![]() The book focuses on the impact of Chernobyl on Belarus, which lost 23% of its land to nuclear contamination (devastating to a country dependent on agriculture) and which took 70% of the nuclear fallout. The fragmented sentences are a little disorientating at first, although (oddly) I was more thrown by the sections that come from Alexievich directly as it’s like she’s working out what she thinks as she writes and I found that a little off-putting. The result is a set of curated monologues – in this case some of which are carried out one-to-one, others with groups of people. I’ve previously read Alexievich’s THE UNWOMANLY FACE OF WAR so was familiar with her writing technique, which is essentially one of reportage, allowing the people to speak for themselves but adding in editorial notes to address gestures or pauses. Written in 1997 and revised in 2013, this intensely moving book (translated by Ana Gunin and Arch Tait) sees Alexievich return to her native Belarus to collect testimony from those affected by the Chernobyl disaster (both in the immediate and long-term aftermath) as they struggle to make sense of it. ![]() ![]() Svetlana Alexievich is a Nobel Prize winning writer who uses interviews and testimony to chart Russia’s emotional history by reference to critical events. ![]() I earn commission on any purchases made through these links. You can order CHERNOBYL PRAYER by Svetlana Alexievich from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or UK. ”It may be poisoned with radiation, but this is my home … Even a bird loves its nest.” ![]()
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