Customer Reviews

If Not Now, When?

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This fictional account of Jewish partisans fighting their way through war ravaged eastern Europe is incredibly moving. The characters are so realistically human in their reactions to the chaotic conditions that they encounter. The book explores a chapter of WWII history that is not very well known and does so from the perspectives of ordinary people caught up in the swirling events and joined together by a desire to survive as well as by a common hatred of the Nazis. There is an incredible life affirming wedding scene in the midst of countless grim episodes that demonstrates the human capacity of endurance. The translation is excellent and the narrative is crisp and fast moving. One of the best literary works dealing with the European war.Unforgettable!.

Primo Levi, from what I know was a very gifted and sensitive man. Levi never forgave himself for surviving the holocaust, he felt guilty because his own life was spared, eventually he committed suicide. A very little known fact of World War II, was the work of the Jewish Resistance. Millions of European Jews perished in the holocaust, some managed to get away, a few managed to hide, and there also were the Jewish Partisans; those who fought. If not now .. when? is an absolutely beautiful story of those souls who fought the oppression. This is not a graphic book of the suffering of the holocaust; this is a great novel about a group of people who in spite of all the suffering keep moving forward. They do hold it together, they make friends, love, sing, and cry, celebrate and mourn. This is not a war glory story, it is a people story, and how they changed and adapted, how they kept going. Yes, the overused expression of "triumph of the human spirit" so appropriately describes the theme of the book, but not always; Levi was realistic enough to see to that. I was profoundly touched by this book and thoroughly enjoyed it as a non-Jew. However, I never saw this book as a journey to Palestine, as suggested by some. These were people rising up to fight injustice and to stay alive, they largely moved aimlessly. To interpret this book as a part of the Zionist ovement would in my opinion be wrong. This is translated book, it is excellent in English, and it must have been even better in Italian. I wish I could read it in its original language.

While the book isn't a true story, the characters are based on real people Primo Levi met during the holocaust. It surprises, inspires and humbles the reader to know that humanity can exist in the midst of such horrible chaos.

I liked the fact that there is not happily ever after, that the characters must fight to produce their own future. But, it is good to know that along their journey, they met many who would help them.

Primo Levi is a wonderful writer. He stays true to character, winds the subplots into the main plot without jerky interruptions and allows the characters to be real, not stereotypes.

"If am not for myself, who will be for me? If am for myself alone, what am I? If not now, when." This is a famous passage of Rabbi Hillel, and they are the appropriate words to use as title for this book. It is a fictional narrative of a group of Jewish partisans, following their track from Russia to Italy, along 1943/45. Without sensationalism, avoiding detailed descriptions of horror, and using a touch of humor, Primo Levi describes the hardships of partisans who rebelled against injustice armed themselves and carried their own personal war against the enemy, united by a commmon goal to reach Palestine. Interesting characters are developed, and a narrative always with tension and emotion. A Tale of heroism based on documented records of WWII. Primo Levi is not evasive when it comes to his honest thoughts about the enemies (whether Germans, Russians, or Polish) but his message is one of universal human solidarity. Beautifully written, with a fantastic human touch.

This is one of Levi's last works, the story is about a fictional group of Jewish partisans operating behind German lines in Russia and Poland from July, 1943 to the end of World War II. Levi himself joined a partisan band in 1943, although it was in Italy, not Russia, and he was soon captured and sent to Auschwitz. Although the plot and characters are fictional, Levi has gone to great lengths to make his story as authentic as possible. This novel is based not only on his own personal experiences, but on conversations he had with others, and on other published accounts of the experiences of Jewish partisans operating behind enemy lines on the Eastern Front (Levi even provides a bibliography at the end). This is a book of hope, not of despair. Levi explicitly eschews accounts of the death camps in this work; it is not a work of "Holocaust Literature". It is a story of the Jewish resistance with universal overtones.

What makes this book more than just another "war story" is the rich cast of characters, drawn with sympathy, humor, and without a trace of sentimentality. Typical of these is the leader of the partisan band, a man of great charisma, and a brilliant decision-maker, who understands that in the forest, surrounded by enemies, with the life-sustaining morale of his small force hanging in the balance, his violin is almost as essential for the group's survival as his weapon. What gives this book such great authenticity is that none of the characters are paragons of virtue; they are ordinary, flawed people forced to draw upon every last ounce of courage and resourcefulness within just to survive to fight another day. Front and center to the survival of the group is the fierce loyalty its members have to each other. Even as the war ends and they are no longer in deadly peril, the members of the band share a common destiny in which the fate of one is the fate of all.

I found this book very difficult to put down once I started it. It would be hard to find a more vivid, well-told tale of what it was like for the partisans along the Eastern front of World War II.

Unlike Levi's autobiographical works , this fast-paced existential adventure details the personal bonds amongst Jewish Partisans active in Eastern Europe during WW2. These brave , determined souls fight the Reich, make love, and forage for bread, while they gnaw on the meaning offered them in a world at war. An unpretentious examination of human fight, this novel ranks as Levi's most portentious examination of the heart of the rebel in the context of the Holocaust. Highly recommended.

....A very little known fact of World War II, was the work of the
Jewish Resistance. Millions of European Jews perished in the
holocaust, specifically being hunted, for no reason but their origin.
Many run away, a few managed to hide and there also were the Jewish
Partisans; those who fought back.

If not now .. when?, is an
absolutely beautiful story of those brave souls who fought the
oppression. This is not a graphic book of the suffering of the
holocaust; this is a great novel about a group of people who despite
of all the suffering keep moving forward. They do hold it together,
they make friends, love, sing, and cry, celebrate and mourn. This is
not a war story, it is a people story, and how they changed and
adapted, how they kept going. Yes, the overused expression of
"triumph of the human spirit" so appropriately describes the
theme of the book, but not always; Levi is realistic enough to see to
that.

I was profoundly touched by this book and thoroughly enjoyed
it as a non-Jew. I never saw this book as a journey to
Palestine....These were people rising up to fight injustice and to
stay alive, they largely moved aimlessly. To interpret this book as a
part of the zinonist movement would in my opinion be wrong.

This is
translated book, it is excellent in English, and it must have been
even better in Italian. I wish I could read it in its original
language.

Even apart from its profound Jewish interest, the book is an outstanding chronicle of WWII, rich with detail concerning the hardships, the cold, the Russian-Polish landscape, the polyglot bands of homeless partisans and refugees, their ruthless tactics for survival,and the ugliness and arbitrariness of death. My favorite book by one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Levi spares no details in this very real novel of a band of Jewish partisans. The action is spellbinding while the characterization is complex. Very enjoyable, and I would recommend this book to anyone, interested in this subject or not.

I went through a period when I was choosing (who knows why) only thin books to read. In my search I found To The Lighthouse and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. I also found Periodic Table by Levi. The book was shatteringly good. Who was this man? Why hadn't I heard his name mentioned before in the pantheon of Holocaust authors and literature?

If Not Now, When? is classic Levi. In his immutable style he weaves the tale of Jewish partisans making their way across Eastern Europe into Italy in the final 18 months of WWII. Levi doesn't stretch, he doesn't aggrandize, he doesn't use hyperbole. His telling is straight and clean and true. Many authors have grandly failed to described the chaos in the final months of the war. In his direct style, Levi accomphishes it amazingly.

It seems authors and their works always find their place in the world. But Levi didn't in his lifetime and he hasn't yet in ours. He deserves to be read and acknowledged as one of the best.

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