_laoc00n_ t1_j7x4mjg wrote on February 10, 2023 at 12:47 AM

I’m reliving this a bit because I’m in the middle of Adam Higginbotham’s incredible book Midnight in Chernobyl which covers the catastrophe. There are different kinds of fear, but there is a palpable dread throughout this show that is based on a very real fear of the reality of the tragedy. I think the most visceral kind of fear always originates with your empathy for the characters in the story, imagining how you would feel if you were them and what you might do in that situation. The fact that it happened forces that empathy on you without the protective mental and emotional separation you can give yourself in a fictional scenario. That, along with the production choices and the musical accompaniment, convinces me that it’s the scariest show of all time.

khroshan t1_j7xetkw wrote on February 10, 2023 at 2:04 AM

Loved the show and the book! I think the biggest difference is that in the show it seems that whatever they're doing - whether it's all the digging or the dumping, seems like it's part of the process of fighting the disaster. But when you read the book, it turns out almost all they did was essentially misguided or not really necessary in the end.

_laoc00n_ t1_j7xfpf8 wrote on February 10, 2023 at 2:11 AM

It’s kind of crazy to think about, but it’s so apparent in the book how they really had no idea what they should do. So many people were in denial that what did happen was even possible, and it was beyond the realm of any expectation they had. So it was a complete clusterfuck.

khroshan t1_j7xr0kd wrote on February 10, 2023 at 3:41 AM

In an alternate reality, David Simon has made a Chernobyl with a focus on the failing institutions of the communist state, rather than Mazin's nuclear horror version.

mickeyflinn t1_j803lzo wrote on February 10, 2023 at 5:18 PM

> Midnight in Chernobyl

Thanks for make me aware of this book! I will be checking this out!

_laoc00n_ t1_j806ru0 wrote on February 10, 2023 at 5:38 PM

I’ve been lucky to have read some very good books already this year, but this is the best nonfiction book I have read in a very, very long time. I can almost guarantee you are going to love it.

Rosebunse t1_j7xgx8j wrote on February 10, 2023 at 2:21 AM

I always get dowvoted when I say this, but I often end up comparing it to Star War The Clone Wars's Siege of Mandalore arc. The fuckinh stress and tense waiting in both, even though Chernobyl is obviously worse because it is based in a real event which actually killed people and ruined lives.

But in both, it's just the fact that you know something bad is happening and each chance you get you want to stop it. You want things to be different and they won't be.