About this title: Originally entitled, IF THIS IS A MAN, Levi's narrative of his experiences at Auschwitz is unique among Holocaust memoirs for its simplicity, its lack of self-pity, and its objectivity; he often emphasizes not his own sufferings but the many instances of goodness he found among his fellow prisoners. In an appendix, Levi stated: "[I]n writing this ...
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Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Book shows wear to cover edges and spine. Spine has creases. Corners bent/rounded. Cover may have folds or creases. Otherwise in good reading condition. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Date Published: 1961
ISBN-13:9780020343004ISBN:0020343000
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Light edge and corner wear. No marks. Tight binding. Tanning pages. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Paper over boards. 157 p. Audience: General/trade. "A moving account of the reactions of a highly sensitive and intelligent man to life in hell. "--The Times (London) Literary Supplement. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Collier Books/Collier-Macmillan Ltd., New York, Toronto
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780020343103ISBN:0020343108
Description: Used-Acceptable. Academic, Scholarly, Research. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. 157 pp. Translation of "Se questo e' un uomo; " originally published as "If this is a man. " With new introduction by author. Clean, unmarked pages. Tear at top of front cover; binding loose. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Collier Books
Date Published: 1973
Description: Reading-Copy+ 12mo. {006109} Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi. Published by Collier Books in 1973. MASS MARKET PAPERBACK 12mo Philosophy {Book Condition} READING-COPY+ {Book Condition Details} Binding: slightly frayed ends, loose pages, Cover: soiled, edge wear, soiling, creasing on Spine, creasing, scuffing, End Papers: front free endpaper stained, Text: tanning. {Blurb} A moving account of the reactions of a highly sensitive and intelligent man to life in hell. {Contents} Translated by ... read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
"Written by a 24 yr old phd Chemist from Italy. In Italian it was originally titled "If this is a man?" The title was changed by the publishers in the US version for marketing purposes. But throughout the book he tells his personal account of dehumanization in the camps and throughout the story one should be asking themselves "Is this a man? Is this a human being that thinks, acts, speaks, and is treated like this?" Levi also composed volumes of poetry and I think he is more articulate than Wiesel.
Educated in a less-than politically charged environment, I was apathetic towards politics and world issues. After reading these personal biographies of the holocaust, racked with pain and anguish while I crawled through some of those emotionally challenging books, I read a phrase by Kershaw, "The road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference." Germany was not full of venomous anti-semitics, but the large majority of Germans just didn't care. No majority spoke up to stop the atrocities. I felt so much guilt for being indifferent that it spurred me to vote, research issues, and read world newspapers (I still read the jpost daily). Learning about the holocaust dramatically changed my life."
"I don't know where to start with this book. It was incredible, Primo just tells his story from his capture through his time at Auschwitz and his eventual freedom in a simple matter of fact prose with no apologies for things either himself or others done and without judging the guards and the so called 'better' prisoners for the way they were.
Primo begins with his capture and journey to the camp in in the first chapter you are hit with the loss of over 500 people upon arrival at the camp, people who are deemed 'unnecessary' and 'worthless' who are sent to the Chimney. As the book progresses the mind-numbing coldness, tiredness and hunger of everyday life in the camps is portrayed in all its horrific repeatativeness. The eventual end of the war comes slowly but surely as the allied bombs and Russian troops edge nearer and nearer but with freedom comes reality and at the close you feel not relief and elation but grief and numbness.
This book is a must read for anyone and everyone, especially those who doubt the Holocaust as no-one can doubt the words found with Primo Levi's account of this horrific period of human history.
The 'interview' between Primo and Phillip Roth was very enlightening and it showed that Primo doesn't hold feelings of hatred or animosity towards those who held him in the camps. He comes across as a relaxed and down to earth man who has dealt with the events of his past and has managed to put them in to context and pass the lessons learnt onto others."
"I read this in my European History class in college, and it was very striking because it's an account of what life was like in Auschwitz from someone who actually survived. It's truly horrifying to see what people can do to fellow human beings, but also somewhat inspiring to see how strong we are as individuals and what human nature can overcome. The truly sad part is that even though Levi "survived" his ordeal in the concentration camp, his spirit couldn't rebound from all he had experienced. There's only so much a person can take, and while some people managed to make it through their time at Auschwitz there were no real survivors. Something like that is impossible to recover from and makes you lose your faith in humanity, and Levi eventually committed suicide rather than live the rest of his life being haunted by his time in Auschwitz."
""We had an incorrigible tendency to see a symbol and a sign in every event." So did my English teacher when she taught this novel to my class and I in November of 2008. Instead of focusing on the radiant objectivity of Levi's narration and the search for self-identification (rather than justification) throughout the book, she chose to dissect practically nonexistent aspects such as the prosody of each paragraph and the reason behind each simile. Such trifles are not what matter in "Survival in Auschwitz," which is why I decided to reread the brutally exploratory memoir during this summer.
I've found that what does matter is that Levi and his fellow men dehumanized into hollow beasts had to embark upon a journey far more difficult than attempting to survive in Auschwitz. Each prisoner had to attempt to find and define themselves as they once were. Many never tried at all; some eventually lost themselves which were never to return, and others like Levi himself blessedly knew to disregard the puzzle of Auschwitz itself and to follow dreadfully but with a sense of hope and strength that would one day allow them to remember that they are indeed men. We, the unknowing, take a tour guided by the unknown via reading this book. We learn of the insane fundamentals of everyday death-camp life without being expected to sympathize or commend. Primo Levi intends for this novel's readers to read and to remember, only so that each story is not forgotten. "Survival in Auschwitz" is also a grand accomplishment in its prose and voice. Each sentence melds itself to you and leaves you feeling either chilly or warm in a way that you will always remember. To quote Saul Bellow, "In Levi's writing, nothing is superfluous and everything is essential.""
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