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The irony here is that the miniseries was itself propaganda denouncing lies. The underlying point rings true, but I kept seeing people watch it and feel somehow

The irony here is that the miniseries was itself propaganda denouncing lies. The underlying point rings true, but I kept seeing people watch it and feel somehow superior to those backwards soviets whilst seeing such a stacked narrative. As someone who used to work with radiation this really annoyed me. The other thing I will add is that the miniseries drew heavily from Svetlana Alexievich’s master work ‘Voices of Chernobyl’, which I cannot recommend enough. Perhaps what really annoyed me is that the miniseries did a second rate job retelling people’s stories, while the book was so rich.

epistasis 7y ago
> but I kept seeing people watch it and feel somehow superior to those backwards soviets Wow, that is not the message that I got at all and I didn't hear anybody else say that either. It seems to be quite the opposite, we see lots of extremely skilled, brave people in the face of disaster and an oppressive social structure. If anything, it seemed to make explicit parallels between the current US people and our current political battles. For example. the scene with the Ukrainian babushka milking the cow. Holy crap that was touching and felt so human. Made me feel so connected to a people on the other side of the world.
- blululu 7y ago
  >> For example. the scene with the Ukrainian babushka milking the cow. Holy crap that was touching and felt so human. Made me feel so connected to a people on the other side of the world. In that case I would highly recommend reading 'Voices of Chernobyl' - that scene (an several others) is lifted from it, and in my opinion Svetlana Alexievich is simply more talented and qualified to tell these people's stories.
  - erosb 7y ago
    > in my opinion Svetlana Alexievich is simply more talented or simply it is just the matter of difference between textbook and screenplay.
sateesh 7y ago
The other thing I will add is that the miniseries drew heavily from Svetlana Alexievich’s master work ‘Voices of Chernobyl’, which I cannot recommend enough. I think the book's title is "Chernobyl Prayer" and may be "Voices of Chernobyl" is the subtile. The edition (from Penguin) I am reading currently just has the title "Chernobyl Prayer". I haven't watched the series, but can't recommend the book enough, especially in these testing times where it is hard to get a good grasp of the situation unfolding. Sadly (as the book narrates) most of the people on the ground who were first deputed (forced) to carry out cleanup activities in the aftermath of Chernobyl were ill equipped, and many got exposed to high levels of radiation resulting in devastating consequences. This is not very different from the risks that many frontline workers fighting the current pandemic have to bear with.
- blululu 7y ago
  Yes - the original translation into English used 'Voices', but 'Prayer' is the exact literal translation, and I have seen translations in the past ~5 years that use 'Prayer'. (my recollection is that this had to do with the understanding of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, and trying to convey that meaning into English). In either case, the stories are perhaps more relevant than ever now.
loulou24 7y ago
> the miniseries drew heavily from Svetlana Alexievich’s master work ‘Voices of Chernobyl’, Some criticize this, saying that it's not a reliable source. Personally, I agree with you that it's a master work really worth reading. And I was frankly disappointed too by how the miniseries used Alexievich's work. For instance, they turned the deeply poignant love story between a condemn fireman and her devoted wife into some empty crap in which both individuals are just oblivious to the drama in their life. I don't even understand the logic! A Nobel price author gives you the most beautiful scene in which a bedridden dying hero remembers to offer flowers to his wife on Victory day... ... and you turn it into this?! Depressing !!
- egao1980 7y ago
  Unfortunatelly she's got her prize not because the book is good but because USSR is evil in it. Aside of her book writing Alexievich is well known for her outright Russophobic comments.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    I can’t say I’ve got this impression from reading her books. Opposed to the state perhaps, but not the people. Her books are all about the mistreatment of people. I’d particularly recommend The Unwomanly Face of War which is about women in the Soviet army in WW2, and Boys in Zinc which is about the Soviets in Afghanistan. Edit: egao1980 is some sort of troll/propaganda account.
    - pmachinery 7y ago
      It would be a boring world if everyone just agreed with each other and had the same opinions. > Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email us and we'll look at the data. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

epistasis 7y ago

> but I kept seeing people watch it and feel somehow superior to those backwards soviets Wow, that is not the message that I got at all and I didn't hear anybody else say that either. It seems to be quite the opposite, we see lots of extremely skilled, brave people in the face of disaster and an oppressive social structure. If anything, it seemed to make explicit parallels between the current US people and our current political battles. For example. the scene with the Ukrainian babushka milking the cow. Holy crap that was touching and felt so human. Made me feel so connected to a people on the other side of the world.

blululu 7y ago
>> For example. the scene with the Ukrainian babushka milking the cow. Holy crap that was touching and felt so human. Made me feel so connected to a people on the other side of the world. In that case I would highly recommend reading 'Voices of Chernobyl' - that scene (an several others) is lifted from it, and in my opinion Svetlana Alexievich is simply more talented and qualified to tell these people's stories.
- erosb 7y ago
  > in my opinion Svetlana Alexievich is simply more talented or simply it is just the matter of difference between textbook and screenplay.

sateesh 7y ago

The other thing I will add is that the miniseries drew heavily from Svetlana Alexievich’s master work ‘Voices of Chernobyl’, which I cannot recommend enough. I think the book's title is "Chernobyl Prayer" and may be "Voices of Chernobyl" is the subtile. The edition (from Penguin) I am reading currently just has the title "Chernobyl Prayer". I haven't watched the series, but can't recommend the book enough, especially in these testing times where it is hard to get a good grasp of the situation unfolding. Sadly (as the book narrates) most of the people on the ground who were first deputed (forced) to carry out cleanup activities in the aftermath of Chernobyl were ill equipped, and many got exposed to high levels of radiation resulting in devastating consequences. This is not very different from the risks that many frontline workers fighting the current pandemic have to bear with.

blululu 7y ago
Yes - the original translation into English used 'Voices', but 'Prayer' is the exact literal translation, and I have seen translations in the past ~5 years that use 'Prayer'. (my recollection is that this had to do with the understanding of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, and trying to convey that meaning into English). In either case, the stories are perhaps more relevant than ever now.

loulou24 7y ago

> the miniseries drew heavily from Svetlana Alexievich’s master work ‘Voices of Chernobyl’, Some criticize this, saying that it's not a reliable source. Personally, I agree with you that it's a master work really worth reading. And I was frankly disappointed too by how the miniseries used Alexievich's work. For instance, they turned the deeply poignant love story between a condemn fireman and her devoted wife into some empty crap in which both individuals are just oblivious to the drama in their life. I don't even understand the logic! A Nobel price author gives you the most beautiful scene in which a bedridden dying hero remembers to offer flowers to his wife on Victory day... ... and you turn it into this?! Depressing !!

egao1980 7y ago
Unfortunatelly she's got her prize not because the book is good but because USSR is evil in it. Aside of her book writing Alexievich is well known for her outright Russophobic comments.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- lostlogin 7y ago
  I can’t say I’ve got this impression from reading her books. Opposed to the state perhaps, but not the people. Her books are all about the mistreatment of people. I’d particularly recommend The Unwomanly Face of War which is about women in the Soviet army in WW2, and Boys in Zinc which is about the Soviets in Afghanistan. Edit: egao1980 is some sort of troll/propaganda account.
  - pmachinery 7y ago
    It would be a boring world if everyone just agreed with each other and had the same opinions. > Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email us and we'll look at the data. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html