sephranix's review against another edition
3.0
This book for me is 3.5 stars. I was intrigued by the premise of this book, and it's clear that the author obviously did a lot of research for this book about the Chernobyl disaster. I just couldn't help feeling like I was missing something, though.
lindacbugg's review against another edition
5.0
Miraculously they find the operating manual, damp but usable. They locate the section. There's a section. Ears numb from the piercing alarm. Eyes streaming. A section. Scanning through pages. A title: "operational Procedures in the Event of Reactor Meltdown." A block of black ink, two pages, five pages, eight pages. All text has been wiped out, paragraphs hidden behind thick black lines. An event such as this cannot be tolerated, cannot be conceived, such a thing can never be planned for, as surely as it can never happen. The system will not fail, the system cannot fail, the system is the glorious motherland
Using the Chernobyl tragedy to show what a clusterfuck the whole Soviet Union had become was an absolute stroke of genius. If the motherland said it couldn't happen then it wasn't happening, even if it was happening right under their noses.
Watching the various characters try to affect change in a country that was absolutely stagnant and refused to acknowledge that there might be a better way or there might possibly be something wrong was sad and frustrating (meaning I wanted to throw the book across the room at the stupidity of it all!!!) The hardest part was noticing how many of the worst things happening within the book are now beginning to happen in the US. I don't think that was deliberate on the author's part but it made one think.
Using the Chernobyl tragedy to show what a clusterfuck the whole Soviet Union had become was an absolute stroke of genius. If the motherland said it couldn't happen then it wasn't happening, even if it was happening right under their noses.
Watching the various characters try to affect change in a country that was absolutely stagnant and refused to acknowledge that there might be a better way or there might possibly be something wrong was sad and frustrating (meaning I wanted to throw the book across the room at the stupidity of it all!!!) The hardest part was noticing how many of the worst things happening within the book are now beginning to happen in the US. I don't think that was deliberate on the author's part but it made one think.
silodear's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very good and quite interesting. It's outside of my usual book inclinations and I very much enjoyed the change of pace. A difficult and dark story of lives lived during the Chernobyl crisis; humans being humans amidst a terrible nightmare. But Chernobyl is not the entirety of this story, just the setting.
There is also a really engaging journalistic essay at the back of this book that I found really edifying.
This book was offered as one of three choices for July's book club. I voted for this book, but it didn't win the poll. I couldn't resist reading it anyway.
There is also a really engaging journalistic essay at the back of this book that I found really edifying.
This book was offered as one of three choices for July's book club. I voted for this book, but it didn't win the poll. I couldn't resist reading it anyway.
tessazwaan's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful and really informative book about the Chernobyl disaster. It shows how the authorities went to great lengths to hide their mistakes, even though this costed thousands of peoples' lives. But there were sooo many characters in this book, kind of one dimensional, which made this book long, boring, slow... It was a small fight to finish it. 5 stars for the idea of the story, but 3 for the length, characters and depth.
elliasjh's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it....a simple read with a riveting story and wide-ranged characters.....makes you think of how people take life for granted and how it should be appreciated more...the suffering back then puts everything in the present in a different perspective. Overall, 3 1/2 stars.
elliasjhh's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it....a simple read with a riveting story and wide-ranged characters.....makes you think of how people take life for granted and how it should be appreciated more...the suffering back then puts everything in the present in a different perspective. Overall, 3 1/2 stars.
ellias's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it....a simple read with a riveting story and wide-ranged characters.....makes you think of how people take life for granted and how it should be appreciated more...the suffering back then puts everything in the present in a different perspective. Overall, 3 1/2 stars.
lookuplauren's review against another edition
4.0
Would have rated 5 had I not recently finished the HBO series, and had trouble disconnecting Grigory from Legasov (who was clearly the inspiration). A beautiful book nonetheless and an ending that asks of Zhenya, “will they tell your story?” Heart-wrenching.
bgg616's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book which is probably a surprising response to a book that tells the story of the people who lived around Chernobyl at the time of the meltdown.. The story of Soviet sheer incompetence is mind boggling. This is fiction, but describes what happened to people living around the failed nuclear reactor. The oppression of the Soviet system is described in numbing detail. Yet the humanity of the characters shines through. It is a tribute to the human spirit that some survived this disaster and the Soviet regime. Readers can't help but think of the resistance to the current Russian invasion of the Ukraine, a country whose people I've met and known are fiercely nationalist. Russian history is full of tragic sagas, as is the Ukraine. The link with Ireland is that for decades the Irish have had a charity called Chernobyl Children - http://chernobyl-international.com/
Despite the dark theme, this is a hopeful book.
Despite the dark theme, this is a hopeful book.