Cause and Effect: Understanding Chernobyl

by Marianne Barisonek

On April 26th, 1986 the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Plant near Chernobyl reactor number four exploded. Just about anything else you can say about the disaster is still controversial today. Cause and Understanding Chernobyl tells the story of the disaster and its consequences by describing its impact on a personal level. People from all walks of life illustrate the emotional, physical and technical challenges of living with radiation on a day-to-day basis. They present stories of heroism, idealism and extreme self-delusion.

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 22, 2011

Reviews

[International Cat Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best I can say about this book is that it is highly factual. Unfortunately, it reads more like an undergraduate research paper, written by someone with middling grammar skills, and an inability or unwillingness to edit her work. (As an English teacher and an editor, the numerous grammar and spelling mistakes throughout the book simply grated on my nerves.)

As far as content, most of Barisonek's examples of the impact of Chernobyl on individuals came from Svetlana Alexievich's Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster, not from her own interviews with those affected. Additionally, her understanding of the actual science behind the disaster was incredibly weak. I see nothing wrong with writing in a fashion to explain complex science to laypeople, but in this instance, it seemed that a layperson was writing the explanations.

[Jeremy Bonnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the content to be interesting. My biggest issue with the book was in the writing. There were so many times that the way it was put together just pulled me out of the reading.

2.5 out of 5 for me.