John Hersey

(While I am typing these lines, I am in a shelter near Kathmandu. More than 10,000 people died in the earthquake two weeks ago, but I am surprised to see that the death was random and capricious like life. Several of our neighbors died, but many survived. In one house, nine members survived, but the beautiful young daughter-in-law died because the wall of the neighboring house fell on her terrace where she was standing. I can imagine what the Japanese...