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A review by sloatsj
Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War by Svetlana Alexiévich
4.0
I stayed home ill from work, and what better condition to finish off “Zinky Boys” by Svetlana Alexievich, who won the Nobel Prize last year for her writing - “a monument to suffering.”
The title refers to the zinc coffins used to ship the remains of Soviet soldiers from the nine-year war in Afghanistan. The coffins arrived sealed because sometimes just one body part was inside, or a shovelful of dirt to add heft. The warfare often involved land mines, and it was hard to get through four or five pages before someone new had lost his legs or arms or head, or was simply blown to pieces. Only some pieces, and not always the right ones, made it into the coffins.
“After it was all over we collected up our boys in bits and pieces, even scraping them from the sides of the APC. We spread out a tarpaulin, their common grave, to try and sort out which leg or fragment of skull belonged to whom. We weren’t issued identification tags because of the ‘danger’ of them falling into enemy hands. This was an undeclared war, you see - we were fighting a war that wasn’t happening.” (p. 170 Private, Intelligence Corps)
What struck me most about this book was the terrible sorrow of mothers who lost their children. Their grief was powerful and tragic. When Alexievich won the Nobel Prize the committee noted her work isn’t a history of events but a “history of emotions ... an emotional world,” and that is clear here and also in her book “Voices of Chernobyl.”
Beyond the emotional impact, the most striking thing was the veterans’ and their loved ones’ sense of betrayal by a pointless war poorly fought.
The pain and emotional upheaval makes the book uneasy reading. The format helps, however, consisting of short interviews with veterans or loved ones left behind. When Alexievich won the Nobel Prize last year the committee cited her use of “polyphonic writings,” which refers to the mix of voices that constitute her books. She rarely intrudes; she conveys.
If there is a weak spot it is that the book is occasionally monotonous in tone, partly because the veterans all have a similar story to tell. But the women medics and nurses do help with a different perspective, as do the widows and mothers.
I was drawn to this book because I was overwhelmed by “Voices of Chernobyl” a couple years ago. That was the better book, in my opinion, because it seemed more diverse in its story-telling.
The title refers to the zinc coffins used to ship the remains of Soviet soldiers from the nine-year war in Afghanistan. The coffins arrived sealed because sometimes just one body part was inside, or a shovelful of dirt to add heft. The warfare often involved land mines, and it was hard to get through four or five pages before someone new had lost his legs or arms or head, or was simply blown to pieces. Only some pieces, and not always the right ones, made it into the coffins.
“After it was all over we collected up our boys in bits and pieces, even scraping them from the sides of the APC. We spread out a tarpaulin, their common grave, to try and sort out which leg or fragment of skull belonged to whom. We weren’t issued identification tags because of the ‘danger’ of them falling into enemy hands. This was an undeclared war, you see - we were fighting a war that wasn’t happening.” (p. 170 Private, Intelligence Corps)
What struck me most about this book was the terrible sorrow of mothers who lost their children. Their grief was powerful and tragic. When Alexievich won the Nobel Prize the committee noted her work isn’t a history of events but a “history of emotions ... an emotional world,” and that is clear here and also in her book “Voices of Chernobyl.”
Beyond the emotional impact, the most striking thing was the veterans’ and their loved ones’ sense of betrayal by a pointless war poorly fought.
The pain and emotional upheaval makes the book uneasy reading. The format helps, however, consisting of short interviews with veterans or loved ones left behind. When Alexievich won the Nobel Prize last year the committee cited her use of “polyphonic writings,” which refers to the mix of voices that constitute her books. She rarely intrudes; she conveys.
If there is a weak spot it is that the book is occasionally monotonous in tone, partly because the veterans all have a similar story to tell. But the women medics and nurses do help with a different perspective, as do the widows and mothers.
I was drawn to this book because I was overwhelmed by “Voices of Chernobyl” a couple years ago. That was the better book, in my opinion, because it seemed more diverse in its story-telling.