Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear DisasterOn April 25, 1986, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history occurred in Chernobyl. Until now, all of the books published in English focused on the facts, names, and data. Voices from Chernobyl presents first-hand accounts of what happened to the people of Belarus and the fear, anger, and uncertainty that they lived through. In order to give a voice to their experiences, Svetlana Alexievich--a journalist by trade--interviewed hundreds of people who had been affected by the meltdown. From innocent citizens to firefighters to those called in to clean up the disaster, Voices from Chernobyl is a crucial document of what happened and how people reacted to it. Alexievich presents these interviews in monologue form, giving readers a harrowing inside view into the minds of the affected people untempered by government spin, accusations, or judgements, leaving the reader with just the life-shattering pain of living through such an event and its aftermath. |
Contents
Historical Notes | 1 |
THE LAND OF THE DEAD | 25 |
About a Whole Life Written Down on Doors | 31 |
About What Radiation Looks Like | 51 |
About Repentance | 64 |
THE LAND OF THE LIVING | 81 |
About a Man Whose Tooth Was Hurting When | 86 |
About a Single Bullet | 92 |
Peoples Chorus | 138 |
AMAZED BY SADNESS | 151 |
About Taking Measurements | 161 |
About Answers | 170 |
About Expensive Salami | 181 |
About the Shadow of Death | 189 |
About Political Strategy | 195 |
By a Defender of the Soviet Government | 201 |
About How We Cant Live Without Chekhov and Tolstoy | 100 |
A Scream | 114 |
About Writing Chernobyl | 123 |
About Lies and Truths | 129 |
About Why We Love Chernobyl | 213 |
A Solitary Human Voice | 221 |
In Place of an Epilogue | 235 |
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