Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War by Svetlana Alexievich is a powerful and heartbreaking exploration of the Soviet Afghan war through the narratives of individual veterans and civilians affected by the conflict. The book delves into the pain, trauma, and disillusionment experienced by those involved, shedding light on the brutality of war and the lasting impact it has on individuals and society. Alexievich's writing style, composed of raw and gritty testimonies, provides a visceral and honest portrayal of the horrors of war, exposing the harsh realities faced by soldiers and civilians alike.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is characterized by minimal editing, focusing on raw, firsthand accounts that convey deep emotional truths.

Plot/Storyline:

The book presents oral histories of veterans, civilians, and families affected by the Soviet-Afghan War, highlighting their trauma and the deceit surrounding the conflict.

Setting:

The setting shifts between Afghanistan during the war and the experiences of individuals back in the Soviet Union.

Pacing:

The pacing is slow, reflecting the gravity of the stories and the emotional impact, often necessitating breaks for the reader.

I never want to write another word about the war, I told myself. Long after I’d finished War is not a Woman, a book about World War II, I could still be upset by the sight of a child with a nosebleed....

Genres:

nonfiction

oral history

war literature

Topics:

soviet afghan war

impact of war on individuals

Notes:

Svetlana Alexievich, a Belorussian oral historian, gives voice to Soviet soldiers and civilians from the Afghanistan War.

The title 'Zinky Boys' refers to soldiers returned home in sealed zinc coffins.

The book captures the pain and anger of veterans who felt used and discarded by the Soviet government.

It includes voices not only from soldiers but also from their families, wives, and mothers of soldiers killed in the war.

Many veterans came back with severe physical and emotional scars, facing a government that neglected their needs.

The book reveals the calculated lies and misinformation spread by the Soviet state about the war's progress and necessity.

Alexievich's work highlights the experiences of women who served as nurses or administrative staff during the war.

There are painful stories about the grief of families who never received closure regarding their loved ones' deaths.

The narrative mirrors the experiences of American Vietnam War veterans, showcasing universal themes of loss and trauma.

The book is a mix of first-person accounts that present a raw and disturbing perspective on the realities of war.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include graphic depictions of violence, trauma, emotional suffering, and loss.

From The Publisher:

From 1979 to 1989 a million Soviet troops engaged in a devastating war in Afghanistan that claimed 50,000 casualties - and the youth and humanity of many tens of thousands more. In Zinky Boys journalist Svetlana Alexievich gives voice to the tragic history of the Afghanistan War. What emerges is a story that is shocking in its brutality and revelatory in its similarities to the American experience in Vietnam - a resemblance that Larry Heinemann describes movingly in his introduction to the book, providing American readers with an often uncomfortably intimate connection to a war that may have seemed very remote to us. The Soviet dead were shipped back in sealed zinc coffins (hence the term "Zinky Boys"), while the state denied the very existence of the conflict; even today the radically altered Soviet society continues to reject the memory of the "Soviet Vietnam."

Creating controversy and outrage when it was first published in the USSR - it was called by reviewers there a "slanderous piece of fantasy" and part of a "hysterical chorus of malign attacks" - Zinky Boys presents the candid and affecting testimony of the officers and grunts, nurses and prostitutes, mothers, sons, and daughters who describe the war and its lasting effects. Svetlana Alexievich has snatched from the memory hole the truth of the Afghanistan War: the beauty of the country and the savage Army bullying, the killing and the mutilation, the profusion of Western goods, the shame and shattered lives of returned veterans. Zinky Boys offers a unique, harrowing, and unforgettably powerful insight into the realities of war and the turbulence of Soviet life today.

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Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War

Svetlana Alexievich