Book

Aleksievich, Svetlana, 1948- author.

Voices from Chernobyl : the oral history of a nuclear disaster / Svetlana Alexievich ; translation and preface by Keith Gessen.

1st Picador ed.

New York : Picador, [2006]

xiii, 236 pages ; 21 cm

Voices From Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of what happened on April 26, 1986, when the worst nuclear reactor accident in history contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Svetlana Alexievich--a journalist who now suffers from an immune deficiency developed while researching this book--interviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown. Their narratives form a crucial document revealing how the government masked the event with deception and denial. Harrowing and unforgettable, Voices From Chernobyl bears witness to a tragedy and its aftermath in a book that is as unforgettable as it is essential.

Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Chornobylʹ, Ukraine, 1986 -- Personal narratives.

Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Chornobylʹ, Ukraine, 1986 -- Social aspects -- Belarus.

Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Chornobylʹ, Ukraine, 1986 -- Environmental aspects -- Belarus.

translation of: Aleksievich, Svetlana, 1948- Charnobylʹskai︠a︡ malitva.

Gessen, Keith, translator, writer of preface.

Charnobylʹskai︠a︡ malitva. English

"First published in Russian as Tchernobylskaia Molitva by Editions Ostojie"--Title page verso.

Translation of: Tchernobylskaia molitva.

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner for General Nonfiction, 2005.

Translator's preface -- Historical note -- Prologue. A solitary human voice -- Part one. The land of the dead -- About what can be talked about with the living and the dead -- About a whole life written down on doors -- Soldiers' chorus -- About what radiation looks like -- About a song without words -- About a homeland -- About repentance -- By those who returned -- Part two. The land of the living -- About old prophecies -- About a moonlit landscape -- About a man whose tooth was hurting when he saw Christ fall -- About a single bullet -- About how we can't live without Chekhov and Tolstoy -- About war movies -- A scream -- About a new nation -- About writing Chernobyl -- About lies and truths -- People's chorus -- Part three. Amazed by sadness -- About what we didn't know : death can be so beautiful -- About the shovel and the atom -- About taking measurements -- About how the frightening things in life happen quietly and naturally -- About answers -- About memories -- About loving physics -- About expensive salami -- About freedom and the dream of an ordinary death -- About the shadow of death -- About a damaged child -- About political strategy -- By a defender of the Soviet government -- About instructions -- About the facts -- About why we love Chernobyl -- Children's chorus -- A solitary human voice -- In place of an epilogue.

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363.1799 Aleksiev