Bomb Power

出版者:Penguin Press HC, The

作者:Garry Wills

页数:288

出版时间:2010-01-21

价格:USD 27.95

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9781594202407

具体描述

From Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills, a groundbreaking examination of how the atomic bomb profoundly altered the nature of American democracy and has left us in a state of war alert ever since.

In Bomb Power , Garry Wills reveals how the atomic bomb transformed our nation down to its deepest constitutional roots-by dramatically increasing the power of the modern presidency and redefining the government as a national security state-in ways still felt today. A masterful reckoning from one of America's preeminent historians, Bomb Power draws a direct line from the Manhattan Project to the usurpations of George W. Bush.

The invention of the atomic bomb was a triumph of official secrecy and military discipline-the project was covertly funded at the behest of the president and, despite its massive scale, never discovered by Congress or the press. This concealment was perhaps to be expected in wartime, but Wills persuasively argues that the Manhattan Project then became a model for the covert operations and overt authority that have defined American government in the nuclear era. The wartime emergency put in place during World War II extended into the Cold War and finally the war on terror, leaving us in a state of continuous war alert for sixty-eight years and counting.

The bomb forever changed the institution of the presidency since only the president controls "the button" and, by extension, the fate of the world. Wills underscores how radical a break this was from the division of powers established by our founding fathers and how it in turn has enfeebled Congress and the courts. The bomb also placed new emphasis on the president's military role, creating a cult around the commander in chief. The tendency of modern presidents to flaunt military airs, Wills points out, is entirely a postbomb phenomenon. Finally, the Manhattan Project inspired the vast secretive apparatus of the national security state, including intelligence agencies such as the CIA and NSA, which remain largely unaccountable to Congress and the American people.

Wills recounts how, following World War II, presidential power increased decade by decade until reaching its stunning apogee with the Bush administration. Both provocative and illuminating, Bomb Power casts the history of the postwar period in a new light and sounds an alarm about the continued threat to our Constitution.

用户评价

拿起这本书时，我原本以为会看到一部情节紧凑、节奏明快的历史悬疑，但事实证明，我的期待被完全颠覆了。它更像是一首结构宏大的交响乐，由许多看似不相干的乐章组成，但最终汇集成一股磅礴的力量。叙事手法极其大胆，经常采用意识流和非线性叙事，时间在不同角色的记忆和现实之间跳跃，仿佛作者故意设置了一系列认知陷阱，考验着读者的理解力。例如，有一段关于战争爆发前夕的描写，竟然用了整整五十页篇幅，不是在写战斗，而是在描绘一个裁缝如何缝制一件军装的每一个针脚，那种对日常琐碎的近乎偏执的记录，反而极大地增强了即将到来的灾难感，让人感到一种铺天盖地的无力。书中对权力运作的剖析也极其尖锐，它没有采用传统的正邪对立模式，而是展示了即便是最崇高的理想，也可能在权力腐蚀下变质成另一种形式的暴政。我特别喜欢作者对“沉默”的刻画，很多关键信息都不是通过对话传达，而是通过人物的眼神、停顿，甚至是他们选择不做什么来暗示的。这种留白的处理方式，极大地激发了读者的参与感，迫使我们必须主动填补故事的空白，去揣测那些未言明的真相。这是一本需要反复阅读才能领略其全貌的作品，初读是体验，再读才是解读。

说实话，这本书的阅读体验是相当“折磨人”的，但这种折磨却带着一种令人上瘾的魔力。首先，它的语言风格极其冷峻、克制，充满了北欧式的疏离感。作者似乎在刻意拉开与读者的距离，用一种近乎冰冷的腔调讲述着最炽热或最残酷的故事。这使得情感的爆发点反而显得更加震撼有力，像是在坚硬的冰层下突然发现了滚烫的岩浆。我发现自己经常需要查阅附录中的历史背景资料，因为作者对特定时代背景的文化习俗和政治气候的引用非常密集，如果不做补充阅读，很多讽刺和隐喻就无法被完全捕捉。书中对于“记忆的不可靠性”这一主题的探讨达到了一个新的高度。不同的叙述者对同一事件持有完全相悖的记忆，而作者并不急于给出“正确”的版本，而是让读者自己去权衡哪一个版本更接近“真实”，或者说，哪一个版本更有利于幸存者的心理重建。这种对客观事实的消解，让整个故事笼罩在一层挥之不去的迷雾之中，读起来非常烧脑，也极其引人入胜，因为它挑战了我们对叙事结构的基本认知。

这本书，初看起来，就像是走进了一座古老的迷宫，每一页都充满了让人窒息的细节和错综复杂的人物关系。作者的笔触极其细腻，仿佛能捕捉到角色内心最微小的颤动，将那些发生在历史边缘的事件描绘得栩栩如生。我尤其欣赏他对环境氛围的营造，那种潮湿、压抑，又夹杂着一丝微弱希望的基调，贯穿了整部作品，让人在阅读过程中仿佛能闻到纸张发霉的味道和远方传来的炮火声。故事线索非常庞杂，交织着家族的恩怨情仇、时代的洪流以及个人命运的挣扎。一开始，我需要花费极大的精力去梳理人物谱系和时间顺序，稍不留神就会迷失在那些充满隐喻和象征的叙事片段中。但一旦沉浸进去，那种被故事强力吸入的感觉就难以抗拒。它不是那种让你读完后能立刻概括出中心思想的通俗小说，更像是一面多棱镜，折射出人性在极端压力下的复杂面貌。书中的哲学探讨也十分深刻，关于自由、责任和宿命的辩论，常常在不经意间，通过某个角色的独白或一段意象化的描写展现出来，让人读后久久不能平静，需要停下来反复咀嚼那些字里行间隐藏的深意。整体而言，这是一部需要读者付出耐心和思考的文学巨著，但它给予的回报，是远超预期的精神震撼。

我很少读到像这样，能将宏大的历史叙事与微观的个体命运捆绑得如此紧密的文学作品。这本书的视角不断在“上帝视角”和“虫子视角”之间切换，让读者时而感到自己是整个历史的观察者，时而又被缩小成一粒尘埃，感受着命运不可抗拒的碾压。作者在构建这个世界时，表现出了近乎建筑师般精确的布局能力，每一个配角，哪怕只出场一次，其行为逻辑和对主线的影响都经过了精心的设计，绝无冗余。书中对不同社会阶层人物的心理刻画尤其值得称道，从高高在上的统治者对权力的焦虑，到底层劳动者对生存尊严的坚守，都被描绘得入木三分，充满了人性的复杂性与灰色地带。我个人特别关注作者对时间流逝的表达方式，他似乎偏爱使用大量的自然意象来锚定时间——比如季节的更替、河流的枯荣——而不是生硬地给出年月日，这为作品增添了一种史诗般的沧桑感。读完之后，我感觉自己不仅读了一个故事，更像是经历了一段漫长而深刻的人生旅程，关于坚持、妥协与最终的救赎。

这本厚重的书，与其说是一部小说，不如说是一部关于“等待”的哲学论著。它没有传统意义上的高潮迭起，相反，它充斥着大量的铺垫、间歇和冗长的心灵独白。作者的叙事节奏极其缓慢，很多段落都在描绘角色对某一刻的无限期凝视，或者对即将发生但又迟迟不来的变故的反复揣测。这种极慢的节奏感，初读时可能会让人感到焦躁，但坚持下去，你会发现这正是作者想要传达的核心体验：在漫长的压抑期中，人精神世界的微妙变化才是真正的主题。书中对“非理性信念”的探讨非常精妙，很多角色支撑自己活下去的理由，在理智层面看来是多么荒谬可笑，但在情感上，却是他们唯一的救命稻草。作者并未批判这些信念，而是以一种近乎同情的笔触，展现了它们在极端环境下的生存价值。特别是关于集体潜意识的描绘，那种群体性的恐惧和盲从是如何在无声中蔓延和固化，让人不寒而栗。总而言之，这本书更像是一次漫长的冥想，它要求读者放下对快速情节推进的渴求，转而专注于人类精神在持久困境中的韧性与脆弱。

It's a concise and detailed revelation of an over-inflated presidency and a deteriorating public state after the bomb was detonated. Arguments were expanded in a way that people can easily have a good grasp of the knowledge.

It's a concise and detailed revelation of an over-inflated presidency and a deteriorating public state after the bomb was detonated. Arguments were expanded in a way that people can easily have a good grasp of the knowledge.

It's a concise and detailed revelation of an over-inflated presidency and a deteriorating public state after the bomb was detonated. Arguments were expanded in a way that people can easily have a good grasp of the knowledge.

It's a concise and detailed revelation of an over-inflated presidency and a deteriorating public state after the bomb was detonated. Arguments were expanded in a way that people can easily have a good grasp of the knowledge.

It's a concise and detailed revelation of an over-inflated presidency and a deteriorating public state after the bomb was detonated. Arguments were expanded in a way that people can easily have a good grasp of the knowledge.