If This Is a Man and The Truce (Paperback)

~ (Author), S. Woolf (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The death of Primo Levi robs Italy of one of its finest writers...One of the few survivors of the Holocaust to speak of his experiences with a gentle voice' GUARDIAN 'A life-changing book.' Daily Express THE TRUCE: 'One of the century's truly necessary books.' Philip Roth 'One of the greatest human testaments of the era.' SCOTSMAN IF THIS IS A MAN: 'This book is the most profoundly affecting of all those written by survivors of the Holocaust. Sober and passionate, it depicts an experience of the ultimate nightmare related by a man both sensitive and resilient, who speaks for all those made dumb forever.' THE WEEK 'Levi's book still has the power to make one weep of the greatest and alas, the defining atrocity of our century. Yet throughout, the fear, the endless hunger and the pain are leavened by tiny grains of affection, of generosity, even humour. Which is why this masterpiece is not merely terrifying but also endlessly readable. It is, ultimately, about moral as well as physical endurance, about hope, and about the survival of man's unquenchable human spirit.' DAILY MAIL 'Levi builds a serene sense of Man's worth. This is an extraordinarily endearing testament.' LONDON DAILY NEWS 'His tone throughout the memoir is dry-eyed and understated. He makes few references to himself, and they are rarely flattering. But by the end of this short book one is left with a monument to human dignity.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'In describing Levi's account of his experiences in Nazi camps it is tempting to say that words are not enough, that language crumbles before this unforgettable testament. But the book's achievement is precisely to abjure such hyperbole to name the unnameable. Eschewing a desire for recrimination, Levi offers a lucid document of a descent into hell which is courageous and unflinching.' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Product Description

'With the moral stamina and intellectual pose of a twentieth-century Titan, this slightly built, duitful, unassuming chemist set out systematically to remember the German hell on earth, steadfastly to think it through, and then to render it comprehensible in lucid, unpretentious prose. He was profoundly in touch with the minutest workings of the most endearing human events and with the most contempible. What has survived in Levi's writing isn't just his memory of the unbearable, but also, in THE PERIODIC TABLE and THE WRENCH, his delight in what made the world exquisite to him. He was himself a magically endearing man, the most delicately forceful enchanter I've ever known' PHILIP ROTH

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Abacus (January 1, 1991)
• ISBN-10: 0349100136
• ISBN-13: 978-0349100135
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #199,901 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-breaking but informative and important, April 7, 2005

By	J. E. Davidson (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A truly amazing book - I cannot promise that you will enjoy it, in fact I can almost guarantee that you will find most of it heart-breaking and painful.

It is a little like watching Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing - on many levels you do not enjoy it but it enthrals you. The subject matter is so important and it is so beautifully made and eloquent that you feel compelled to watch (or read in the case of Levi).

Levi tells the story of his own internment in Auschwitz - he concentrates on the details of everyday life slowing building a vivid picture of how the Nazis were intent on not just killing them but breaking their spirit, humiliating them, degrading them. He captures many moments so well that they live on in the mind, for example when he describes how the terrible regime made Jew turn on Jew. He even manages to raise a guilty smile occasionally. For example, he describes the second worst thing that could happen at night was to take out the toilet bucket as it was always full to overflowing and would spill on your feet. The worst thing was when your bunkmate took it out as they shared bunks sleeping head to toe.

Levi is a fantastic writer (try the Periodic Table if you want to read something easier and more enjoyable) with a light touch. He describes his time in Auschwitz calmly, clearly, with great compassion but remarkably objectively; he gives the reader space to think and understand.

A work of heart-breaking genius

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars illuminating, June 18, 2004

By	Edmund Khoo - See all my reviews

Primo Levi's "If This is a Man" and "The Truce" remain one of the most horrifyingly realistic depictions of life in Auschwitz. Primo Levi recounts the daily ordeals of life in Auschwitz with a stirring and poignant narration, concentrating on not only the physical and emotional hardship but on another level questioning plainly what it is to be human. Both books present an illuminating view into life in a prison camp, and Primo Levi's narration ensure that no suffering remains untold. An illuminating read.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If this is a man; and The Truce, February 2, 2005

By	Victor Shayne (Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Primo Levi is the most insightful, pragmatic realist of all holocaust authors. I have read more than 50 books on the subject, and his insights into what happened, human nature, the (bad) luck of the draw, and the tragedy of his experience are brilliant and by far the most articulate. Somehow, perhaps with his scientific mind, Levi was able to maintain his awareness through an experience that is utterly beyond the scope of imagination. He somehow emerges from the ashes of this horrific epoch like a literary phoenix. He doesn't dwell on the inhuman acts and suffering, although he has a perfect right to do so, but instead offers his account almost from an omniscient perspective. This book contains the best of Primo Levi, but his other writings demand to be read as well. And, if you haven't seen The Truce, starring John Turturro, you should do so. It's not a hundred percent historically accurate, but it is a great presentation.