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  The Periodic Table (Paperback) By (author) Primo Levi, Translated by Raymond Rosenthal

  Book rating: 04

  

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  Short Description for The Periodic TablePresenting reflections inspired by the elements of the periodic table, this title ranges from young love to political savagery; from the inert gas argon - and 'inert' relatives like the uncle who stayed in bed for twenty-two years - to life-giving carbon.
  Full description

  • Publisher: PENGUIN CLASSICS
  • Published: 07 September 2000
  • Format: Paperback 224 pages
  • See: Full bibliographic data
  • Categories: Prose: Non-fiction | Anthologies (non-poetry) | Contemporary Fiction
  • ISBN 13: 9780141185149 ISBN 10: 0141185147
  • Sales rank: 27,501

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Reviews for The Periodic Table

• Chemistry as a metaphor for lifeBook rating: 4

  Primo Levi's writing generally is harrowing and - as strange as it sounds - hauntingly beautiful. This is especially true of his masterpieces, "If This Were a Man" and "The Truce". It will be very hard to read Levi's books without being left moved by his life experiences and marvel at the same time at the positive courage he showed and the almost surreal sunny disposition he maintained while incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp. "The Periodic Table", in which Levi takes the chemical elements as the inspiration for recounting people and incidents from his life, is also as exquisitely written as his other books. While it is a little less disturbing compared to some of his other works, it is nevertheless not short of some eloquent passages. For instance, while describing how he stole cerium rods from the Lager laboratory, he discusses such a seemingly mundane issue as packaging and observes that "God.. solved [the problem of packaging] brilliantly... with cellular membranes, eggshells, the multiple peel of oranges, and our own skins..." However, while lamenting the then non-availability of polyethylene, Levi adds, "God... although he is a master of polymerization, abstained from patenting it: He does not like incorruptible things." by VENKAT RAMANAN

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