Markiyan Kamysh

Markiyan Kamysh
Born (1988-10-19) 19 October 1988 (age 36)
Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
OccupationNovelist
LanguageUkrainian
GenreUkrainian literature
Notable worksStalking the Atomic City: Life among the decadent and the depraved of Chornobyl
Website
www.facebook.com/markiyankamysh

Markiyan Kamysh (Ukrainian: Маркіян Камиш, born 19 October 1988) is a Ukrainian novelist.

Biography

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Kamysh is the only person who represents the Chernobyl underground in literature.[1] His father was a Chernobyl liquidator.[2] From 2005-2009, Kamysh studied history at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He is the author of seven novels, the most famous of which are works about and around Chernobyl. From 2010–2021, he was an illegal stalker (he calls himself a "pilgrim") of multiple areas in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, including Pripyat, smaller surrounding villages, and the power plant itself.[3][4][5][6] In 2022, after the Russian invasion began, he joined the Ukrainian military and was retired in September, 2024.[7][8]

Stalking the Atomic City

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Stalking the Atomic City is a novel written by Kamysh about his experiences illegally exploring the exclusion zone.[9] TOP10 books of 2019 according to La Repubblica as one of the "Constellations of the ten books that best reflect the spirit of the times".[10]

The Guardian called it "remarkable book".[11] The Telegraph admitted that the work is "mesmerizing",[12] The Wall Street Journal called the novel "A punk rock pilgrimage to Chernobyl"[13], The Times noted the "style" and the author's "passion",[14] Le Point stated that it was “wonderfully written”, la Repubblica noted “strong character”[15], The Irish Independent described the text as “an unforgettable read”,[16] il Manifesto wrote that this is “... not a sickly apocalyptic tourism, but an act of love, its deprivation, mystical entanglement in the overtaken world that confronts us in hopeless and eerie beauty”,[17] and The New York Times included it in the list of translated literature from all over the world for 2022.[18] Kirkus Reviews call it "A visceral, graphic report from dystopia."[19] Le Nouvel Obs called the novel "an amazing book".[20]

Les Inrocks highlighted that it is a "Brilliant text between an intimate story, a spicy walk and a searing post-Chernobyl document" and summed up the work as "A morbid and magical world reminiscent of the films of Tim Burton and Jim Jarmusch, in which Markiyan Kamysh plays a Baudelaire vagabond."[21]

The reviewer of the Corriere della Sera summed up his review of the novel as follows: "Thanks to a style balanced between the linguistic ecstasy of a desperate journey, between the destruction of the relics of a historical tragedy and the cruel and sentimental minimalism of a terrifying reality, Kamysh writes a work capable of shaking us in the face of human pain and the pain of nature."[22]

Critics compare Kamysh with Hunter Thompson,[23] Jack Kerouac[24] and Charles Bukowski.[25]

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References

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  1. ^ Jordison, Sam (2022-07-09). "Stalking the Atomic City by Markiyan Kamysh review – in search of meaning in Chornobyl's forbidden wasteland". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  2. ^ "Маркіян Камиш, письменник". www.ukrinform.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  3. ^ ""Чорнобильська зона - моє призначення" - письменник Маркіян Камиш". Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). 25 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  4. ^ "Маркіян Камиш: Немає ніякої Зони. Зона в наших головах - 5 Січня 2016 - Статті | Litcentr". litcentr.in.ua. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  5. ^ ""La zone interdite de Tchernobyl est l'endroit le plus exotique sur Terre!"". www.20minutes.fr (in French). 25 April 2016. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  6. ^ ""Чому я ходжу в Чорнобильську зону" - розповідь нелегала". BBC News Україна (in Ukrainian). 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  7. ^ "Armed Forces of Ukraine". Instagram (in Ukrainian). 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
  8. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  9. ^ "Stalking the Atomic City by Markiyan Kamysh". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  10. ^ "I libri più belli dell'anno ve li consiglia Robinson". la Repubblica (in Italian). 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  11. ^ Jordison, Sam (2022-07-09). "Stalking the Atomic City by Markiyan Kamysh review – in search of meaning in Chornobyl's forbidden wasteland". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  12. ^ Rees, Jasper (2022-07-01). "Meet the madman who spent 200 days in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  13. ^ "WSJ".
  14. ^ Phipps, John (2022-07-16). "Stalking the Atomic City: a radioactive rambler's guide to Chernobyl". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  15. ^ "Chernobyl brucia con noi". la Repubblica (in Italian). 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  16. ^ "Stalking the Atomic City: Finding peace in the nightmarish landscape of Chernobyl". Irish Independent. 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  17. ^ "Markijan Kamys, storia di un amore tossico". il manifesto (in Italian). 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  18. ^ Times, The New York (2022-01-28). "Globetrotting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  19. ^ STALKING THE ATOMIC CITY | Kirkus Reviews.
  20. ^ "Tchernobyl 30 ans après : au coeur de la zone interdite". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  21. ^ "Reportage dans la zone interdite de Tchernobyl | Les Inrocks".
  22. ^ "PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  23. ^ Rees, Jasper (2022-07-01). "Meet the madman who spent 200 days in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  24. ^ "Stalking the Atomic City by Markiyan Kamysh: 9781662601279 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  25. ^ "Una passeggiata nella zona di Markijan Kamyš – Capitolo23". web.archive.org. 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
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