Monday, August 22, 2005
It's a cliche to say that a book, once picked up could not be put down, but this was true today. I purchased the combined book of 'If this Is a Man' (Se Questo e un Uomo) and 'The Truce' (La Tregua) by Primo Levi a couple of days ago, but knowing how Shoah (שואה) literature and media make me feel, I had not really started until today.
This should be required reading in schools. It clearly tells one mans account of The Holocaust (although I dislike the word, due to it's original meaning), and although this does not really meditate upon the destruction as his later work does, there are still thoughts on the situation as well as his fellow inmates. There is, however, the disadvantage that any personnel account of the Shoah has; the survivor writing it is inherently exceptional, a unique case, surviving often through a quirk of fate. I'll read La Tregua tomorrow and have a think about it.
