**A-** | A provocative, heart-wrenching book that documents the brave women who fought for their lives against major corporations who cared little for**A-** | A provocative, heart-wrenching book that documents the brave women who fought for their lives against major corporations who cared little for anything else except for the profits being made by the radioactive substance, radium. 鈥*Lip, dip, paint*鈥. These women shined bright thanks to radium, but they also suffered its poisonous consequences after ingesting the paint containing the radioactive substance. This book goes into the girls鈥 lives, smiles, struggles, pain, suffering, and then eventual deaths. It is not for the faint of heart, but this book should be required reading in US History courses.
鈥淟ip, dip, paint.鈥
This line is repeated over and over through the book. The companies instructed the women to use this technique to reduce waste and to give the brushes a sharper point, thus allowing the numbers to be painted better, basically. For those companies, it was all about the profit and the bottom line. They didn鈥檛 care about safety standards. They didn鈥檛 care that the women working in those factories had lives. What it came down to was money.
鈥淟ip, dip, paint.鈥
Every day those women worked in those factories, they ingested radium, completely unaware of the dangers of the substance until it was too late and it became a part of their very bones. Then, they not only had to fight for their lives but for their rights and for compensation from the very companies who put them in danger in the first place. To make matters worse, these companies *knowingly* delayed the trials, hoping that the women would die before they had to make the payouts. They brought in their own people 鈥 including a fake medical doctor (he had a PhD, not an MD) 鈥 to examine the women on their own terms to ensure the women got as little money as possible.
I could not put this book down once I found the time to sit and read for more than ten minutes at a time. Kate Moore did a fantastic job all around. I could tell that she did a **ton** of research to write this book. She left no stone unturned.
The book ripped open my chest and left me with an open wound.
I had briefly read about the Radium Girls back in high school when I had to do a project for AP Chem about radium so I had an idea about who they were and what happened to them. However, I didn鈥檛 know their *stories*. I didn鈥檛 know just how much they struggled and how much they suffered. I didn鈥檛 know their legacy beyond the horrific image of the radium jaw found on Google Images.
I鈥檓 glad I know now and I鈥檓 so glad that Moore didn鈥檛 sugarcoat anything. Even now as I type this review, my hands are shaking from the residual anger I felt while I was reading. No, this anger isn鈥檛 from the writing but from the actions of those greedy men from Radiant Dial Corporation and the United States Radium Corporation who ruined these women鈥檚 lives and tried to sacrifice them all for money.
Moore does a beautiful job in bringing these women and those around them to life. The writing was lively and full of emotions. Each chapter is filled with sentences that brought the past to the present not only due to the writing but due to the research that was put into this book. These women weren鈥檛 just names anymore. They were brave women who stood up for themselves and for each other against two giants. I came to admire them for their tenacity and their bravery. Some may say that it鈥檚 ridiculous that we had to read about what they were wearing, however, I completely disagree. Knowing what these women wore, what their favourite foods were, what they did in between shifts 鈥 details like this bring life to them.
I truly believe that this book should be required reading in US history courses. I think it鈥檚 time for US history teachers/professors to consider adding this book to their required reading list. Their actions lead to the foundations of OSHA and changed the lives of working Americans. They might not have fought a war. They might not have gone into the trenches. But these women started a revolution in their own way. They contributed to American society and yet, they鈥檙e not among the group of American women that we learn about. This should change.
Although this is not an easy book to read due to its content matter, it is well worth taking the time to read it nonetheless....more
A+ | A short, provocative work documenting Hisashi Ouchi鈥檚 intense medical treatment. It doesn鈥檛 hold back wi.
A+ | A short, provocative work documenting Hisashi Ouchi鈥檚 intense medical treatment. It doesn鈥檛 hold back with its descriptions and images of what happened to Ouchi鈥檚 body after the criticality accident in Tokaimura. There is nothing that can prepare you for this book because short as this book may be, it鈥檚 unrelenting in speaking the truth about what happened to this poor man.
I started this book right after I finished Midnight in Chernobyl. Since I鈥檓 a forgetful nerd, I forgot who/where I found out about this book, but I鈥檓 grateful to have found it.
This book less than 200 pages but it is stuffed full of information about what happened to Hisashi Ouchi after the criticality accident in Tokaimura. It is eye-opening and the translation was well done. The language was put into simple terms so that the everyday layperson can understand enough so people can sit through reading the entire book (if they can stomach reading all the horrific things that Ouchi had to face).
Its simplicity is one of the reasons why I adore this book. It doesn鈥檛 get into any flowery writing (although this could be due to translation). It鈥檚 straight forward and doesn鈥檛 stop.
Another reason why I adored this book was the fact it was very detailed, despite being a very short book. Every page is filled with information that would help you understand what had been going on during those 83 days from exposure to death.
We got to hear from the nurses as well as the doctors involved with Ouchi鈥檚 treatment. To be quite honest, as a nursing student, I couldn鈥檛 help but be happy that the nurses鈥 views were also included in this because we are a part of the medical team. Hell, nurses often know more about the patient than the doctors because we are the ones who are bedside. It was good to see that their words were included in this, as well as the doctors because we got to read about the Ouchi鈥檚 interactions with his family as well as his reactions to treatments.
I adored the fact that it emphasized that at a point, the medical team was treating Ouchi鈥檚 body, not Ouchi himself. Even I found myself questioning what would I do if I was in these nurses鈥 shoes? How would I react if I had a patient as critically ill as Ouchi?
This book is certainly not for the faint of heart. It does not shy away from descriptions of what had happened to Ouchi鈥檚 body. However, I do think that if you are a nursing or medical student, you should read this book. It鈥檚 provocative and gets you thinking. While Ouchi鈥檚 case is extreme, we will encounter critically ill patients who will cause us to question ourselves. Along with the question of medical ethics, this book is honestly a good book to have as a reference for case studies.
I 1000% recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading about radiation sickness and just in general medical ethics. It鈥檚 short but detailed enough to increase your knowledge about the topic somewhat....more
A | If you鈥檙e interested in reading about Chernobyl and want a good place to start, consider this book. Midnight in Chernobyl is detailed, extensive, A | If you鈥檙e interested in reading about Chernobyl and want a good place to start, consider this book. Midnight in Chernobyl is detailed, extensive, and the research is obvious in every page. Most importantly, it鈥檚 also accessible and the writing is very easy to read and follow, making it a great place to start.
Definitely one of my top nonfiction reads and highly recommend....more
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