If This Is a Man/ The Truce - Primo Levi

If This Is a Man/ The Truce - Primo Levi
I had studied this one in the bookstore, and then as usual did an online library search and had it within two days. Tucked up in my bed with layers of duvets and an electric blanket on, I pondered how such a thing could have occured, and how anyone at all survived such hardships. I am too soft, I would not have lasted.

Primo Levi was a young Italian chemist when he was betrayed to the Germans, during the second world war. Packed into cattle wagons, he was sent to Poland to one of the concentration camps that supported the main camp Auschwitz.

The first book If This Is a Man, is written in 1947 two years after his release where he tells of his experiences during his imprisonment. Only published originally in Italian this book was not released generally until the 1950s. Stunning in its simplicity it is a true tale of survival, of living, of dying.

The Truce follows Levis release and journey across Europe, back to his home town of Turin. Not a great read, it instead offers some completition.

3/5