The Periodic Table
by Primo Levi
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Read in March, 2005
This was translated from Italian by: Raymond Rosenthal
What can I say? I am a geek. This was a book I chose only based on my love for science. I like to read about chemistry and anything else science related. My friends thought it was an odd choice but then they don't have the same interest in science as do I. To many readers the career of a chemist might seem as exciting as the career of an accountant or a tax attorney, essential to society, but better left to someone else. I suggest that if y...more
What can I say? I am a geek. This was a book I chose only based on my love for science. I like to read about chemistry and anything else science related. My friends thought it was an odd choice but then they don't have the same interest in science as do I. To many readers the career of a chemist might seem as exciting as the career of an accountant or a tax attorney, essential to society, but better left to someone else. I suggest that if y...more
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Read in December, 2007
I was looking for books that would give me an idea of what WWII was like in Italy. This was highly recommended. I agree. But I have a difficult time explaining why I like this book. Each chapter is titled with the name of an element, which plays some part in the chapter. They are written almost as essays, but they do progress in time and follow the author's life from young chemistry student to middle aged (?) chemical philosopher. But the incidents that are included all have to do with che...more
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Read in January, 2005
recommended to Ray by:
Allan Mitch
This is not a breazy read. The writing style is often deceptively simple, but the thoughts are deep and require slow, deliberate attention. This is a book worth repeated readings. I feel like I've only mined about 10% of what I could from it so far.
We read this as the subject of a monthly book circle at our church recently and it was very rewarding.
Many of the previous 31 reviews are very good, and I won't reherse their insights. Just a few more random observations:
* 21 chapters (co...more
We read this as the subject of a monthly book circle at our church recently and it was very rewarding.
Many of the previous 31 reviews are very good, and I won't reherse their insights. Just a few more random observations:
* 21 chapters (co...more
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Read in August, 2007
I was tempted to call this book an all-round, creative autobiography in which chemistry, creative-authorship, bitter memories and sweet reminiscence are intermingled. He was a jew living in a turbulent situation of antisemitic Fascism. I praise him for not being full of blame, or asking for pity about it. However, the book shows clearly that the war did indeed scar him for life as one may undoubtably relates this to his suicide in April 1987.
Levi disagrees about this novel being an autobiogr...more
Levi disagrees about this novel being an autobiogr...more
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Read in August, 2008
Amazon 2008-07-26, wish-list purchase alongside The Drowned and the Saved. I forget where I originally heard about this one, probably while searching for science books (ala The Periodic Kingdom).
Some of the most amazing ideas and techniques I've seen in a few years...the stories "Phosphorus" and "Chromium" were startling (breatht...more
Some of the most amazing ideas and techniques I've seen in a few years...the stories "Phosphorus" and "Chromium" were startling (breatht...more
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Read in June, 2006
recommends it for:
Everyone
The Periodic Table is Primo Levi's autobiography. Levi was an Italian chemist and engineer; he also happens to be a wonderful writer. He writes simply and powerfully, he isn't trying to prove anything, he's just trying to help you understand how it was.
The book is essentially a group of stories from his life; all of them are related to an element (Periodic Table, get it?) In one of the most powerful stories, he is working as an engineer at a paint factory. Batches of paint are randomly con...more
The book is essentially a group of stories from his life; all of them are related to an element (Periodic Table, get it?) In one of the most powerful stories, he is working as an engineer at a paint factory. Batches of paint are randomly con...more
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Read in March, 2008
You know how you read a sentence and copy it down because it's so good? In this book, I'd find a sentence, and go to copy it and realize it relied on the one before it, which relied on the one before that for its complete meaning. So I'd copy down whole paragraphs, whole pages, because Primo writes in integrated, seamless blocks of meaning. Which is enviable.
Other than that, I want to give Primo a big kiss, buy him a beer, and ride bikes with him in Italy.
Other than that, I want to give Primo a big kiss, buy him a beer, and ride bikes with him in Italy.
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Read in June, 2005
recommends it for:
Scientists
I read this book as an undergrad in Provo. I remember after reading Survival in Auschwitz wanting to read everything I could find by Levi. I read this and wasn't initially wowed by it, but as time passed and I revisited the stories, my appreciation really grew. The book is structurally very clever, with several chapters named after various elements, and in each of the chapters Levi tells a story that centers around or involves that element in some essential way. The most humane chemistry boo...more
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Read in July, 2001
recommends it for:
biography enthusiasts (hint hint)
This is an autobiography... sort of. It's actually a series of vignettes, each of which is titled after an element in the periodic table. I think that the degree of autobiography varies from vignette to vignette. I read it a longish time ago, so the memory is a bit fuzzy, but I wanted to mention it for my fellow non-fiction peeps, because structurally, it's semi-ingenious. I can't give it a star rating, I read it too long ago. I'm ashamed that I don't remember it better, because I know I enjoyed...more
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Primo Levi is an Italian chemist and a survivor of Auschwitz. This is not a book about his time in Auschwitz -- he has another book for that -- but it is a book about his life, about his experiences during the war, about elements, and about people. The chapter titles are the names of elements; sometimes the connection between the element and the chapter is clear, and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes I wasn't sure what any of it was about, but I kept reading. I left feeling pensive and a little ...more
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Read in February, 2008
Writing doesn't really get much better than this. I'm not sure which Levi loves more...language or history...but both loves are conscientiously observed, and you end up with the most charming, educated docent you could hope for...and he's walking you through history (personal and impersonal) and pointing out language's evolution along the way. I'm really enjoying this. Also, you get some really good insights into some of the elements on the Periodic Table. Like duh. Take this one to the tub!
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Read in February, 2008
The stories of the chemist Primo Levy, not the holocaust survivor. Although his pre, during and post holocaust life acts as a framework, it acts more as a background and not the focus. Each chapter is a different periodic table element and the story of the chapter used that element as a jumping off point. Some really lovely insights and you learn some cool shit about chemistry along the way. If I didn't know it was really borning, (chemistry, that is) I would want to learn more.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
chemists, scientists, those who like biography
Levi's book is an articulate, literary representation of a chemist's life in extraordinary circumstances. Occasionally delving into fantasy and frequently into the specificities of science (although the author bemoans those chemists who talk chemistry to those not in the profession), the result is a remarkably fluent book of studied intelligence that would perhaps be better in a second reading. The last chapter is the masterpiece.
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Read in June, 2007
Wonderful book recommended by Ralph. It led me to Roger via a circuitous path. Levi, an Italian Jew, wrote about his experiences with different elements on the periodic table. He discussed parts of his experiences in, I believe, Auschwitz, and more cheerful situations in a paint factory among other places. Wonderful insights. My favorite subjects---combining nonfiction and personal insights into an essay.
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Read in August, 2007
A good friend of mine, an Israeli Jew, gave me this book last year because it is her favorite book of all time. I am ashamed to say I had never heard of it before. In North America, so much of our focus of WWII history is on Germany, very rarely Italy or Japan. Levi explores through his own personal experience the fascist movement in Italy and the consequences to himself as a Jew and his family.
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Read in January, 2007
After years of putting it off, I finally read Primo Levi's conceptual classic, which uses a chemist's categorizations to narrate the life of an Italian Jew surviving Mussolini's Fascists and Hitler's Nazis. Levi's autobiography is brilliant, unpretentious; it has a purity about it. By comparison, his fiction feels jejune – fortunately, there's not much of it in this book.
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Read in October, 2007
It sounds like this book is written for chemists about chemistry. It's actually a collection of short stories about the author's life as a commercial chemist, but the focus isn't on the science, but the stories and relationships in his life while the science is auxiliary. It's wonderfully written and the short stories are easily read in one sitting.
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primo levi has one of those voices that draws you in and he has a tale to tell which you can't help but be compelled by. his is perhaps a slightly different view of the concentration camps than a lot of Jewish people, but then given the number of stories that seems a slightly clumsy way of putting it.
he writes beautifully about terrible things.
he writes beautifully about terrible things.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone
I was hooked on this from the first page. The writing is beautiful and sensitive, and you can't help but admire Primo Levi for his passion and his survival. There is a lot of chemistry in this book (Levi was a chemist), and it might turn people off, but you can read around that and still get so much from the stories. Read it!
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
chemists
ah levi. what a fascinating man. he was brilliant, a fantastic author, and a capable chemist. this story takes place during WWII. each chapter is an element and each element relates to the story in some way.
not your typical jewish holocaust story -- you'll see.
i like lead.
i ate a lot of paint as a child though.
not your typical jewish holocaust story -- you'll see.
i like lead.
i ate a lot of paint as a child though.
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