Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster
Author: Jav Dominique/Moro Lapierre
List Price: $25.95
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ISBN: 0446530883
Publisher: Warner Books (June, 2002)
Sales Rank: 160,974
Average Customer Rating: 3.82 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
Grisly Nonfiction Novel
"Five Past Midnight in Bhopal" documents the story of the famous disaster at the Union Carbide plant in India that killed between 16,000 and 30,000 people. The reason the death toll is so variable is because most of the victims were among the very poorest in a country that has a staggering numbers of such people. Whole familes were killed, leaving nobody behind to report their deaths. Authors Dominic Lapierre and Javier Moro recount the disaster by using the technique of the non-fiction novel rather than reporting the events in a straight narrative. There are no notes and no bibliography, just a 400 page narrative of the story from the inception of the plans to build the Union Carbide plant to the aftermath of the tragedy.The authors build the story through interviews with the workers at the plant, survivors from the city and several Union Carbide employees. The tale that emerges is one of an unfortunately preventable disaster that occurred because of misguided corporate decisions, the faultiest of which was probably the decision to build and run such a technologically complex and potentially dangerous facility in a third world country in the first place. Union Carbide also suffered from a misreading of the Indian marketplace and ultimately from a horribly misguided cost cutting plan that decimated safety proceedures at the plant and directly led to the disaster.
Lapierre and Moro are excellent writers whose prose is compellingly readable, though a bit overly dramatic at times. The style of the book is likely to put off some readers, who may be expecting more straightforward reporting. I should also note that the book concludes with an appeal for donations to help the poverty stricken in India, further illustrating that it is not a work of journalism. Nevertheless, this is an important story that deserves to retold as a cautionary note to both big business and to governments.
Overall, a gruesome story of man made disaster that most readers will likely find both moving and enraging.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Portrait of a senseless tragedy...
This book expertly tells the story of the disaster that occurred in Bhopal, India in December 1984. This disaster, which occurred following a gas leak from a Union Carbide plant, claimed the lives of 16000 to 30000 people. In this book, the author gives the story of the tragedy beginning with the planning of the factory to the present day and includes details on the present whereabouts and situations of the main characters. While the book details a profoundly tragic situation, I came to a different conclusion than the author. It is the author's conclusion that the tragedy was avoidable and an act of criminality on the part of Union Carbide. However, after reading the words of the author, I came to the conclusion that the gas leak was an accident of terrible, epic proportion. Perhaps in the end this does not matter anyway. Regardless, the book does tell the tragic story of the senseless loss of life that occurred in Bhopal.
Rating: 5 out of 5
So We Never Forget
Rarely I start a book and can not put it down until the very last page. Being a avid reader of various topics for many years, Five Past Midnight at Bhopal was one such book, that made me stay till two in the morning, unable to put it down.
I faintly remember the incident at Bhopal, having been fairly young at the time to take in all the details, or appreciate the human tragedy that has occured, so I did not hesitate to buy this book as soon as it was published, being previously unfamilair with the works of Lapierre and Moro.
What makes this book so powerful is its unflinching humanity. Some of the thousands of victims that died that night, suddenly were alive with a history, and the authors with obvious sympathy, transform wretched, destitute, outcast people into heroes..their lives, joys, aspirations, optimism in the face of impossible odds is a wonderful triumph of the human spirit, regardless of how many gods it worships.
The moment when one of these people gets the first TV set, to the amazement of all the slum dwellers, is very touching and powerful..When the wedding preparations are made, and the joy of the parents borrowing money from a usurer to make it the most beautiful day of their daughter's life, is full of dignity..In short, the authors succeed on one level, to pay hommage to people that are forgotten in their own country and certainly in the world.
Yet the whole book is about the tragedy of the factory, and although I believe that the incident was partly caused by the cost cutting of Union Carbide,partly because of the inefficiency, and lack of training of the employees..(I did not join the authors in their apparent anti globalization undertones), the effect and devastation was mind boggling.
Yet why this book works beautifully, is simply because the authors have presented us with the lives of many characters, and when the tragedy strikes, we care enough about these people to turn every page in anticipation to know their fate.
It also reads like a thriller, escalating tension up until the fateful moment..
I did not finish the book accusing anyone, it is a tragic accident, rather I had a great feeling about how great the human spirit can be, the notion of selfless sacrifice coming alive.
If anything, I think the proceeds of this book will help some of the victims, which will make it an essential buy.
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