The Zero Meter Diving Team

by Jim Shepard

Guilt, Guilt, Guilt

Here’s what it’s like to bear up under the burden of so much guilt: everywhere you drag yourself you leave a trail. Late at night, you gaze back and view an upsetting record of where you’ve been. At the medical center where they brought my brothers, I stood banging my head against a corner of a crash cart. When one of the nurses saw me, I said, “There; that’s better. That kills the thoughts before they grow.”

Genres: Short Stories, Russia

22 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2019

About the author

Jim Shepard is the author of seven novels, including most recently The Book of Aron, which won the Sophie Brody Medal for Achievement in Jewish Literature from the American Library Association and the PEN/New England Award for fiction, and five story collections, including his new collection, The World To Come. Five of his short stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories, two for the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and one for a Pushcart Prize. He teaches at Williams College.

Reviews

[Beth Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This curious, masterful story is about a set of brothers who work as managing engineers overseeing the Chernobyl power station on April 26, 1986. It's a dark story that will enrage you at the lack of responsibility that Ukraine and Russia took.

[Kay ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some spoilers ahead.

The Zero Meter Diving Team was an interesting read. I had to google some Russian words / phrases I was not familiar with but I always like learning new things. This story is about three brothers caught in the Chernobyl disaster that happened in the 1980’s.

I found myself relating to the narrator who happened to be the eldest brother. His reaction to the disaster and it’s after math is astonishing. A lot of things needed to be said by the brothers that was not said. I believe this was written to explore the relationships of siblings and the Chernobyl disaster was used as a back drop of some sorts.

The story felt genuine and true, as if I was reading a diary into the thoughts of an ordinary man with family problems. The author was able to capture the horrific scene of the Chernobyl disaster and put it into his short story without missing a beat. You would think a disaster of this size required more pages but it did not, Shepard made it work flawlessly.

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The negligence and incompetence of some should not be concealed by the patriotism of others."

A wonderful story about the well known Chernobyl disaster, on April 26, 1986. The facts along with the human factor gives you the right amount of drama and makes you think about the loss that surrounds our lives:

"Here’s what it’s like to bear up under the burden of so much guilt: everywhere you drag yourself you leave a trail. Late at night, you gaze back and view an upsetting record of where you’ve been. At the medical center where they brought my brothers, I stood banging my head against a corner of a crash cart. When one of the nurses saw me, I said, “There; that’s better. That kills the thoughts before they grow.”

For those who are interested in reading it: http://bombmagazine.org/article/2979/...

[Cherrelle Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was something - the powerful tale of 3 brothers and their involvement in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The science was very interesting, and I loved how punchy the narrative was, although it did feel a little bit clunky and awkward at times, which is why it didn't get a higher rating from me.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The details here made me think of the pandemic response and how it will be described in the future. Chernobyl was such a sad man-made disaster and I remember being very sad when leaning of this in 1986 and I feel sad again due to the personalization of the story by the event and aftermath being described through the brother’s varying viewpoints.

“The negligence and incompetence of some should not be concealed by the patriotism of others.”

[Indu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short story and i came upon it by chance bu...boy am i glad that i read this. It is a compelling read and to have put in the story of three brothers, their bond and how their life changes in an instant after Chernobyl. Compelling read and i will be looking for more books by Jim Shepard.

[Souptik Banerjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wonder how he carried on so much of research just for a short story

[Fajrin Yusuf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good narratives about brothers living through the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I can't really put words for people who's been through such tragedy, such loss.

[Gina Whitlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story had me on the edge of my chair being scared to death that this could and probably will happen again. It was riveting.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immediately read this brilliant story about the Chernobyl disaster. Protagonist is an engineer-manager at the plant, and his brothers work there as well. You get a telling of the explosion from a brother that was on shift at the time, the perspective of an engineer making sense of how it happened, description of fall out, sickness, hospital scenes, clean up. It's riveting.

Here's the link: http://bombmagazine.org/article/2979/...

[Jon Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really neat short story.

[Megh. Megh.]

"The negligence and incompetence of some should not be concealed by the patriotism of others."

This story is about three brothers caught up in the horrific disaster that happened at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. The story is very tight and Jim Shepard is a genius.

Such a good piece of writing, Ill highly recommend this.

Here is the link if you want to read!

https://bombmagazine.org/articles/the...

Happy Reading!