Voices from Chernobyl

Short and Sweet: Voices from Chernobyl is a poignant novel that utilizes a unique storytelling structure to convey the heartbreaking reality of the explosion???s aftermath. An absolute must-read for any interested in the human element of this tragedy.It is??? difficult to review [b:Voices from Chernobyl 357486 Voices from Chernobyl The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster Svetlana Alexievich https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316637138s/357486.jpg 1103107]. Almost as difficult as reading it was. At first, when you open the novel, you are greeted with the raw... read more

Journalist Svetlana Alexievich interviewed hundreds of people following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. The government hushed up much of the results of the accident, but we now know that over 485 villages were lost and about 2.1 million people live on contaminated land. Thousands have died and thousands have been born with debilitating birth defects. This is a book of voices, of people speaking up, telling what really happened.

No pondré citas de este libro. Habiendo dicho eso, me he preguntado la razón de ponerle el mismo nombre que los padres a los hijos, mas que en el caso de las madres. Por qué tener a dos personas con el mismo nombre en una casa, esto podrá parecer muy frívolo, pero en la primera historia hay una conversación y sobre todo una frase que me rompió el corazón – una de tantas en esta lectura –. Y cuando lo leí pensé: he aquí la mejor razón para no hacer esto.

Todos sabemos lo que paso en Chernóbil. Es un tema que me ha interesado siempre, he visto documentales y leído los reportajes que encuentre. Por lo que es ya sabido como ocurrió el accidente, como podría haber sido peor, la gente que tuvieron que evacuar, la cantidad de radiación que se decía y la cantidad real, la gente que murió o enfermo, cuánto durará el sarcófago construido. Pero muchas veces las cifras no dicen tanto. Que va a decirles a personas que no tienen idea de que está pasando, y las personas que si saben y se ven imposibilitadas de hacer algo.

Hay otra parte que me partió el corazón. Cuando pasa algún desastre uno suele pensar que se salve quien pueda. No, la verdad no. Los capítulos donde se habla sobre lo que paso con los animales. El evacuar toda una ciudad y sacar a las personas; aunque no al tiempo que se debió hacer. Qué pasa con los demás seres vivos. No sé porque no lo había visto antes como lo hice mientras leía este libro.

Este libro le da voz a las personas que vivieron la tragedia, desde todos los ángulos posibles: como vivieron esos días y como ven el futuro. Un futuro un tanto desesperanzador. Hay historias realmente desgarradoras. De amor. De amor a esas personas que son lo mas importante en la vida de alguien, a la familia, pero también el amor al hogar, al lugar de donde uno es y pertenece, el amor a la naturaleza y todos los seres vivos.

This book, despite being relatively slim at 240 pages, took me several weeks to read because the first-hand or second-hand accounts were punches to the gut. I'm glad I got them. Chernobyl's reactor explosion was only months after the Challenger explosion in 1986. Somehow, my then 12-year old self was more affected by the Challenger explosion. Perhaps, some of that is to do with the Soviet cover-up and some was to do with what seemed like less coverage in the US. Or, I was off in some dreamland. While I didn't grow up in the era of duck and cover, as my parents did, the threat of nuclear war was real. “War Games” was out just a few years before, for crying out loud!

This is not a step-by-step explanation about exactly what caused the explosion and scientific steps about how it must be contained properly. Instead, it's about people. Real people. People who are a lot like you and me, but who can certainly drink a lot more vodka.

The author, Svetlana Alexievich, weaves together a chorus telling horrific tales about how a nuclear disaster has affected hundreds of thousands; the area surrounding Chernobyl is uninhabitable and will be for thousands of years. Half lives and the length of time this once-beautiful countryside will be dangerous are unimaginable by many residents, no matter how many privations they experienced in the past, as one interview subject explains. How can radiation be dangerous if you can't see it? There are gardens to tend and floors to sweep.

I did not feel a strong editorial hand in this history, certainly less than the great Studs Terkel; the author, who is also a journalist, went to great lengths to present different points of views from different members of the community. Each monologue has a unique voice, regardless of whether you hear from more than one wife of a liquidator. The interviewees were very open with the author, even when it was clear they wanted the after affects to reverse. I suspect that the translation is excellent and some credit for the book must go to Keith Gessen.

Certain monologues really stuck with me. The photographer, who is sent to show officials insuring the area to prove its safe (only after a road is freshly paved so they won't be contaminated by dust). Who notices that he can't smell anything and who wishes he had taken pictures of what really happened. The tales of wives of liquidators, some who died quickly, some who took years to die in agonizing pain. Precepts that having children was not for you! The patchwork shows you the impact on humans and how they were not served by a labyrinthine government.

“Voices from Chernobyl” should be studied in history class, not just because it represents true history, but because it's important to understand what can happen when mankind is callous with technology and the subsequent “cleanup” is mishandled.