Friday, December 16, 2005
The Periodic Table - Primo Levi
In this Levi attempts, successfully, to introduce his trade - that of the chemist - to literature. Each chapter bears the name of an element, and each tells a story from his life. Though it is impossible not to mentally catalogue each tale as pre- or post-Auschwitz, it goes far in lifting the monstrous shadow of the deathcamps from this man's life. And in its treatment of the chemical blocks that make up our world, it inspires. Don't be put off by my shitty review: this is a magnificent work.
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In this Levi attempts, successfully, to introduce his trade - that of the chemist - to literature. Each chapter bears the name of an element, and each tells a story from his life. Though it is impossible not to mentally catalogue each tale as pre- or post-Auschwitz, it goes far in lifting the monstrous shadow of the deathcamps from this man's life. And in its treatment of the chemical blocks that make up our world, it inspires. Don't be put off by my shitty review: this is a magnificent work.
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