Secondhand Time

Svetlana Alexievich · b. 1948 · Belarus

Originally Vremya Sekond Khend (Russian) · translated by Bela Shayevich

Why it matters

Hundreds of ordinary voices mourn and reckon with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Alexievich's polyphonic 'novel of voices' records the 'red soul' from the people who lived and lost it: a form that won the Nobel.

At a glance

Individually plain-spoken oral testimonies, though the sheer volume of voices requires stamina.