VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL REVIEW | CITY AND RESILIENCE
SYNOPSIS
Chernobyl, April 26, 1986. “Close the windows and go to bed. There is a fire in the power plant. I will come soon.” This was the last thing Vasili Ignatenko, a young fireman, said to his wife Liudmila before going to the site of the explosion. He never returned. And in a way, she never saw him again, for in the hospital her husband ceased to be her husband. Even today she wonders whether her story is about love or death.
In Voices from Chernobyl, Alexievich collects many stories with this dual nature, since the book is set up as if it were a Greek tragedy, with chorus and heroes marked by a fatal destiny, whose voices were silenced for many years by a polis represented here by the former USSR. But unlike a Greek tragedy, there was no possibility of catharsis here.
REVIEW
Today I would like to recommend this book which is quite crude about the Chernobyl accident that occurred in today's Ukraine during the cold war, on April 26, 1986. To give some context, Chernobyl was a city located in northern Ukraine where the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin nuclear power plant was located. One night, an inadequately engineered overhaul of the reactor caused it to explode, releasing an unimaginable amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere, resulting in the largest environmental disaster in history. Since Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union at that time, the government decided to hide it for a long time, which affected the welfare of the local population due to the consequences of radiation, the loss of their homes, but also the stigma of being “infected” forever.
The suffering of the people who lived in the towns and villages closest to Chernobyl were silenced by the Soviet Union for long time. Years later, when the radioactive threat "passed," this 2015 Nobel laureate published testimonies collected over 20 years, revealing the true impact before, during, and after the reactor explosion. However, beyond the tragedy, the book also tells us about something deeply human: resilience. Although Chernobyl has become synonymous with desolation and abandonment, there is something in its ruins that defies logic: the presence of people who, against all odds, decided to return or never leave the exclusion zone. What does this tell us about the resilience of cities and their inhabitants?
"A collective suicide. The liquidators often worked without special protective uniforms, they went without protest to where the robots “died”, the truth about the high doses received was hidden from them, and they resigned themselves to it, and then they were even happy to receive the diplomas and government medals that were handed to them shortly before their death. And many did not even make it in time to receive them"
I found this book quite fearless and raw. It is divided into small stories perfectly told by the survivors and it is very easy to read if you are one of those who do not have much time to read a longer chapter book. They are stories told by elders, children, journalists, politicians, scientists, soldiers, victims... each one with his own vision of what happened. Some of them more crude than others but, at the end, converge in the same point: the attachment of humans to their land, our inner nature, love, political inoperativeness, violence and the fight against an invisible but lethal enemy. The first chapter, in particular, which recounts the testimony of a firefighter's wife, leaves a profound impact as it reveals the devastating effects of radiation and the harrowing experiences endured by the firefighters, who believed they were responding to an ordinary fire.
"It is possible to build a better, more comfortable house, but it is impossible to rebuild in a new place this huge world to which it was attached by the umbilical cord! It has been a colossal blow against the human psyche. A rupture with the traditions, with the secular culture."
The city as an extension of our identity
Alexievich collects in her work the voices of those who, despite the risks, returned to their homes in the contaminated zone. For many of them, Chernobyl was not just a place, but an intrinsic part of their identity. Cities and towns are not mere structures of concrete and steel; they are spaces charged with memory, affection and tradition. When the government evacuated more than 100,000 people, it not only evicted them from their homes, but detached them from their collective history.
The “samosely,” the term given to those who returned illegally to the exclusion zone, are an extreme example of how people cling to what gives them meaning. For them, resilience is not just surviving, but resisting in a place that, though devastated, is still their home. In her stories, Alexievich captures this duality: the pain of loss and the determination to rebuild, even in the midst of desolation.
The story of Chernobyl and its inhabitants offers important lessons about urban and human resilience. In a world where natural disasters, conflicts and climate change increasingly threaten cities, it is crucial to understand how communities recover and adapt. Resilience is not just about rebuilding infrastructure, but also about preserving identity and social fabric.
Alexievich shows us that even in the worst-case scenario, the human spirit finds ways to resist. The voices of Chernobyl speak not only of loss, but also of hope and the ability of people to find meaning in the midst of chaos. In a world of constant change, these stories remind us that cities are not just places, but homes, and that home is ultimately where the human heart resides.
"People don't want to leave. Here is their home, their land, their dead. Where are they going to go? Here is everything they know"
Finally, I have to highlight the work of the translators for their exceptional work in rendering this emotionally charged book from Russian into a text that reads effortlessly, allowing the profound suffering of its subjects to resonate vividly on every page. One aspect I particularly appreciated about this book is how the author completely steps back from the narratives, offering only occasional clarifying notes. By allowing the testimonies to stand as the individuals shared them, each chapter carries its own unique voice and authenticity. This book is immensely valuable because the Soviet Union concealed information about the disaster for many years, and even today, Russia continues to withhold significant details. As a result, there are few accounts that truly capture what happened, which is why this book carries such profound historical weight and importance. I understand that some of you may be very sensitive to this kind of story and can't stand it, but I still want to recommend it because I feel that this way we can make sure that things like this don't happen again.
"At home we left... we left my hamster locked up. He was all white. We left him food for two days. And we left forever"
Before concluding, I would like to take a moment to discuss the author, the renowned journalist and writer Svetlana Alexievich. She was born in Minsk, a city in present-day Belarus, and currently 76 years old. Her books started to be translated since she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015 for her work “For her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time”. She has written many historical novels recounting events that has been affected Russia or the Soviet Union such as “War Has No Woman's Face”, “The Zinc Boys” or “The End of Homo sovieticus”. Because these are stories the government has tried to silence, the author has faced severe persecution in Belarus. Yet, she remains determined to be a voice for those too afraid to share their experiences, ensuring their stories endure. I also encourage you to explore her other equally powerful and moving works
“Voices from Chernobyl” is more than a book about a disaster; it is a tribute to the resilience of those who, against all odds, decided to stay. In its pages, we find a powerful reminder that, even in the darkest of circumstances, life and hope persist.
0 comments