text:
- Atom (standard)
For Atom feeds from Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Syndication.
The feed icon used in several browsers
Filename extension
.atom, .xml
Internet media type
Type of format web syndication Extended from XML
The name Atom applies to a pair of related standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub or APP) is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web resources.
Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a website. To provide a web feed, a site owner may use specialized software (such as a content management system) that publishes a list (or "feed") of recent articles or content in a standardized, machine-readable format. The feed can then be downloaded by programs that use it, like websites that syndicate content from the feed, or by feed reader programs that allow Internet users to subscribe to feeds and view their content.
A feed contains entries, which may be headlines, full-text articles, excerpts, summaries, and/or links to content on a website, along with various metadata.
The Atom format was developed as an alternative to RSS. Ben Trott, an advocate of the new format that became Atom, believed that RSS had limitations and flaws—such as lack of on-going innovation and its necessity to remain backward compatible— and that there were advantages to a fresh design.[1]
Proponents of the new format formed the IETF Atom Publishing Format and Protocol Workgroup. The Atom syndication format was published as an IETF proposed standard in RFC 4287 (December 2005), and the Atom Publishing Protocol was published as RFC 5023 (October 2007).
- 1 Usage
- 2 Atom compared to RSS 2.0
- 3 Barriers to adoption
- 4 Development history
- 5 Example of an Atom 1.0 feed
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Web feeds are used by the blogging community to share recent entries' headlines, full text, and even attached multimedia files.[2] These providers allow other websites to incorporate the blog's "syndicated" headline or headline-and-short-summary feeds under various usage agreements. Atom and other web syndication formats are now used for many purposes, including journalism, marketing, bug-reports, or any other activity involving periodic updates or publications. Atom also provides a standard way to export an entire blog, or parts of it, for backup or for importing into other blogging systems.
It is common to find web feeds on major Web sites, as well as many smaller ones. Some websites let people choose between RSS or Atom formatted web feeds; others offer only RSS or only Atom. In particular, many blog and wiki sites offer their web feeds in the Atom format.
A feed reader or "aggregator" program can be used to check feeds and display new articles. Client-side readers may also be designed as standalone programs or as extensions to existing programs like web browsers. Browsers are moving toward integrated feed reader functions.
Web-based feed readers and news aggregators require no software installation and make the user's "feeds" available on any computer with Web access. Some aggregators syndicate (combine) web feeds into new feeds, e.g., taking all football related items from several sports feeds and providing a new football feed. There are also several search engines for web feed content[citation needed].
On Web pages, web feeds (both Atom and RSS) are typically linked with the word "Subscribe" or with the unofficial web feed logo ().
Atom compared to RSS 2.0
When Atom emerged as a format intended to rival or replace RSS, CNET described the motivation of its creators as follows: "Winer's opponents are seeking a new format that would clarify RSS ambiguities, consolidate its multiple versions, expand its capabilities, and fall under the auspices of a traditional standards organization."[3]
A brief description of some of the ways Atom 1.0 differs from RSS 2.0 has been given by Tim Bray, who played a major role in the creation of Atom:[4]
Content model
RSS 2.0 may contain either plain text or escaped HTML as a payload, with no way to indicate which of the two is provided. Atom, on the other hand, provides a mechanism to explicitly and unambiguously label the type of content being provided by the entry, and allows for a broad variety of payload types including plain text, escaped HTML, XHTML, XML, Base64-encoded binary, and references to external content such as documents, video, audio streams, and so forth.
Date formats
The RSS 2.0 specification relies on the use of RFC 822 formatted timestamps to communicate information about when items in the feed were created and last updated. The Atom working group chose instead to use timestamps formatted according to the rules specified by RFC 3339 (which is a subset of ISO 8601; see Appendix A in RFC 3339 for differences).
While the RSS vocabulary has a mechanism to indicate a human language for the feed, there is no way to specify a language for individual items or text elements. Atom, on the other hand, uses the standard xml:lang attribute to make it possible to specify a language context for every piece of human-readable content in the feed.
Atom also differs from RSS in that it supports the use of Internationalized Resource Identifiers, which allow links to resources and unique identifiers to contain characters outside the US ASCII character set.
The elements of the RSS vocabulary are not generally reusable in other XML vocabularies. The Atom syntax was specifically designed to allow elements to be reused outside the context of an Atom feed document. For instance, it is not uncommon to find atom:link elements being used within RSS 2.0 feeds.
Barriers to adoption
- Despite the emergence of Atom as an IETF Proposed Standard and the decision by major companies such as Google to embrace Atom, use of the older and better-known RSS formats has continued.
- RSS 2.0 support for enclosures led directly to the development of podcasting. While many podcasting applications, such as iTunes, support the use of Atom 1.0, RSS 2.0 remains the preferred format.[5]
- Many sites choose to publish their feeds in only a single format. For example CNN and the New York Times offer their web feeds only in RSS 2.0 format.
- News articles about web syndication feeds have increasingly used the term "RSS" to refer generically to any of the several variants of the RSS format such as RSS 2.0 and RSS 1.0 as well as the Atom format.[6][7]
Development history
Before the creation of Atom the primary method of web content syndication was the RSS family of formats.
Members of the community who felt there were significant deficiencies with this family of formats were unable to make changes directly to RSS 2.0 because the official specification document stated that it was purposely frozen to ensure its stability.[8]
Initial work
In June 2003, Sam Ruby set up a wiki to discuss what makes "a well-formed log entry".[9] This initial posting acted as a rallying point.[10] People quickly started using the wiki to discuss a new syndication format to address the shortcomings of RSS. It also became clear that the new format could form the basis of a more robust replacement for blog editing protocols such as the Blogger API and LiveJournal XML-RPC Client/Server Protocol as well.
The project aimed to develop a web syndication format that was:[11]
- "100% vendor neutral,"
- "implemented by everybody,"
- "freely extensible by anybody, and"
- "cleanly and thoroughly specified."
In short order, a project road map[11] was built. The effort quickly attracted more than 150 supporters, including David Sifry of Technorati, Mena Trott of Six Apart, Brad Fitzpatrick of LiveJournal, Jason Shellen of Blogger, Jeremy Zawodny of Yahoo, Timothy Appnel of the O'Reilly Network, Glenn Otis Brown of Creative Commons and Lawrence Lessig. Other notables supporting Atom include Mark Pilgrim, Tim Bray, Aaron Swartz, Joi Ito, and Jack Park.[12] Also, Dave Winer, the key figure behind RSS 2.0, gave tentative support to the new endeavor.[13]
After this point, discussion became chaotic, due to the lack of a decision-making process. The project also lacked a name, tentatively using "Pie," "Echo," "Atom," and "Whatever" (PEAW)[14] before settling on Atom. After releasing a project snapshot known as Atom 0.2 in early July 2003, discussion was shifted off the wiki.
Atom 0.3 and adoption by Google
The discussion then moved to a newly set up mailing list. The next and final snapshot during this phase was Atom 0.3, released in December 2003. This version gained widespread adoption in syndication tools, and in particular it was added to several Google-related services, such as Blogger, Google News, and Gmail. Google's Data APIs (Beta) GData are based on Atom 1.0 and RSS 2.0.
Atom 1.0 and IETF standardization
In 2004, discussions began about moving the project to a standards body such as the World Wide Web Consortium or the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The group eventually chose the IETF and the Atompub working group[15] was formally set up in June 2004, finally giving the project a charter and process. The Atompub working group is co-chaired by Tim Bray (the co-editor of the XML specification) and Paul Hoffman. Initial development was focused on the syndication format.
The Atom Syndication Format was issued as a Proposed Standard in IETF RFC 4287 in December 2005. The co-editors were Mark Nottingham and Robert Sayre. This document is known as atompub-format in IETF's terminology. The Atom Publishing Protocol was issued as a Proposed Standard in IETF RFC 5023 in October 2007. Two other drafts have not been standardized.[16]
Example of an Atom 1.0 feed
An example of a document in the Atom Syndication Format:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> <title>Example Feed</title> <subtitle>A subtitle.</subtitle> <link href="http://example.org/feed/" rel="self" /> <link href="http://example.org/" /> <id>urn:uuid:60a76c80-d399-11d9-b91C-0003939e0af6</id> <updated>2003-12-13T18:30:02Z</updated> <author> <name>John Doe</name> <email>email@example.com</email> </author> <entry> <title>Atom-Powered Robots Run Amok</title> <link href="http://example.org/2003/12/13/atom03" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://example.org/2003/12/13/atom03.html"/> <link rel="edit" href="http://example.org/2003/12/13/atom03/edit"/> <id>urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a</id> <updated>2003-12-13T18:30:02Z</updated> <summary>Some text.</summary> </entry> </feed>
Including in XHTML
The following tag should be placed into the head of an XHTML document to provide a link to an ATOM Feed.
<link href="atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="Sitewide ATOM Feed" />
See also
- hAtom – microformat for marking up (X)HTML so that Atom feeds can be derived from it
- Open Data Protocol – a set of extensions to the AtomPub developed by Microsoft
- Content Management Interoperability Services – provides an extension to AtomPub for content management
- Channel Definition Format – an early feed format developed before Atom and RSS
- XML Shareable Playlist Format
- List of content syndication markup languages
- Syndication format family tree
- Web syndication
- ^ Trott, Benjamin (2003-06-29). "Why We Need Echo". Six Apart — News and Events. http://www.sixapart.com/about/news/2003/06/why_we_need_ech.html.
- ^ See also podcasting, vodcasting, broadcasting, screencasting, vlogging, and MP3 blogs.
- ^ Festa, Paul (2003-08-04). "Dispute exposes bitter power struggle behind Web logs". news.cnet.com. http://news.cnet.com/Battle-of-the-blog/2009-1032_3-5059006.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. "The conflict centers on something called Really Simple Syndication (RSS), a technology widely used to syndicate blogs and other Web content. The dispute pits Harvard Law School fellow Dave Winer, the blogging pioneer who is the key gatekeeper of RSS, against advocates of a different format."
- ^ "RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 Compared". Atom Wiki. http://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/Rss20AndAtom10Compared. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ "Making a Podcast". Apple Inc. http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ Quain, John R. (2004-06-03). "Fine-Tuning Your Filter for Online Information". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/ref/technology/circuits/03basi.html.
- ^ Tedeschi, Bob (2006-01-29). "There's a Popular New Code for Deals: RSS". New York Times. http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/travel/29prac.html.
- ^ "RSS 2.0 Specification — Roadmap". http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss#roadmap.
- ^ Ruby, Sam (2003-06-16). "Anatomy of a Well Formed Log Entry". http://www.intertwingly.net/blog/1472.html.
- ^ Bray, Tim (2003-06-23). "I Like Pie". http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/06/23/SamsPie.
- ^ a b "Roadmap". Atom Wiki. http://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/RoadMap. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ "Roadmap — Supporters". Atom Wiki. http://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/RoadMap#head-74b5d46318b48115b07ab1a2e77cb22df987c284. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ Winer, Dave (2003-06-26). "Tentative endorsement of Echo". http://backend.userland.com/2003/06/26.
- ^ Schemaware for PEAW 0.2
- ^ "Atompub working group". http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/atompub-charter.html.
- ^ Internet Engineering Task Force. "Atompub Status Pages". http://tools.ietf.org/wg/atompub. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
External links
Atom standard
Atom advocacy / evangelism
- AtomEnabled.org – An unofficial website following the Atom project
- Atom Syndication Format – Introduction – Overview
- Comparison of RSS and Atom Web Feed Formats
- The Atom API – Xml.com column by Mark Pilgrim
- Getting to know the Atom Publishing Protocol – IBM developerWorks article by James Snell
- Atom Landscape Overview – Overview of Atom-related IETF standards and drafts
- Atom Publishing Protocol (APP) and Atom Syndication Format – Tutorial on Atom Publishing Protocol (APP) and Atom Syndication Format
Atom history & motivation
- Anatomy of a Well Formed Log Entry – the weblog post that started it all
- Why we need Echo (June 2003) – Motivation and goals of the Atom project
Atom working group links
- Atom Wiki – The main place for work on Atom.
- Atom Protocol Mailing List – WG discussion of the publishing protocol
- Atom Syntax Mailing List – WG discussion of the syndication format
- IETF Atom Publishing Format and Protocol working group (atompub)
Atom Extension Standards
- IANA Registry of Link-Relations – Official registry of atom:link element "rel" attribute values
- RFC 4685 – Atom Threading Extensions
- RFC 4946 – Atom License Extension
- RFC 5005 – Feed Paging and Archiving
- hAtom – a microformat for marking up standard HTML such that an Atom feed can be derived from it.
Cloud computing Clients
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Applications Platforms
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Infrastructure Technologies
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Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
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text:
Lyubov Sirota "Pripyat syndrome"
Literally on eve of the Day of memory of the Chernobyl tragedy – 26 April 2009 (and unexpectedly for me) the opportunity of the edition of my old novel about the Chernobyl disaster – film-story "Pripyat syndrome" at last has appeared. The book was issued at support of International public organization "PTRIPAYT.com" and a site of city of Pripyat (http://pripyat.com/en/), which I thank very much for the book and for all selfless work on preservation of memory of Chernobyl catastrophe and our Pripyat!..
In Russian about the book of Lyubov Sirota "Pripyat syndrome" see here: http://www.proza.ru/2009/04/30/197 (Любовь Сирота "Припятский синдром"); also full text of the book in Russian is now available on the site pripyat.com here: http://pripyat.com/news/11-04-24/pripyatskii-sindrom.
In Russian about the book of Lyubov Sirota "Pripyat syndrome" see here: http://www.proza.ru/2009/04/30/197 (Любовь Сирота "Припятский синдром"); also full text of the book in Russian is now available on the site pripyat.com here: http://pripyat.com/news/11-04-24/pripyatskii-sindrom.
In Ukrainian about this book see here: http://blog.meta.ua/~orantas/posts/i1124866/ (Любов Сирота "Прип'ятський синдром").
In English here:
Lyubov Sirota "Pripyat syndrome"; English translation by Natalia Rymina; edited by Birgitta Ingemanson and Paul Brians.
---------------------------------------------The short summary:
In this book telling about tragic destiny of the young woman – inhabitant of Pripyat, desperately struggling for a life of the son, many the twists and turns of the first days and the first years of Chernobyl tragedy are displayed vividly and precisely.
Now the work by the translation the whole book "Pripyat syndrome" already finished!
And we hope to find a good publisher for the English edition of the book.
Also the International public organization "PTRIPAYT.com" will also be happy to receive any assistance in the publication of the book.
For information on where and how to buy the book see here: Online storefront "Pripyat Syndrome – The book by Lyubov Sirota" .
For questions and suggestions please write to E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com .
Now the work by the translation the whole book "Pripyat syndrome" already finished!
And we hope to find a good publisher for the English edition of the book.
Also the International public organization "PTRIPAYT.com" will also be happy to receive any assistance in the publication of the book.
For information on where and how to buy the book see here: Online storefront "Pripyat Syndrome – The book by Lyubov Sirota" .
For questions and suggestions please write to E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com .
Last news about the English version of the book "The Pripyat Syndrome":
Last news about the English version of the book "The Pripyat Syndrome":
Dear friends!
Unfortunately, pripyat.com was unable to publish the book "The Pripyat Syndrome" in English in February 2013, because the advance payment (which so far have made only a few people) and a one-time sponsorship are covers only a third of the necessary funds for the publication of the book. In addition, they have faced with great difficulties in the work shop with the calculations from countries of Western Europe and further afield…
But all the while, continuing to hope for an advance payments and sponsorship, they continued to search for other ways to publish the English version of the book in print and electronic form.
And then, finally, they found the American publishing house "L & L Publishing", which has already released the electronic version of the book "Pripyat syndrome" in English – see here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335122
Unfortunately, pripyat.com was unable to publish the book "The Pripyat Syndrome" in English in February 2013, because the advance payment (which so far have made only a few people) and a one-time sponsorship are covers only a third of the necessary funds for the publication of the book. In addition, they have faced with great difficulties in the work shop with the calculations from countries of Western Europe and further afield…
But all the while, continuing to hope for an advance payments and sponsorship, they continued to search for other ways to publish the English version of the book in print and electronic form.
And then, finally, they found the American publishing house "L & L Publishing", which has already released the electronic version of the book "Pripyat syndrome" in English – see here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/335122
and here: The Pripyat Syndrome [NOOK Book]
Also you can buy the E-book "ThePripyat Syndrome" on Amason.com:
Also you can buy the E-book "ThePripyat Syndrome" on Amason.com:
Besides, now on Amason.com you have the opportunity to independently order the desired number of copies of paper book "The Pripyat Syndrome" in English:
Pripyat.com, in turn, within a month will order the required number of copies to be sent to all who have already made an advance payment in the store (http://www.pripyat-syndrome.com/en/product/kniga-pripjatskij-sindrom-v-tverdoj-oblozhke-angljazyk-predzakaz/).
They give thanks to all of you, friends, for patient waiting and bring their sincere apologies for the under the necessity delay in the publishing of the book!
They give thanks to all of you, friends, for patient waiting and bring their sincere apologies for the under the necessity delay in the publishing of the book!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Here a small fragment from this book in English translation by Natalia Ryumina:
(a very short fragment from the film-story)
Everything started as in a movie. The idea to write a big prose work about the Chernobyl disaster appeared already in 1990, right after our almost daily, two-year struggle for our film The Threshold (directed by Rollan Sergienko), which managed to penetrate the "iron curtain" of denial and silence about the consequences of this disaster. The film itself was shot in an unbelievably short period of time – just six months, and the production was launched in 1988 by the then-head of the Alexander Dovzhenko Film Studios, the famous director Nikolay Mashchenko.
This was when all that I had seen, heard, and lived through – the whole four years of my post-Chernobyl experience which for a long time had not entered into my poetry – started to make its way onto the pages of my future novel or tale The Pripyat Syndrome.
Somehow sensing this process, Nikolay Pavlovich suggested at about the same time that I write a film script about the Chernobyl tragedy, and he even gave it a name – How Do I Save You, Son? But since the film studio was experiencing a deep financial crisis in those difficult years of perestroika, the work on this movie (first, it was supposed to be in two parts, then a single episode) was frozen.
Nevertheless, that particular work influenced the writing and the style of the tale that I am now offering for your attention, my dear Reader!
This tale is dedicated
to my fellow countrymen, the people of Pripyat,
and to everyone who has been affected by Chernobyl's
sinister shadow. Although based on real events, it cannot be classified
as a documentary, for its characters are all assembled from various parts.
A tiny far-away star is pulsating in the dense purple sky. As it grows, it first transforms itself into a bright whirling star, then into a huge multi-colored sphere, which quickly approaches, leaving behind a long luminous train... Then suddenly – a blinding flash... The whole sky is illuminated by a red and yellow glow, which shivers in fever and, it turns out, has escaped from the core of the exploded reactor No. 4. The enormous ventilation pipe of the 3rd and 4th blocks of the V. I. Lenin Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station remains red-hot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ [1]
Irina suddenly wakes up.[2] The intolerable pain that has become habitual over the last couple of years seems to be tearing apart her head and filling every cell of her being with boiling lead. Such bad timing! Just as she was about to go and pick up her son… and there are still so many things to do before that! With her disobedient hand, she reaches out for the medicine on the bedside table. She takes a painkiller, chews it and tries to reach the glass of water, but, unable to control her hand, she knocks the glass down on the floor. The water spills over the carpet and on the letters that are lying there.
The pain and bitterness make Irina flinch. She squeezes her head with both hands, making her short hair look even more dishevelled, and sits up slowly. She takes some valerian drops, picks up the soaked letters from the floor and puts them on the bedside table. She sits on her bed for a while and then struggles to stand up. She cautiously walks towards the bathroom, moaning in pain, still gripping her head with her hands.
She can hear her son's voice, as she reads his first letter from the sanatorium:
"Hello, my dear Mommy, I'm writing this letter right after you left at 7.31 a.m. I still have a strong headache. I wish that these two months would skip by very quickly, but there are still 58 days to go. I miss you so much..."
Irina is inspecting her reflection in the mirror. Her face has become haggard by the illness.
"As I told you, I won't be able to stand this for more than a month, they say that the weather here will be even hotter soon... Looking forward to hearing from you, Mom! Your Dennis."
The image in the mirror is blurred, fading away. A quiet moan and a sound of falling objects can be heard.
It is a hot July morning in the outskirts of the capital. The number of people at the bus stop is too large even for a workday morning. The bus is probably delayed. On the opposite side of the road there appears a well-built, but unhealthily bent female figure with a hand-bag over her shoulder. This is Irina. She slowly crosses the road and approaches the bus stop. Only now does she notice the unusual gathering.
She tries to stop any passing car in order to get a lift. Eventually, one of the cars does stop and a respectable-looking driver lazily asks:
– Where're you going?
– To the Ministry of Health, please.
– Sixty rubles.
– What!? A regular cab costs just ten!
– Are you getting in or not? – asks the respectable citizen.
Irina desperately slams the door and the car drives off without her, covering her in fumes. Depressed, she returns to the bus shelter and leans against its rough cold wall. She gets a pill out of her bag.
A woman passing by announces loudly:
– You're waiting in vain! All the buses are late, the drivers are on strike…
Her words cause some commotion at the bus stop. Someone is upset, someone else, on the contrary, seems glad.
The crowd slowly vanishes. Irina is desperate to get to the city center today, so she decides to stay and wait for a bus. She walks up to an empty bench and sits down so as to lean her aching back against its back, which, as luck would have it, is not completely ripped off. Although she worries about the indefinite delay, deep in her soul she is glad about every single sign of change that is coming to this amazingly enormous country, known among the people by the short and simple name sovok.[3] A strange but very familiar feeling of sweet alert reminds her of …
… the early morning of April 26, 1986. Wearing a light dressing gown, Irina is typing an article, using her old portable typewriter of the Moscow brand. She has spent all night on this article, which is quite common for her. She puts in the final period and takes out the sheet of paper which is fully covered with text. Collecting all the papers she puts them in a pile and moves the typewriter to the opposite side of her desk, covering it with the latest issue of Ogonyok magazine.
On the desk, apart from the typewriter and the manuscript, there's also an empty coffee pot and a cup with some left-over coffee. On the very edge of the desk, right beside the bookshelf, there's another pile of papers.
She has to share this desk with her son – he tends to use it during the day, as well as in the evening, while she gets it all to herself during the night.
Irina loves the silence of her long nights, when she can work or just sit by the window, thinking about life and eternity, disrupted by nobody, being one-on-one with the stars and the moon, which is constantly changing its appearance and manages to look so mysterious.
Irina turns off the table-lamp, since it is quite light in the room anyway. The slightly parted curtains covering the sash window look bright orange. One side is wide open and the soft spring breeze is blowing about the light tulle curtain. Irina moves it aside and inhales the pleasant, sharply-fresh morning air, while stretching her body. She is happy with the work that she's finished, as well as the pure blue sky, the breeze that tenderly touches her long fair hair, and the waking pine forest that reaches far into the distance towards the Office of the Building Administration, and then all the way to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. This forest is also a precious part of her night vigils. Today it's covered with a spooky greyish fog. Nice!
She wakes up her son and helps him pack his school bag, as he washes and has breakfast, clattering the dishes in their little kitchen.
More and more, the sun's glare fills the room of their tiny, small-family studio apartment. The ray of sunlight is playing with the crystal on the clock on the bookshelf,[4] skipping over the backs of various books, lightly touching the coffee-colored wallpaper, the decorative chandelier and a soft blanket that covers the sofa on the other side of the room. It also illuminates the complicated pattern of her cheap Moldavian carpet which, although small, manages to cover the whole floor – that's how tiny the room is. Nevertheless, another sofa has been squeezed in by the wall opposite the window. On this sofa lies a guitar without a cover. A bit further away a white double door leads to the spacious pantry, also used as a wardrobe.
In this small Pripyat apartment, Irina and Dennis have lived comfortably for several years. Although in a couple of months they are about to move to a new, bigger flat, something that they very much look forward to, they still feel a bit sad to leave this one, for they are so used to it. Maybe for this reason – because they know that they will have to leave it soon – it seems even more sweet and precious right now. And maybe that's why some strange melancholy is adding itself to her joyous feeling on this wonderful spring day.
Fully dressed, Dennis pops into the room to get his school bag. Irina is surprised by such promptness:
– Where are you going so early? Classes don't start for another hour![5] Doesn't seem like you at all...
– Oh, come on, Mom, – importantly replies Dennis. – We're supposed to be on school duty today. And Seryozha's already waiting for me outside, as we agreed, you see? We'll take a little walk before classes... Breathe some fresh air!
– Fresh air, that's good! – agrees Irina sleepily. – OK, off you go then. Oh, – she suddenly remembers, – Denya, you know what, last night something was hooting and crashing at the power station again – even our windows were shivering, you didn't hear it?
– Whatever! – Dennis is on his way out already, – I'm off…
A couple of hours later Irina also leaves the apartment and, following her usual route through the courtyards, she walks toward the Palace of Culture, where her literature and theater studio is meeting today. [6]
She is clearly enjoying the day and for some reason everything moves her: the birds singing, the branches of maples and lindens swaying, all green; even the chestnut trees having already spread their wide leaves, revealing the little sharp buds. Everything around is so familiar, so joyous and somehow so unique today! Irina is pleasantly surprised by the sight of the foaming streams of water on the streets and sidewalks – the street-cleaning machines are visible everywhere. That's why the air is so unusually fresh today! They probably clean the streets so thoroughly every Saturday, it's just that she's never noticed it before. These foaming streams are also adding a certain grandeur and festivity to the day.
Meanwhile Irina is pleased to note how conveniently she's dressed for such a day – jeans, a light shirt and light, colorful jacket, but most important – sneakers. This allows her to avoid the puddles easily, or just to jump over them! The fresh breeze is touching her face and hair so sweetly. Nice!
An old woman, a villager from Polesye,[7] appears from around the corner building and, while still at quite a distance, asks Irina:
– Where's the bus station, kiddo?
– Continue down this street, then cross the road and it's to your right, next to that forest, just over there, see? – Irina is explaining everything carefully to the old woman, who by now has come closer.
– Do not go to the bus station! – interrupts a man in a loud voice. Irina turns around. She sees an odd and messy-looking man in a dirty uniform, standing about twenty paces away, clearly very concerned about something. – Today there's no bus service anyway! – he yells.
The granny starts approaching him in order to find out why there's no bus service today, and as for Irina, she shrugs her shoulders, – so there's no service, so what! – and continues on her way.
Unusually many people are strolling happily along Lenin Avenue and on the square in front of the Palace of Culture. Even more than that – there are lots of grey police uniforms, which also seems very surprising to Irina: the festive crowds, the kiosks with ice cream and other sweets on the sidewalks – all this doesn't look like an ordinary Saturday – a feeling of the approaching May holidays is in the air.[8]
By contrast, the Palace is almost empty. Irina says hello to the concierge, whom everybody calls Grandma Pasha, although she isn't even that old yet.[9] She loves to chat with Irina and now, too, she's about to say something. But Irina gestures that she's late, and quickly running upstairs crosses the gracefully decorated dance hall. There are only two people in the studio. Tatyana, an engineer at the power station, recently gave birth to her third child. On parental leave now, she spends all her time writing poems and drawing. She has come here earlier than usual today to start making the wall newspaper.[10] The other person in the room is Sophia – a professional journalist, who works for the local newspaper and part-time on the radio. She is standing by the window, smoking. Tatyana sits at the desk in front of a huge and completely blank sheet of paper.
– What's the news? – they ask simultaneously in a friendly duet.
– What are you talking about? – Irina is surprised – Where's everybody else? I thought I was running late!
– Oh, – Sophia exhales disappointedly, coming up to Irina and kissing her on the cheek. She wipes off the mark of her lipstick. – This kid is still in total ignorance. How do you like that, Tatyana?
Sophia returns to her unfinished cigarette that she had left on top of the ashtray by the window. She inhales the smoke, studying Irina with curiosity.
– God's birdie knows no worry and no labor, – joins in Tatyana, but then adds seriously, – Nobody else is coming, I guess... Will you be alright with just the two of us? You can start, "governor."
– What's happened? – Irina asks quietly.
– We hardly know anything, – answers Tatyana, – Something's happened at the power station. Something really bad... There are even victims...
– Stop panicking! – interrupts Sophia, exhaling the smoke. – If it was really that bad, I'd definitely have known about it by now! Don't worry, gov, – she addresses Irina, – let's see what we've got here today and then we'll go home. I'm still a bit concerned about the kids...
– Yes, and what do you know: in School No. 3, they're not even allowed outside today, – confirms Tatyana. Her eldest daughter goes to that school, in the fifth grade.
"So, that's what it is," – Irina thinks, and the unusual feeling of sweet alert possesses her, mixing with the morning's excitement, filling every cell of her body and even tickling her nose. However, she puts herself together and continues, almost calmly:
– OK, let's not make any guesses. Tatyana, you try to get through to the power station and meanwhile I'll check our schedule for the evening.
– There's no point in calling them! – mutters Sophia, sitting on the window-sill. She's already spent half an hour on the phone trying to reach them. The atomic station keeps silent.
Irina sits down by the table and opens her calendar.
– Right. Well, what can we do? You, Tanya, are excused. Go home to your baby. He needs you more than we do now. And Sophushka, we have two shows in the residence halls tonight. Let's do it this way. Go home now and then come back here at 6 o'clock. By that time I'll call... or just somehow get in touch with the residence halls. I doubt they're up for a poetic evening at the moment over at Chernobyl, but in the Builders' Residence Hall they'll probably expect us... You can read the poems, I'll sing the songs, and then we'll answer their questions, just as always! OK?
– OK! – Sophia jumps down from the window-sill, her long dark wavy hair swaying. – See you tonight! – She kisses Irina on the cheek and tenderly messes up Tatyana's short hair.
Irina is at home. Anxious, she measures the room with her steps, from time to time popping into the kitchen to check on her lunch which is cooking. Suddenly, recollecting something, she closes the window. Her son is not home yet. The clock shows half past two in the afternoon.
At last she hears the front door open and rushes into the small hallway. The sight is shocking – her boy is covered in clay and sand. When he takes off his shoes, the piles of sand pour out on the floor.
– My god! Where have you been? – Irina is terrified.
– We had a subbotnik today[11] ... we... swept the school yard, – Dennis is lying. The truth is, he and Seryozhka had gone to the river after school, but Irina will find that out later. She is exasperated.
– In some schools the kids were not even allowed to go outside today and in yours it's a subbotnik, and for primary school pupils?! Unbelievable!
Dennis is changing his clothes. Knowingly, he says:
– I know everything. Last night something exploded at the power station! We even had a teachers' meeting at school. We were told to take some iodine pills and the grown-ups can have wine... Maybe us kids will even be e...va... taken out of town...
– Evacuated? – suggests Irina.
– Yes, that's right! E..va..cu..ated, – he agrees, washing his face.
– Alright, my little expert! Wash yourself. Have some food. Do something nice. Read a book! I still have a couple of things to take care of tonight, so I'll be back late. I'll lock the door. Be good! And don't open the window, OK?!
– OK, – sighs Dennis.
Their literary evening, dedicated to the creative works of Marina Tsvetaeva, is almost over. There's a lot of young people in the Red Room of the Builders' Residence Hall.[12] It's been going on for quite a while now, but they don't want to release their guests just yet. However, Irina is singing her final song:[13]
One last hour to get through.
And then – eternal longing!
Time won't stop for us, it's true -
After all.
Whatever's pulling me to you -
Is not at all your doing!
It's just the fear that all my bloom -
Will soon be going.
What is the value of an hour?
What is the weight of moments?
The shadow on a solar clock
Is moving fast.
For constellations and for us -
This hour equally will pass.
Oh, how I wish with all my heart
That it would last!
As soon as the last chords of the song have sounded, Irina and Sophia are surrounded by people with questions. For a short time, all today's worries are forgotten. Only by 11 p.m. do they finally manage to get away from their grateful audience, carrying large bouquets of flowers.
Still inspired by the warm welcome and the wonderfully tender evening, they walk past the unfinished stadium towards the central avenue, which, as is usual for the main streets of all the cities in the USSR, is named for Lenin. It is brightly illuminated by neon slogans proclaiming "THE PEOPLE AND THE PARTY ARE ONE" above the City Committee building of the Communist Party; "HOTEL POLESYE" next to it; the "PALACE OF CULTURE ENERGETIK" on top of their own building;[14] the "RADUGA" shop on the left; and shining from the height of a nine-story building on the right, a bit further away, the immortal phrase "LET THE ATOM BE A WORKER, NOT A SOLDIER."
Sophia decides to take a walk with her friend, because this night is way too lovely to go home right away. And so, free of any troubled thoughts, they reach the end of the avenue. As soon as they get to the circle by the bridge, they both gasp: further away, just above the forest there's a huge, burning glow. It flickers and trembles, as if from a scorching, open-hearth furnace. The enormous ventilation pipe of the power station is red-hot.
– Yes, – Sophia murmurs under her breath. – Looks like some serious shit!
Irina is shocked, too, but at the same time a wave of adventurous, teenage-like excitement rises in her, which is very difficult to contain:
– Let's go closer to the bridge! I wonder if anyone will stop us?!
Sophia seems to have the same thought, so the two young women head for the bridge that leads out of town. They reach it, but no one seems to be there to stop them, so they quickly lose interest and go back, still keeping their eyes on the glow above the forest.
– Wouldn't it be great if we could get up on the roof of a nine-story apartment building and observe everything from there?! – exclaims Irina in childish joy. – Come on! Maybe, it's our professional duty…
– Listen, woman! Don't you think you live too close to this "genie" anyway? I hope it won't escape from its burning bottle at some point?! – Sophia reasons in her deep voice. – Now, listen, if anything bad happens, let Dennis run over to me with your manuscripts, we live further from here so, I guess, it's also safer. As for you, you can observe it and put that into writing for as long as your soul desires, deal?!
– Deal! – agrees Irina.
They embrace each other, and this embrace is somehow stronger and warmer than usual. As they are about to part, they see a row of government cars, black Volgas and Zils, swiftly approaching from across the bridge, passing them and speeding towards the building of the City Committee.
Without saying a word, the girls wave to each other and rush to their homes. Each of them is dwelling on the thought of the almost incomprehensible military word – evacuation, which fills their hearts with sweet trembling.
Once at home, Irina finds her son already asleep. Without bothering to take off her shoes and jacket, she turns on the table-lamp. She opens the door of the pantry-closet and gets out her large black travel bag, then sits down, absent-mindedly scanning the room and trying to figure out what the most important things are that she needs to pack in case of…
Dennis turns over and opens his eyes:
– Mom, where are you going?
– I've only just come back, sonny boy!
– But what are you doing? – he asks, worry filling his voice, as he looks at the bag and the wide-open pantry.
– I'm figuring out what to put in this bag to be ready, in case of an evacuation…
– Why? Is that what's going to happen?
– I don't know yet, but I think so… You go back to sleep now. Sleep. I'll wake you up if anything happens.
– OK. – Dennis turns back to the wall and straight away falls into a deep sweet sleep.
Irina energetically stands up and takes some warm clothes, extra underwear and a couple of towels out of the closet. She leaves the room, then returns with a bar of soap and other toiletries in her hands. The bag is filling up with all these things, also some letters and books. She pulls out the bottom drawer of the bookcase, searches through all her papers there, picks out their ID documents and puts them in her purse. Then she picks up a photo album, sits down by the desk, and after looking through all the pictures, takes out some of the unattached ones and puts them in her purse as well.
The photo album, which is now lying on the desk, is open at one of the most vivid pages, which illustrates Pripyat's theater life. The pictures show rehearsals and the first performance of a very significant work, a poetic play about the life of Marina Tsvetaeva, which took eighteen months to prepare. As usual, Irina sits by the wide-open window, looking into the deaf, disturbing night. She remembers a romance from this particular play:
People are awake behind
that window with a light.
Maybe they are drinking wine
in this sleepless night.
Maybe sitting still, and
simply holding hands –
A window just like this
is anywhere, my friend.
A cry of meetings and goodbyes –
yes, that is what you are!
Lighting up a thousand candles,
perhaps just one afar…
There is no peace, no rest,
no calmness for my mind,
In my house, too, there is
a window of this kind.
Say your prayer, my dear, for this sleepless night
and for the window with a light.
Meanwhile, behind their windows, in the darkness of the night, the road to the power station is full of ambulances and fire engines that rush back and forth with their sirens off, also black Volgas with dark tinted windows.
Around 3 a.m., someone knocks softly on the door of their apartment, then a bit more loudly.
– Who is it? – asks Irina.
– The Office of Housing. Open up, – quietly answers a creaky voice behind the door.
Irina opens it. The stranger standing there is almost whispering in his squeaky managerial voice:
– Be ready for evacuation. Do not sleep. Just wait…
– Where? – asks Irina.
But the stranger ignores her question, already scratching away at the other doors. In the long poorly lit corridor Irina notices a few other families, silently standing along the walls with their belongings, looking like shadows.
Returning to her apartment, she wakes up her son and helps the sleepy boy dress in the clothes that she had already prepared. Dennis puts on his jacket and shoes. They leave their apartment and wait by the door for a while, just like the others, becoming silent shadows themselves.
The air in the corridor is so dense that they even have a taste of metal in their mouths. People start talking to each other – first, in carefully suppressed whispers, then louder, where fragments of phrases may be heard:
– ...they say the buses are already on stand-by at Shepelichi...[15]
– …how long must we wait?!
It surprises Irina that everybody is managing to stay quite restrained and reasonable. There's no panic or hysteria which, according to works of fiction, would be very appropriate for these kinds of situations. Still, Irina can hear the faint weeping of Antonina, the wife of a policeman, from the next-door apartment. It's perfectly clear why – her husband, Tolik, is staying in town no matter what.
Tolik hastily comes out of their apartment, looking worried, nods to Irina and rushes off. The blubbering Antonina follows him. Catching sight of Irina, she comes up to her, quietly begging:
– Irochka, could you please look after Anka for five minutes! I'll be right back...
Barely able to restrain herself, she walks toward the stairs and then starts running. A barmaid, Vera, appears from one of the other apartments, carrying a one-year-old baby.
– So you managed to pick up your little one at the hospital? – Irina asks instead of greeting her.
– Yes, I did, last night, – quietly replies her neighbor.
– Thank God that you managed, – sighs Irina, – at least you'll be able to stay together now.
The cute little face of three-year-old Anyuta shows up in the door on the left. Such faces one can usually see on the containers of baby food. Her large blue eyes are wide open.
– Where's mama? – she whimpers.
– Come here, my lovely one, – Irina calls out to her, picks her up and kisses her on the cheek. – Your Mom will be back in a minute... Everything's fine... Everything's fine, honey…
Antonina is back. She looks very pale and distressed.
– Thank you! Anna, let's go home and pack our things!
Some of the children can't stand the long wait and are beginning to run out into the courtyard. Dennis, in a whisper, asks Irina to let him go, too. She hesitates a bit, but then gives in and so he, joyfully hopping, disappears down the stairs.
Some parents also follow their children into the yard.
Irina returns to the apartment, putting her things in the hallway. Again she sits on the window-sill, and from the height of the second floor is able to observe what's going on downstairs, at the front door. On the benches and all around them are suitcases, travel bags, tote-bags, backpacks. People are gathered in little groups and everyone is dressed any which way. They are discussing the events of the previous day, also guessing, suggesting and arguing about what's going to happen next. A fat man in a warm tracksuit is trying to prove to everyone that their clothes are supposed to be sporty. He says he knows exactly what it's going to be like: they'll be taken out of town, ten kilometers or so, to some camp-ground. They'll spend two or three days there and then they'll all come back home, so it's not worth taking a lot of unnecessary stuff along.
The children are running around after each other. The youngest ones, including Anyuta, are playing in a sand-box. Dennis and a couple of other boys his age (they're about nine-ten years old) disappear into the building and then run away from there with matches in their hands. Irina screams:
– Dennis, what are you all doing with those matches?! Are you going to burn something?
– No, Mom, – he answers loudly. – We're just collecting matches that have already been used. We're playing this game. Look...
He and Seryozha, a chubby boy with grey eyes, demonstrate their game. Each takes a match and holds it with two fingers of their right hand, then they crash them against one another and he whose match breaks loses.
– See, I won! – happily yells Dennis.
– Alright! Go on, keep on playing, – Irina waves them away and looks up at the sky, from where she hears a loud roar of an approaching helicopter. It's already past five in the morning and in the brightening sky she can clearly see the military chopper. It flies by very low, then lands either by the bus station or in the old stadium, disappearing from her sight. Some boys rush after it, but their parents are alarmed:
– Stop! Where are you going?!
– We just want to see where it landed and then we'll be right back, – replies one of the boys.
Irina rushes out of her apartment and swiftly runs down the stairs. On the ground floor by a window several girls are sitting around playing a game. Stopping for a moment, Irina asks them:
– What's the news, Natalka?
– They say if we're not evacuated by 9 a.m. then we'll all stay here. But the reactor is so burning hot that if you spit on it, it will explode in less than a moment! – the oldest girl announces gladly.
– I see, well, thanks for the information! – retorts Irina and rushes forth.
She catches up with her son, almost at the stadium, where the noise from the helicopter can still be heard.
– Come home right away! – she tells him off. – And all the rest of you as well – go home. Haven't you seen a helicopter before? Go on, off you go!
About ten boys unwillingly drag themselves back toward their own yard, constantly looking up at the big military machine. On the way, the exhausted and sleepy Dennis asks:
– Mom, so are they going to execute us or not?!
Amused by his mistake, Irina nevertheless answers seriously:
– I don't know any more than you do. They say that the buses are on stand-by order in Chernobyl and in Shepelichi, but there's no official information yet...
– What does that mean – "official"?
– Well, nobody said anything on the radio... So, it's just rumors, see?
– Yep, – uncertainly answers Dennis.
– I'm so tired, Mom, – he says after they return to their apartment. – Can I sleep a bit more?
– Of course, you can. In fact, you should! That's a whole lot better than chasing helicopters. Don't take your clothes off though, just in case…
Dennis falls asleep right away. Irina locks the door and rushes to the phone booths at the bus station, hoping to get through to the Palace of Culture, to the City Committee, to the editorial office, anywhere at all, just to find out what's going on, with more or less certainty. Not a single phone is working. They're all switched off, – concludes Irina.
She walks around her apartment building for a while, hoping to find out anything at all, burning with desire to run to the Palace of Culture herself, but at the same time dreading to go far from home – she doesn't want to be separated from Dennis in case of a sudden evacuation.
The sun has risen quite high by now. Little by little, everyone who was woken up in the night disappears back into their apartments. Along the sidewalk toward the Yanov train station, Irina sees a group of seasonal laborers walking in a single line, carrying bags and suitcases. Obviously, they have received their departure permits. There are several thousand people like this in the town, engaged in building the fifth and sixth blocks of the Chernobyl Power Station.
They are followed by loud inquiries from the balconies of the surrounding buildings:
– Where are you going in such haste, fellows?
– Nicht verstehen, – somebody answers jokingly.
People from the neighboring buildings are trying to communicate with each other, shouting across the courtyards:
– Hey, neighbor! Come over here!
– No, you come to us! We've got some homemade vodka!
"A feast during the plague," – thinks Irina. She is in a curious state of half-drunken excitement, which may be caused by the uncertainty, or maybe by the compressed sour air. An unknown force is making her circle around the building with such ease that sometimes it seems as if her feet are not even touching the ground.
By midday Irina finally decides to tear herself away from her home and almost flies along her usual path toward the Palace of Culture. From time to time she rubs her eyes and cheeks hard, because they are itching like hell – her whole face is stinging slightly. But this she hardly notices, for her attention is focused elsewhere. She wants to memorize absolutely everything: the sharp chestnut leaves sticking out from below the buds, the warm colors of the high-rise apartment blocks that are placed as if on a chess board, the beautiful kindergarten with its amazingly convenient playgrounds, and the yard of the school that her son attends. Everything around seems so unusually compact – as if there's an invisible cupola, or a ceiling, above the town, which now, being compressed by the atmosphere, looks like one huge, wonderful, cozy apartment.
A young couple meets Irina, staring at her animated face as she runs past them. They look at each other and the guy whispers to his girlfriend:
– See, some people are jogging. And you were worried... Everything is fine!
And Irina keeps running.
On the square in front of the Palace is gathered almost all the "artistic flowering of the town." Even from far away Irina notices the curly hair of tall, always joyous and witty Vasily – the disco manager. As always, he stands in the center, surrounded by others. There are Oleg and Seryozha – guys from a rock band; God's little flower, Verochka – administrator of all the clubs and amateur associations; stately Nadezhda – choir conductor; quick and sharp-tongued Olga – head of the children's drama group; good-natured, near-sighted Valya – leader of the propaganda team, who despite her advanced pregnancy has joined her own people to find out what has happened. A bit further away there's lanky Kolya – Nikolay Nikolaevich, whom all his colleagues among themselves call nothing but Nik-Nik. Head of the amateur film studio, he is now busy taking snapshots of the lively streets.
– Wow, all the familiar faces! – exclaims Irina, shaking hands. – Tell us what you all know!
Unfortunately, even here nobody can give a certain answer.
– Do you really think that if we summed up all our "knowledge," we'd be rich with information? Oh, no! – says Vasily with bitter irony. – We're ordinary mortals. We can only stick to the rumors…
– Listen, it was awful to play and sing at the wedding yesterday, watching everyone drinking, eating and dancing, when we already knew that somebody was dying at the power station at exactly the same time! – says Oleg, emotionally. For a moment tears sparkle in his grey eyes.
– Yes, that's a pretty shitty feeling, – agrees Vasily. – Our discotheque was also at a wedding yesterday…
– That's it! I'm going to the City Committee! – Nadezhda is unable to
contain herself anymore. – I'll try to reach my brother-in-law, who's our "minister of culture" after all. At least he should know something.
Straightening up her stately figure, she walks proudly over toward the Party headquarters. Like a Tsarina, fresh-looking Sophia is approaching the gathering from the opposite direction, holding hands with her two dressed-up daughters.
– Oh, right! We were supposed to have a performance of the Kiev Puppet Theater today, weren't we, – realizes Valya, noticing the big poster in front of the Palace and, as always, pulls funnily at the corner of her right eye, "tuning up her focus" on Sophia and the girls.
– Hey, you! You're not on your way to the theater, are you?! – jokes Irina.
– Why? We're staunch people! We can go to the theater – yes, we can! – says Sophia, grim now, and kisses Irina on the cheek, shaking hands with the others.
It turns out that Irina has more information than anyone else. Only their district had been woken up in the night, because it was the nearest one to the atomic energy station. Everyone else was serenely asleep.
The tall, slim director of the Palace of Culture approaches. Everybody's attention turns to him now, because he's just been THERE – at the City Committee.
– So?! – the choir of voices wants to know.
Flattered by such attention, the director pauses for a long time, fixes his soft grey hair, and only after that, slowly stretching out the words and sounding conspiratorial, he announces:
– There was a danger of a big explosion... The reactor could have been badly damaged... Then everything would have been much more serious... But now – the fire has already been extinguished. So, everything is getting back to normal...
– You'd better tell us if there will be an evacuation or not! – Olga interrupts him straightforwardly.
– Maybe there will be… But maybe not today…
– And what about the discotheque tonight? – Vasily cleverly narrows his blue eyes.
– If the town is not evacuated by this evening, then, undoubtedly, the discotheque will be held. Everything is supposed to be as usual. No panic! –answers the director with great authority.
– As if you've seen even a hint of panic here!? – exclaims Sophia, proudly showing off and pointing to the festively crowded avenue and the square which is full of dressed-up people.
– Vitaly Vissarionovich, – Irina breaks the pause, – don't you think that mass events, considering the given circumstances, are inappropriate and unacceptable?!
– I do, I do! – the director replies nervously. – However, I'll repeat for those who did not understand – if there's no evacuation, then not a single event will be cancelled! – He turns and walks rapidly toward the Palace of Culture.
– Boys-and-girls, look! Everyone's rushing to the grocery store! Shall we, too?! – Sophia tries to relieve the awkward moment.
– Let's go for it! – hums their "creative circle" and they all move along toward the grocer's, which is on the first floor of the recently built two-story shopping center.
Nadezhda catches up with them, literally out of breath:
– For two days and nights already the government commission has been in session, they just can't decide what to do with us. My brother-in-law orders us to go home. He says that kids will definitely be taken out of town; as for everyone else – that's still uncertain.
– Well, at least they'll take care of the children, thank God for that! Though I wish they'd tell us what to do. Otherwise it's just like – oh, something's going on somewhere... someone is extinguishing a fire somewhere... as if all this does not concern us at all! – angrily complains Irina.
– By the way, I just saw them filling bags with sand near the docks, – says Nik-Nik, adjusting his glasses.
– See, – agrees Olga, – and we are like clowns in a fire! "Not a single event will be cancelled," – she imitates the voice of the director.
– So where's our famous civil defence?! – tiny Verochka is exasperated. – Remember, a couple of months ago they stirred up the Palace with their grandiose practice session? and now, for the second day in a row, nothing is heard from them!
– Stay calm, stay calm! – Vasily is calming everyone by means of bitter irony. – Yesterday we had weddings, today – a discotheque... so, have fun, folks! And meanwhile, the authorities will decide what to do with us. The Giraffe is big, - and looking towards the building of the City Committee, – he sees things better!
– That's right, Vasily! – Sophia supports him. – Let's do this – if our children are evacuated, all of us will gather at your disco tonight, OK? Everybody heard that?
– And what'll we do there, Sophia Petrovna? – Nik-Nik almost sings these words with a sweet deferential smile, adjusting his glasses again.
– Lots of things, Kolya! We'll be doing lots of things! – cheerfully answers Sophia as they enter the spacious hall of the supermarket with its numerous departments, where the usual lines are already in place at each counter.
– My God! They're spoiling us today! – Oleg is surprised by the abundance
of food on the shelves.
Indeed, in addition to several kinds of smoked sausage and other scarce treats (uncommon even in the government-supplied military and nuclear towns), today the central Pripyat supermarket is full of rare, almost "exotic" provisions, including sour cream and other dairy products in new, never-before-seen convenient plastic containers.
– What does it mean?! – Nik-Nik is surprised, too. He takes off his glasses and wipes the lenses.
– It's probably for the May holidays, – suggests Valya, focusing on the butcher's counter, which is almost embarrassingly overloaded with beautifully packed chickens and varieties of beef and pork.
– Oh no, kids! It all looks as if they've made such an effort because they're expecting the arrival of some high-profile guests, – remarks Sophia.
– Exactly! – agrees Vasily.
– Poor darlings! Did they really have to empty all their Party reserves?! – Irina attempts some irony.
– Ha! Do you really think they'd manage to harm their own comforts?! Hold your pocket wide open, girl! – bites Olga.
– True, something's not quite right here, – agrees Sergey, who is unusually taciturn today.
– Quite right or not, don't worry about it! Feasts like this are rare in our lives. So, let's swoop down while it's still there! – Sophia is buzzing like a noisy beetle and heads toward the line at the deli's sausage counter.
And so the friends spread out and start shopping. They fully use this lucky chance, going through various lines and spending all the cash they have. Accident or no accident, the holidays indeed are not that far away.
As soon as they leave the supermarket with their bags full, a cheery woman's voice starts transmitting the official announcement through the powerful loudspeaker at the Palace of Culture:
– Attention! Attention! Dear comrades! The City Council of People's Deputies is announcing that in connection with the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, unfavorable radiation conditions are forming in the town of Pripyat. Necessary actions are being performed by the Party and Soviet organizations; special precautions are being taken by the military divisions. However, for the purpose of providing full safety for everyone and first of all, for the children, it is necessary to conduct a temporary evacuation of the people to nearby villages in Kiev Oblast. In order to do that, today, April 27, starting at 2 p.m., buses accompanied by police and representatives of the City Executive Committee will come to every apartment block. It is recommended that you take your personal documents, the most necessary things, and also, some food... Our leaders of enterprises and institutions have identified a group of workers that will stay in Pripyat, in order to ensure the normal functioning of the town. During the evacuation, all buildings will be guarded by the police.
Comrades! Whilst temporarily leaving your living quarters, please do not forget to close all the windows, turn off all electric and gas equipment, and close the water taps!
Please, maintain calm and order during this temporary evacuation!
– Girls! – exclaims Sophia, interrupting the general numbness. – What if our boys will still have to stay in town?! Quickly, whoever's got any spare food, give it to the disco guys, so it won't be too sad for them to die here! – she jokes bitterly.
They all embrace and rush in different directions. Irina is running home, holding a fresh loaf of bread and a couple of today's "rarities": a triangular carton of milk and a shiny container of sour cream. Her throat keeps tickling. Meanwhile, the loudspeakers are transmitting more information:
– Attention! Attention! Residents of Pripyat who own their own transport may leave the city independently!
– Of course, – mutters Irina as she runs, – less hassle for the authorities.
Even in such haste to get home, she can't help noticing that the world around her seems to be collapsing. The wide chestnut leaves are now hanging down, pitifully dangling below the buds. And again that same strange wave of anxiety is overwhelming her whole being with aching melancholy.
– That's it, Dennis, evacuation! – Irina shouts as she opens the door to her apartment.
[1] The relatively short passages of text within these graphic signs take place in the present, that is, during a few days in summer and early fall 1991. The longer texts are flashbacks to the aftermath of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, southeast of the City of Pripyat in Ukraine five years earlier, on April 26, 1986.
[2] Information on the many variations of Russian and Ukrainian proper names and nicknames may be found at the end of the book.
[3] The country is the Soviet Union, or, officially, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Now an independent country, Ukraine at the time of this story was still one of the fifteen Soviet republics.
[4] This is a clock of the brand Mayak Crystal, decorated with facetted glass. (Note by the author.)
[5] Although this was a Saturday, Soviet children, like in many European schools, attended classes for part of the day.
[6] The Soviet Palaces of Culture were, and continue to be, community centers for all kinds of cultural, political, and amateur activities.
[7] Three geographic names in this book are closely related: Polesye, a large area located on both sides of the Belarus-Ukraine border, also reaching into parts of Russia and Poland, and made up of forests and the vast wetlands called the Pripyat Marshes; Polessky, a town not far from Pripyat; and Polesskoe, a settlement in the same vicinity.
[8] May 1 is celebrated all over Europe both for political reasons (International Workers' Day), and, simply, as a festive spring holiday, often with one or two extra days off from work.
[9] In addition to indicating relatives by blood or marriage, titles such as Grandma (or Granny), Aunt (Auntie), and Uncle can also be used as a polite address to a woman or man older than the speaker.
[10] "Wall newspapers" are announcements and illustrated news items fastened on bulletin boards for everyone to read.
[11] The subbotniks (from Russian subbota = Saturday) were days of volunteer work, mostly organized for cleaning the streets of garbage, fixing public amenities, collecting recyclable material, and other community services. (Note by the translator; from Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subbotnik.)
[12] The Red Room (or Red Corner) was the Soviet analogue to the place of honor in the Russian log hut (a corner with an icon), a specially allocated place intended for ideologically-educational influences as a means of communist education. These were primary centers of propaganda work. The Red Corners were run by the general management of the party, the trade unions, and the communist youth organization, the Komsomol. (Note by the translator, from The Russian Humanitarian Encyclopedic Dictionary.)
[13] The poems of beloved Russian poets are often put to music and performed, both by professional singers and informally among friends. This poem is by Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (1892-1941) whose work became increasingly known and loved after glasnost, Mikhail Gorbachev's easing of the Soviet censorship laws. Tsvetaeva left the Soviet Union in 1922, living with her family in several European cities, including Paris and Berlin, but returned home in 1941. Later that year she committed suicide. The translations of poetry here and later are by Natalia Ryumina.
[14] An energetik is an engineer specializing in diverse aspects of physical or mechanical energy, including, here, atomic energy. The shop's name that follows, raduga, means "rainbow."
[15] The places that those evacuated from Pripyat will be taken to were towns and villages in the countryside near their city, including, for example, Shepelichi (or Novoshepelichi), Ivankov, Kopachi, Obukhovich, Kicheevo, and Chistogalovka.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
© Lyubov Sirota "Pripyat syndrome", Pripyat.com, 2009
© Yuhimenko, A. (design of the cover), 2009
© Yuhimenko, A. (design of the cover), 2009
© Ryumina, N. (translation), 2013
© Ingemanson, B. (afterword), 2013
The continuation you can read in the published book "The Pipyat Syndrome"!!!
The continuation you can read in the published book "The Pipyat Syndrome"!!!
A bit from the EDITOR'S AFTERWORD to the book by Birgitta Ingemanson:
"The book is a labor of love, first and foremost by its author, Lyubov Sirota, who as a mother and a professional experienced the tragedy of Pripyat, and as a poet felt –and could describe – its chilling abyss. Lyubov Makarovna's words recreate not only the physical devastation of the power station itself, the city next to it, and the people's bodies and minds that become enmeshed in illness and sorrow, but also the authorities' desperate, unsuccessful balancing act between the need for knowledge and the shameful cover-ups. At the same time, this atmosphere of mismanagement, human errors, and cowardly avoidance of uncomfortable truths is breath-takingly held up to scorn in the completely genuine opposite reaction also shown: Ordinary people – friends, dying patients, some nurses and doctors, even kind strangers – simply decide to support and take care of each other, because their moral stance allows nothing else.
If a medical "Pripyat syndrome" exists, then it was invented by the well-known syndrome of bureaucratic lies. Even so, beyond the dying landscape of this story, a vibrant portrait of human warmth opens up: poetry and music that inspire, simple words of solace by one woman or man to another, arms stretched out in trust and love. ..."
Now full text of the book "Pripyat syndrome" in Russian is available on the website pripyat.com here: http://pripyat.com/news/11-04-24/pripyatskii-sindrom (also after the text there – are many responses from readers of the book).
Here are just a few (out of many) responses from the readers of the book "Pripyat Syndrome" in Russian:
Natalia Khan (Ukraine)
Dear Lyubov Makarovna, thank you so much for this amazing book. I read it all in one go, I hadn't even expected it. It was so amazing to read, and to understand and feel everything that the people of Pripyat went through. There are so many films about the liquidators, about the Station engineers and the chiefs of liquidation. A totally different thing is to find out and, most importantly, to understand what was it all like for the people, for the actual population of this very special and bright town, who overnight lost every single thing they had… I'm not sure if I'd be able to take it if I was one of them – all these relocations, the struggle for health and for the most elementary human rights. I didn't even have a clue that I'd have such strong feelings for this. I did enjoy the fact that this book is actually a film novel – a script. Thanks to that, I could clearly imagine the atmosphere and the surroundings. A very memorable thing is the description of Pripyat during the night and in the morning. It seemed as if it was me, who had just finished the article, that it was me looking out of the window, hearing the singing of birds and observing the dawn which coloured the room with its' tender light… Once again, my memories of that Chernobyl year came to life. Of course, we haven't gone through even nearly as much as you have. I remember the look in my mum's eyes, when I was about to go to the summer camp in Donbass, and I do remember writing her hysterical letters afterwards asking, begging her to come and take me away. I also remember how desperately I wanted to taste some summer berries, but who's going to give them to you in a camp? Once, we were walking through some village and saw the strawberries in one of the gardens. It felt like you could give your life for just one little berry. Some kind woman picked all the berries that were growing in her garden and gave them to us – we hadn't even asked, but I guess she just realised everything by looking at our faces… And when my mum came to visit me in the end of July, she wasn't even going to take me with her, because as they said, the conditions in Kiev were still not safe. I met her at the gates with my suitcase fully packed (I'd been waiting for her there since the early morning). She started crying and eventually gave in… I'm telling you all this in such a detail, because after reading your book, for the first time in my life I managed to look at all these events from the point of view of my mum, rather than myself, who was just a child back then. It seems, that only now I'm able to imagine and to feel what it was like for her, how she struggled for us, for me – all on her own (my dad died when I was five). My mum and I… we were like two halves of a whole. I am so grateful to you for writing this book and for reminding me of those times and of the way my mum and I lived many years ago. For me this book is not just about the town of Pripyat, or the disaster, or the struggle – for me, it's just about Mum.
Alexander Naumov (journalist, the former colonel of militia, the participant of the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster, Ukraine)
When I was reading this book, my heart was aching because of the anger that I felt towards the officials and the doctors, who totally erased the Oath of Hippocrates from their minds and replaced it with the file that said 'confidential'. It's a good thing that I was reading it at night, for from time to time my eyes were full of tears. At the present moment I can't even write my opinion – that is, describe everything that I went through together with the characters of this book… This is the kind of book that must be read, otherwise the memory of these distant events will fade away. Sometimes it seems like all this has happened just recently, but the truth is, many years have passed… The film just has to be made…
Oksana (the former resident of Pripyat, Ukraine)
Thank you so much for this book, Lyubov Makarovna. My husband bought it yesterday in the Chernobyl museum. I looked through it before going to sleep, and after this I couldn't sleep at all. I read it in one go… I was crying all night… All these memories – I am from Pripyat myself, I used to go to the school No 2, and I was in the seventh grade when it all happened. Back then we lived in the nine-storey block of flats, the one that had the slogan 'Hail the Labour' on it. What I, my mom and my younger brother went through was very much similar to Irina and her son – all these sanatoriums, hospitals, all these wanderings… I'll definitely read this book to my son when he's a little bit older – he needs to know what it was like…
Nelly (Russia)
Everyone, every single person must read this book! People should know and understand how terrible, how scary the consequences of this disaster are… thank you so much, for there was not a single book in my life, except for this, that actually made me cry… Thank You…
Konstantine (Russia)
'Pripyat Syndrome' is quite an unusual book. It is a film novel, as the author claims in the very beginning. 'A tiny window to the whirlpool of the events and troubles of the first post-Chernobyl years'. This particular description you can find on the very first page of the book, and that is true: in 'Pripyat Syndrome' the reader will not find the usual, traditional descriptions of the fatal events, that were occurring at the Station itself during the first hours of disaster, or any attempts to find the guilty and make certain conclusions. What the reader sees is a young energetic woman Irina, who is a typical resident of Pripyat of that time. She's got plenty of things to do, a lot of community work, a little son, friends, acquaintances, a poetic evening, which is supposed to take place in one of the town's halls of residence. As they say – her life is full of motion, and it seems that nothing at all could change her way, or the ways of thousands of people like her. However, one thing did change it all… the events that became known to the whole world. The mysterious word – evacuation, which thrills Dennis, Irina's son, is now floating in the air above the town. What happens afterwards? - The parting with the beloved home town, with friends and relatives. The familiar way of life is ruined in an instant, as the people of Pripyat get transferred to various locations. There they are – the first troubles and the first suffering. The fastidious attitude, the officials, who cover the truth, the total absence of understanding from the medics. The population of a whole town becomes unwanted, and hence, thrown out of the borders of a normal life. The events like these can only be described by the person, who physically was there and who took part in all this. And whatever was hidden before, thanks to this book, now becomes visible and raises a huge sense of shame. I am ashamed of myself of the others. I am ashamed of the country that we used to live in and for the one that we live in now. I am ashamed of indifference and composure, of cruelty and blindness. I am ashamed of all the suffering of the people affected by the heat of the burning Reactor. Lyubov Sirota is like a skilled guide, who leads us through the different situations that the characters of this book go through. So many things are uncovered before us – the things that were typical for that time and that take the reader to the nostalgic times of the Soviet Union. Sometimes there's a great temptation to think that all this is just a vivid imagination of the author. You try to trick yourself with the thought that once you shut the book, all this will end – but the truth is, everything will remain and in fact, all this is right here, among us. This is the harsh reality, which is not able to ease or erase anything. The ending of the book is not different either – the tragic story of Irina and her son, who were caught in the whirlpool of the events and troubles of those first post-Chernobyl years. This tragedy has deeply scarred the appearance of humanity, and this scar will stay on the surface of the Earth forever. I would like to think, that many people will remember this disaster, reviving their memories with a help of books like this one, and that 'Pripyat Syndrome' will become a film and justify the name of its' genre – the film novel… Many things have changed in my personal attitude towards this tragedy and most importantly towards the people that were affected by it. Moreover, I can definitely say, that I've changed my attitude towards my patients too (I am a worker of an ambulance) – I started treating people with more understanding…
Alexander Yuhno (former resident of Pripyat, Ukraine)
I am from Pripyat myself. I used to live on Builder's Street with my wife and children and I used to work in one of the organizations, which served Chernobyl nuclear station. My son died in 1999… The general impression of the book – amazing!.. Three times during the reading I had to take some heart drops. I didn't let my wife read it… Big thanks to Lyubov Makarovna, whose writing I remember from those times, when she used to work in the Palace of Culture.
Anya (Russia)
I've read this novel-script-autobiography of Lyubov Sirota. That is, I read it a week ago, while I was on the train, but I didn't have a chance to share my opinion about it. To make it short: I really wish that it was made into a film, as it was planned initially. It is quite realistic now, for I personally know a success-story of one of such noncommercial and social projects – the film called 'We Are From The Future', which has a great success and the big following. I believe that the similar thing awaits this book of Lyubov Makarovna, and it will be well deserved. It will be useful for both, the contemporary viewer and the contemporary cinematograph. From the very first lines you are captured by small but very characteristic details of the 'old' way of life. Some things are so sweet and are remembered with great pleasure, some others can be irritating or even insulting. The Moldavian carpet and the fur hat, which was a sign of a certain status in those times, the typewriter and the guitar… and the queues in shops, the greyish sprat in the fish department, the sudden supply of a deficient red wine, the fear of a bus ride without having a ticket, and the possibility to catch the first plane and go visit your relatives in Ural… All this has no place in the contemporary world and we've already managed to forget many of those things, going through our own post-Soviet daily routines. The truth is, your own consciousness was the best 'ticket inspector' and the plains were as casual transport as trains. We had to call the ambulance using the payphones in the courtyard and the TV program 'Times' was literally the only source of news that we had… In this novel there's a lot of Pripyat, what is more – the actual facts. Sometimes I watch the film 'Aurora'- that is, just little fragments of it – the scenes, where you can find the traces of the image of the town and the Station. Unfortunately, it's not a lot of these scenes in the film and they all look like they've been 'pulled in artificially', and even if you can see there some reflections of the 'peaceful' Pripyat, the uncertainty and the tension on the first day after the disaster, the inconsistent feelings during the evacuation, it's all still quite approximate. Here, in this book, the memories of the former Pripyat resident are very precise. Everything is told and explained very honestly, unostentatiously emphasized where it's required and substituted with meaningful innuendo where it isn't. I really hope that in the possible film they will not spoil this atmosphere of reliability, the point of view of the actual participant… I guess that this script-like layout of the novel could be disturbing for some people, but I somehow managed to switch on my imagination, drawing the pictures in my mind, so I did not feel any inconvenience at all. Also, it is simply very interesting to read. I really hope that a film will be made and that it will be as close to the author's text as possible.
Salavat (Crimea)
I would like to express my gratitude to the author! Thank you for pushing me towards the reconsideration of my place in this world…
Yana (Russia)
I finally got my copy of Pripyat Syndrome and now I'm walking around the house feeling happy, because at last I'm holding it in my hands. My friend managed to send it to me from Moscow with the train stewardess. I was in such a hurry, worrying that the train will depart from my station before I get there, so that the stewardess even laughed at me: 'What kind of book is this? Yesterday your friend was in such haste, now you…' To be honest, there are not enough words to express my thoughts regarding this book… It has risen so many emotions. I am quite well acquainted with the history of Russia and also USSR, but the realisation of how indifferent the other people were – that is just horrible. It seems that along with religion, the people's souls were strangled too. My heart was aching when the writer was telling about the little kids that were playing in the sandbox in the courtyard that night, on the 27th of April, and afterwards the same kids were very ill. Also, when the main character met her old acquaintance, who told her how many hours he'd worked at the Station to ease the consequences, and how he and his team mates were forgotten and left under the reactor overnight. And when Irina was rushing from one official to another in order to try and get a flat. It's difficult for me to imagine the feelings of a mother, who came to visit her son, saw his tears, but couldn't take him with her because they didn't have anywhere to live. It is also difficult to say anything about the way that people of Pripyat and Chernobyl were treated by the medics and the country itself. All that the officials could see were numbers and percentages, along with the fear for their own wellbeing: what will happen to them if they tell the truth – the person is dying because of radiation, and not because by the time people get to their forties, some natural diseases start to develop and the disaster has nothing to do with it. They didn't see the anything, they didn't understand what it was like to lose a mother, or a father, or a child, how scary it is when just a couple of days ago you had a happy family, and now you're on your own and everyone is turning their backs to you and refuse to help. Some people might think that my words are too harsh or even wrong, but may the general secretary burn in hell altogether with all his ministers for all that they did, for all that they were hiding in attempt to keep the status of USSR as the uprising and troubles country and, most importantly, for treating these amazing people the way they did. A line from a song comes into my mind: 'The brightest souls are in the darkest ashes'. I would like to wish the best of health to the people affected by this disaster. And to those people, who right now are hesitating whether to buy this book or not, I'd like to say: 'Definitely buy it!' It's difficult to get through to so many hearts, but this book will manage to. Maybe it will even manage to leave a trace in every heart, so that the humanity would not forget the people of Pripyat and Chernobyl and everything that they've done for us and so that this disaster would never repeat itself.
Lyudmila Izhko (former resident of Prypiat, Ukraine)
It affected me so much… I'm reading it through for the second tome now, and then I will give it to my husband to read. Thank you, Lyuba! We used to live in Pripyat, on Lazarev Street.
Anatoly Kolyadin (the former resident of Pripyat, the editor of 'Post Chernobyl' newspaper, Ukraine)
I read this book quite a while ago but I had a very strong stenocardia attack, so I couldn't comment it straight away. I have to attend the hospital daily and receive the intensive treatments… I did enjoy the book very much though. I guess you're never going to get away from your emotions. What a subject! Although, I have to say it came out a bit later than it should have. Not from the point of view of the story, but in a political sense. After the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) conference in 2005, the international public and the humanitarian policy turned their backs to the problems of Chernobyl. What's left is hypocrisy and lies… I've written an article about this and you can find it in the latest issue of 'Post Chernobyl', but I have to say, for any former resident of Pripyat it will be very tough to read. I know that my wife, for example, would not be able to read it till the end without having a heart attack, so I'm not letting her do it despite her asking… A different situation is with people who are not from Pripyat or Chernobyl. How to get through to their hearts? I guess this book will do it… A film would make an even stronger impression, but where do we find a director who is a humanist and who would be able to find a producer for such a humane story?..
For me personally, the book 'Pripyat Synrdome' will be like a textbook in terms of the script writing. The scene sketches, the dialogues, the main storyline… Exactly like in a textbook!..
Lev Axelrud (writer, Israel)
Dear Lyubov! With an enormous interest I've read your book, which has shown me, the reader, so many things that I would never have known if it wasn't for you – the live witness of that disastrous event. The novel is very sincere, truthful and is written in a beautiful literary language…
Zakhar Kreimer (Israel)
Hi, Lyubov! I've read your novel as soon as I received it. The book made a very strong impression. Written by the witness of this tragedy, it's impossible for it not to touch your soul. In this novel you can very clearly see the picture of the soviet reality, the atmosphere of hypocrisy and callousness towards those who suffered in this disaster. It's a pity that the main character does not survive. I would love to watch a film based on this book…
Sergey Peremutov (Russia)
Good day, Lyubov! Yesterday I finally managed to get the book 'Pripyat Syndrome' that you wrote (to get it, I had to meet up with a girl called Tanya, whose number I got from the web site pripyat.com). I would like to say enormous thanks for this film novel. It is very sincerely written, I was unable to tear myself apart from it. Very sad ending, I even started crying at one point. Thank you for being able to tell us how it all was – from unofficial point of view, from the point of view of a person, who saw all this and who knew everything exactly the way it was!..
Taras Kudryavtsev (Russia)
Hello, dear Lybov Makarovna! I'm writing to you as the emotions are overwhelming my soul and my heart. Couple of minutes ago I finished reading your book 'Pripyat Syndrome'. This is the kind of pain that penetrates your soul – it's impossible to remain calm whilst reading it, even though you are far away from the problems and locations of this disaster. There was time, when my perception of all this was heroically romantic, which was caused by a certain 'fashion', if you can put it that way, for the Zone of Exclusion. I didn't even have a clue how horrific it was - thousands of lives were broken because of it. Your book made me look at those events from a totally different point of view, it changed my thinking. My heart and soul are full of pain and grief. Thank you very much for your work, for it can not leave anyone indifferent! God bless you and all those who survived this horrible disaster, and as for those who didn't – may they rest in peace.
P.S. I really hope that at some point the film will be made, that will tell about this tragedy to the younger generation. And when I visit Pripyat (visiting this town has become a dream of mine), I will definitely bow before it and say hello on behalf of you and all of its former residents…
Andrey Khemul-Blagodarniy (Russia)
I would like to thank you for this wonderful book that helped me to understand this tragedy even deeper and to realise what the people went through during the disaster. It is such a pity, that you didn't manage to make a film based on this book, but I have watched 'The Threshold' , where all the events were also described from the point of view of the survivors… It's difficult even to imagine everything that you experienced, but much more difficult is to accept it. Also, I read some of your poems that I found at pripat.com. In the near future I would really like to visit the Chernobyl zone of exclusion, if a get a chance (with the help of your son and the pripyat.com team). I think this experience will help me to understand this tragedy even deeper… Looking forward to your next work! P.S. I read the electronic version of the book:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
All about Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney (Republican) Birth: March 12, 1947; Detroit Home city: Belmont, Mass. Family: Married Ann Davies (1969-present); five children: Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben, Craig. Religion: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Education: Brigham Young University, B.A., 1971; Harvard University, M.B.A., J.D., 1975 Campaign Web site: www.mittromney.com Read all about him: "Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games" (2004). Career: 1978-1984: Vice president at management consulting firm Bain & Company Inc. 1984: Founded Bain Capital, a venture capital and investment company. 1994: Ran unsuccessfully as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate against incumbent Ted Kennedy. 2002: With the 2002 Winter Olympics mired in controversy, he took over as president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. 2002: Elected governor of Massachusetts. He did not seek a second term in 2006. Sources: CNN.com, Wikipedia.org, VoteSmart.org


text:
Today, MLS announced the addition of three more players to the 2014 Generation adidas class, rounding out the class at seven players. Three defenders, Christian Dean from Cal, AJ Cochran from Wisconsin and Damion Lowe from Hartford were added as underclassmen available in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.
In addition, MLS announced a few additions to the MLS Combine starting Friday in California including two members of last weekend's Carribean Combine who impressed enough to earn a spot in this year's NCAA college combine. Here's the full release from MLS:
NEW YORK(January 8, 2014) – Major League Soccer today announced the signing of three additional Generation adidas players, as well as the addition of eleven players who have been invited to participate in the 2014 adidas MLS Player Combine that begins this Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Christian Dean(University of California), AJ Cochran(University of Wisconsin), Damion Lowe(University of Hartford) have signed Generation adidas contracts, completing the 2014 class of seven players.
In addition to the initial list of college seniors invited to the Combine, MLS has invited six more college seniors including:
Player Position Citizenship School
John Berner GK USA Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Marco Franco D/M USA University of California, Irvine
Richard Marquez D USA University of Redlands (DIII)
Martin Ontiveros M/F USA Furman University
Justin Portillo M USA Coastal Carolina University
Joshua Wood F USA Messiah University (DIII)
Five youth international players -- Braian Acuna (Argentina), Quinton C.E. Christina (Curaçao), Andre Lewis (Jamaica), Ronny Mendoza (Ecuador) and Stefano Rjssel (Suriname) – will arrive in Ft. Lauderdale hoping to impress MLS scouts and coaches before the SuperDraft. Both Christina and Rijssel were invited to the Combine as a result of their impressive play in the inaugural Caribbean Combine that took place in Antigua from January 2-4.
Each team at the combine will be led by a collegiate head coach and an adidas youth club coach. The coaching pairs are as follows: Bob Gray (Marshall University) and Phil Presser (Indiana Fire Development Academy); Bobby Muuss (University of Denver) and Josh Sheldon (Grand Rapids Crew Juniors); Kris Kelderman (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee) and David Dengerink (Texas Rush Development Academy); Mark Collings (Seattle Pacific University) and German Peri (Arlington Soccer Association).
· Media interested in covering the 2014 adidas MLS Player Combine should contact Susan Marschall (firstname.lastname@example.com) to request a credential for the matches.
· Media interested in covering the 2014 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas should email the following to Thomas Gargan (email@example.com) to request a credential for the event: Name, Organization, Function (Reporter or Photographer) and contact email.
2014 Generation adidas Players
Christian Dean D East Palo Alto, California University of California
The junior defender started 55 straight games for the Golden Bears, tallying six assists and one goal across those competitions.
AJ Cochran D St. Louis, Missouri University of Wisconsin
The junior defender was named a First Team All-American while logging a team leading 1807 minutes in 2013 and scoring three goals.
Damion Lowe D Kingston, Jamaica University of Hartford
The junior defender captained the Hawks and started in 19 games while scoring five goals and adding two assists.
Andre Blake GK Mary Pen, Jamaica University of Connecticut
The junior goalkeeper was named an All-American for the third straight year, earning back-to-back First Team nods in 2012 and 2013, and has been a member of the U-17 and U-20 Jamaican national teams.
Marlon Hairston M Jackson, Mississippi University of Louisville
The sophomore midfielder and member of the U.S. U-20 national team pool played in 39 games during his first two seasons, contributing six goals and five assists.
Eric Miller D Woodbury, Minnesota Creighton University
The junior defender started 62 of 63 games during his tenure at Creighton and represented the U.S. in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.
Ntokozo "Schillo" Tshuma F Bulawayo, Zimbabwe University of Maryland
The sophomore forward helped Maryland advance to the 2013 Men's College Cup final, scoring six goals on the season.