{"id":1604,"date":"2017-10-11T15:00:01","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T15:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2017\/10\/11\/the-private-estate-was-far-enough-away-from-the-explosion-so-that-its-bamboos-pines-laurel-and-maples-were-still-alive-and-the-green-place-invited-refugees-partly-because-they-believed-that-i\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T15:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T15:26:07","slug":"the-private-estate-was-far-enough-away-from-the-explosion-so-that-its-bamboos-pines-laurel-and-maples-were-still-alive-and-the-green-place-invited-refugees-partly-because-they-believed-that-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2017\/10\/11\/the-private-estate-was-far-enough-away-from-the-explosion-so-that-its-bamboos-pines-laurel-and-maples-were-still-alive-and-the-green-place-invited-refugees-partly-because-they-believed-that-i\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The private estate was far enough away from the explosion so that its bamboos, pines, laurel, and maples were still alive &#8230;\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-quote mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>&#8220;The private estate was far enough away from the explosion so that its bamboos, pines, laurel, and maples were still alive, and the green place invited refugees &#8212; partly because they believed that if the Americans came back, they would bomb only buildings;&nbsp; partly because the foliage seemed a center of coolness and life, and the estate&#8217;s exquisitely precise rock gardens, with their quiet pools and arching bridges, were very Japanese, normal, secure;&nbsp; and also partly (according to some who were there) because of an irresistible, atavistic urge to hide under leaves.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>Why is it great?<\/strong>&nbsp;Great writers fear not the long sentence, and here is proof.&nbsp; If a short sentence speaks a gospel truth, then a long one takes us on a kind of journey.&nbsp; This is best undertaken when subject and verb come at the beginning, as in this example, with the subordinate elements branching to the right.&nbsp; There is room here for an inventory of Japanese cultural preferences, but the real target is that final phrase, an &#8220;atavistic urge to hide under leaves,&#8221; even in the shadow of the most destructive technology ever created, the atom bomb. 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