I had to skim too much of this book. My finger almost became sore since I swiped the pages on my e-reader so  quickly.  I simply couldn’t give the majority of this book my full attention. It’s quite a shame because I imagine that if this book had been written differently, I would have been highly interested since the subject matter greatly interests me. The story of Japan post World War II is quite a fascinating tale.

Although not everyone agrees, the fact that Japan refused to surrender after they were obviously defeated in the second world war is what caused Harry Truman to drop not one but two atomic bombs.  This finally brought the once proud nation of Japan to their knees.  Enter Douglas MacArthur who “ruled” the nation for the next six or seven years.  It’s one of the great stories of the United States of America when we read how magnanimous the leader was towards its defeated adversary who treated the American POWs with unthinkable cruelty during the fighting.

So rather than subjugate the losers to lifelong slavery, the U.S. government and MacArthur proceed to aid the country in its rebuilding efforts.  This was not an easy task since Japan was forced to adopt many customs and ideas that were totally alien to their way of thinking.  It’s this fact that led me to want to read this book, as such a tale of struggle, rebirth, and eventual prosperity would be a fascinating story.  Sadly, though, this simply wasn’t the case.

Dower talks too much about the intricacies and psychologies of the people and their government. This just didn’t do it for me.  There’s an awful lot of instances where he’ll spend an abnormally heavy amount of time discussing artists, poets, and writers and their “reflections” of the times.  Digging deep into poets’ souls doesn’t make interesting reading for me.  I was wanting facts, not deep hard-to-understand emotions.

For better or worse, the book essentially ends after Doug MacArthur leaves (in the middle of Korea and his sacking by Truman) in 1952. The author includes an epilogue where he briefly touches on the nation after that event, but I feel much more was warranted.  Again, that may have not been his intention.  I wish this book had been much more nuts and bolts and not so much flim-flam.