false 427282 24 Writer Primo Levi (1919-1987), an Italian Jew, did not come to the wide attention of the English-reading audience until the last years of his life. A survivor of the Holocaust and imprisonment in Auschwitz, Levi is considered to be one of the century's most compelling voices, and <I>The Periodic Table</I> is his most famous book. Springboarding from his training as a chemist, Levi uses the elements as metaphors to create a cycle of linked, somewhat autobiographical tales, including stories of the Piedmontese Jewish community he came from, and of his response to the Holocaust. 1533977 book 1975 Il sistema periodico total:791|5:366|4:279|3:115|2:23|1:8| 791 3345 1263 91 5 7 false false Tue Mar 04 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 09:43:56 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 04 10:30:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 24 18:40:24 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 12:12:09 -0800 2009
It seemed to us an embarras de richesses, and it was instead a different embarrassment, deeper and more essential: an embarrassment tied to an atrophy of ours, of our family, or our caste. What were we able to do with our hands?… Our hands were at once coarse and weak...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Dec 09 21:08:57 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 21:23:25 -0800 2008
In each chapter, Lev...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 19 18:50:45 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 19 19:13:10 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 10 10:18:08 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 06:52:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Jul 21 07:08:39 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 07:08:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 4 false false Tue Apr 01 09:09:03 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 31 10:17:18 -0800 2008
1. Skip the first chapter. The chapters aren't connected. Chapter One is didactic and uncharacteristic of the book. Read the rest in its entirety.

2. Read Chapter One.


YIELD: One of the bes...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Feb 14 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 16:50:55 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 22:23:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 02 19:17:18 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 02 19:17:18 -0800 2008 “a poetic causal nexus known only to chemists”

Primo Levi, a chemist and a young Italian Jew, grew up during WWII in Mussolini’s Italy. The Periodic Table relates his story. Part autobiography, part poetry, part history and science textbook, Levi fuses these together in a “life-thesis” fill...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 17:38:11 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 10:24:18 -0700 2008 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 "...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Thu Jan 17 18:26:25 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 17 18:26:42 -0800 2008
We read this as the subject of a month...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Jan 11 09:40:24 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 09:40:56 -0800 2008
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...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 08:14:32 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 12:43:02 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 14:03:45 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 14:07:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Feb 03 16:43:57 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 16:47:44 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sat Nov 15 12:39:48 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 10:59:25 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Aug 02 05:44:20 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 05:54:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 13 11:16:19 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 11:20:33 -0700 2009
That sounds sooo English: the whimsy when the world's at stake. The argument/rationalising is that to so badly mess the detail is to throw doubt on the overall perception.

I think this is certainly...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Nov 03 11:09:31 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 03 11:21:17 -0700 2007
The book is essentially a group of ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 10 05:03:53 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 05:16:10 -0700 2008 more...]]>