Book Summary and Reviews of Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

Voices from Chernobyl

by Svetlana Alexievich

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  • Published:
  • Apr 2005, 240 pages
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About this book

Book 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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Book Awards

  • award image National Book Critics Circle Awards, 2005

Reviews

Media Reviews

"[A]n indelible X-ray of the Russian soul. " - PW

"Starred review. Alexievich put her own health at risk to gather these invaluable frontline testimonies, which she has transmuted into a haunting and essential work of literature that one can only hope documents a never-to-be-repeated catastrophe." - Booklist

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