I have recently binge read her books (a tough ordeal considering what they are about) and I thought they were some of the most beautifully and sadly written books. They encapsulate the most tragic aspects of Slavic culture and history. I personally love them, I was wondering how do many of you react to her writings?
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Only read one book, the one about women in WWII and it was absolutely amazing, even reading it in my second language and losing a bit here and there. There were some funny moments but the last section was horrifying. I could’ve done with a bit less writing about the writing process framing the actual interviews.
I didn’t knew anything about her before she won the Nobel Prize, and after reading Voices from Chernobyl I was shocked at how blind I was. That and Secondhand Time are among the most beautiful, sad and powerful books I’ve ever read. The subtitle from Voices From Chernobyl is “A Chronicle of the Future”, and the book feels like a postapocallypic book, but it goes beyond that, showing a fragile world bound to the actions of mankind. And the journey through the confusion on the fall of the Soviet Union and the painful birth of the new Russia in Secondhand Time is as epic as any Tolstoy novel.
Read “the unwomanly face of war”, the one about women in WWII. It’s powerful and you just know it’s one of its kind for collecting all these personal stories. Some specially revealed to Svetlana. And then they independently bring up the title motif again and again.
I’m not well read on oral history books, but I’m pretty sure this is as good as it gets.
I am reading Zinc Coffin Boys, which is worth reading if you want to learn more about the Afghan war/late Soviet Union.
I actually hadn’t heard of her until seeing this thread yesterday. I picked up Voices from Chernobyl today and I just read the prologue. I was not ready for that. It tore me open. I’m already hooked. Thank you.
It’s nice to get something out of this sub other than 2 threads a day about The Road.