The Periodic Table (Paperback)

Primo Levi

ISBN 10: 0805210415 / ISBN 13: 9780805210415

Editore: Random House USA Inc, New York, 1995

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Paperback. In this literary masterpiece, one of the twentieth century's most significant writers reflects on his life before and after the Holocaust, merging the scientific and the humane into a profound "work of healing" (New York Times Book Review) . Fiftieth anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Rivka GalchenAs a youth, Primo Levi became fascinated by the laboratory, a site where the mysteries of the material world are unlocked and substances reveal their deepest truths. In this graceful, vital book-originally published in Italian in 1975-his passion for chemistry spans his extraordinary life story, with each chapter's theme anchored in a different element of the periodic table. Beginning with his childhood in Italy's Piedmontese Jewish community, Levi narrates his years as a student and fledgling scientist, before the descent of World War II, when he fought as an anti-fascist partisan until his arrest and transportation to Auschwitz. After surviving captivity, he returned to his work as a chemist and as a writer, striving in both realms to transmute matter into meaning. An artistic masterpiece of the highest order, The Periodic Table champions the power of friendship and curiosity to transcend times of tyranny and testifies to the fundamental interconnectedness of all the stuff of the universe-including us. "The Periodic Table is largely a memoir of the years before and after Primo Levi's transportation from his native Italy to Auschwitz as an anti-Facist partisan and a Jew. It recounts the story of the Piedmontese Jewish community from which Levi came, of his years as a student and young chemist at the inception of World War II, and of his investigations into the nature of the material world"-- Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9780805210415

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: The Periodic Table (Paperback)
• Editore: Random House USA Inc, New York
• Data di pubblicazione: 1995
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0805210415
• ISBN 13: 9780805210415
• Rilegatura: Paperback
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

The Periodic Table is largely a memoir of the years before and after Primo Levi’s transportation from his native Italy to Auschwitz as an anti-Facist partisan and a Jew.

 

It recounts, in clear, precise, unfailingly beautiful prose, the story of the Piedmontese Jewish community from which Levi came, of his years as a student and young chemist at the inception of the Second World War, and of his investigations into the nature of the material world. As such, it provides crucial links and backgrounds, both personal and intellectual, in the tremendous project of remembrance that is Levi’s gift to posterity. But far from being a prologue to his experience of the Holocaust, Levi’s masterpiece represents his most impassioned response to the events that engulfed him.

 

The Periodic Table celebrates the pleasures of love and friendship and the search for meaning, and stands as a monument to those things in us that are capable of resisting and enduring in the face of tyranny.

Informazioni sull?autore

PRIMO LEVI was born in Turin in 1919 to an Italian-Jewish family. Arrested as a member of the anti-Fascist resistance, he was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. After the war, Levi resumed his careers as a chemist and a writer in Turin until his untimely death in 1987. During his writing career, Levi won every distinguished prize in his native Italy. The Periodic Table, the first of his books to appear in America, was selected as one of the Best Books of 1985 by The New York Times Book Review.