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Requiem for Starylis, 20 Dec 2002
On 26 April 1986, a catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl power plant in what is now the Ukraine, sent a massive cloud of radioactive particles into the stratosphere. After Swedish detectors picked up the radiation in the atmosphere, the news of the accident made headlines around the world, reigniting debates on the safety of nuclear power plants.Although the Soviet government was unable to deny the accident, they did their best to downplay the results and the stories of human suffering were, and still remain, largely untold. In The Sky Unwashed, Irene Zabytko tells us a very personal tale that seeks to correct this deplorable situation. Despite several hundred years of industrial progress, the Ukrainian countryside remains surprisingly rural and backward. Although some farm machinery can be seen, for the most part, the planting and harvesting is still done through manual labor. Abundant grazing lands abound, meaning readily available beef and dairy products for the farmers, more so than for their fellow citizens in urban centers such as Kiev. At first glance, one might assume the small village of Starylis to be nothing more than a peasant village. A second glance, however, will reveal its high percentage of young people...people who are employed as electricians and construction workers at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The protagonist of The Sky Unwashed is Marusia Petrenko, one of the older women of the village. Marusia views the habits of the young people with disdain and scorn. After all, she, herself, has survived political and personal turmoil that include a World War, the ravages of Stalinism and desertion by her husband. Understandably, she tends to turn to her Orthodox religion for guidance and comfort rather than to her government. Marusia, however, is a woman who is satisfied with her life. She is happy she can share her home with her grown son, Yurko, his wife, Zosia and Yurko and Zosia's two children. While all is not perfect in Marusia's world, it is not too bad, either. At a Palm Sunday religious service, a few of the villagers remark on the sound of an explosion the night before, while several others express concern over the absence of relatives due home after the Chernobyl plant's second shift. Women notice a metallic tang in the air, yet no one really shows any undue alarm. If something were amiss at the plant, they reason, surely their government would let them know. It isn't until several days after the accident, when the villagers are gathered together and sent to Kiev, that they realize something must be terribly wrong. They are, however, never told exactly why they must leave Starylis nor when they may return. Even more shocking, there are no provisions for their continued existence once they arrive in Kiev. As time passes and the people around her sicken and die, Marusia realizes that all she wants to do is return to the only home she has ever known...Starylis...despite the cautions and the dangers. She is a well-drawn and believable character, so her desires are understandable and we empathize with her plight, even if we objectively see her wishes as unsound. The Sky Unwashed is a compelling novel that traps the reader between what is real and what is fiction. The harsh realities of the disaster at Chernobyl are known to almost everyone, yet this knowledge does not at all ruin the suspense of Zabytko's powerful novel. In fact, the juxtaposition of fact and fiction only helps to relentlessly draw the reader into the tragedy of Marusia's story. The surroundings and culture of the Ukrainian countryside may be foreign to some, but the emotions and reactions of the people are universally recognized and understood. The reader knows things before the characters do, e.g., that the very air they are breathing is lethal, and this knowledge evokes a strong reaction of the most profound grief. When Marusia and her family finally come face-to-face with the tragedy, we feel the same desire, the same anger, the same hope as the characters do. We desperately want someone...anyone...to come along and, impossibly, make things right. The Sky Unwashed is profoundly moving and filled with desperation and sadness. Yet, it is a gem of a novel that anyone, anywhere can hold close to his heart.
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