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

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Russian Publication details: New York : Picador, 2006.Edition: 1st Picador edDescription: xiii, 236 p. ; 21 cmISBN:
  • 0312425848 (pbk.)
  • 9780312425845 (pbk.)
Uniform titles:
  • Charnobylʹskai︠a︡ malitva. English
Subject(s):
Contents:
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.
Summary: 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.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 363.1799 A366 Available 33111006678631
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history occurred in Chernobyl and contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of the tragedy. Journalist Svetlana Alexievich interviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown---from innocent citizens to firefighters to those called in to clean up the disaster---and their stories reveal the fear, anger, and uncertainty with which they still live. Comprised of interviews in monologue form, Voices from Chernobyl is a crucially important work, unforgettable in its emotional power and honesty.

"First published in Russian as Tchernobylskaia Molitva by Editions Ostojie"--T.p. verso.

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.

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.

Translation of: Tchernobylskaia molitva.

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