
On Oppenheimer: A Conversation with Louisa Hall on Her Novel, “Trinity” - benbreen
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/on-oppenheimer-a-conversation-with-louisa-hall-on-her-novel-trinity/
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mikefivedeuce
Thanks for posting. American Prometheus is one of the best books I've ever
read. It gives you such a detailed look into the life of Oppenheimer without
much interpretation, which you don't need because his life story is so
intriguing. This book sounds like an interesting companion because there were
times when I wanted more of an attempt to explain or understand some of the
personality quirks and contradictions that wouldn't be at home in a pure
biography. Will give it a read.

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atombender
If you liked American Prometheus (which I agree is fantastic), have you read
Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb [1]? It's absolutely superb. It
covers quite a lot of Oppenheimer's career, although the sequel, Dark Sun: The
Making Of The Hydrogen Bomb, goes into more detail, not just Oppenheimer's
famous trial, but also his family life and his lesser-known political work in
helping form the Atomic Energy Commission.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-
Rhodes/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-
Rhodes/dp/1451677618)

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richk449
> What’s harder for me to forgive is that, when asked later in life whether he
> felt any guilt for his participation in the bomb, he always said no. It
> seems to me that, when called to account for pain that we’ve caused — even
> indirectly, and even before we had full understanding of the pain we might
> be causing — we should take responsibility.

Expecting someone to profess guilt for the greatest accomplishment of their
life is asking quite a lot. I think that Oppenheimer’s other actions
demonstrated his remorse, even if he never said it.

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watersb
As I write this in Los Alamos, North Korea's head of state has returned home
from a dead-end meeting on curtailing its nuclear-weapons development, and
uniformed soldiers are fighting on the contested border between two nuclear-
weapons-operating countries.

:-(

Ironically, the 'LA' in 'la review of books' is, of course, Los Angeles.

