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The Drowned and the Saved
The Drowned and the Saved | Primo Levi
Shortly after completing THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED, Primo Levi committed suicide. The matter of his death was sudden, violent and unpremiditated, and there were some who argue that he killed himself because he was tormented by guilt - guilt that he had survived the horrors of Auschwitz while others, better than he, had gone to the wall. THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED is Levi's impassioned attempt to understand the 'rationale' behind the concentration camps, was completed shortly before his tragic death in 1987. THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED dispels the myth that Primo Levi forgave the Germans for what they did to his people. He didn't and couldn't forgive. He refused, however, to indulge in what he called 'the bestial vice of hatred' which is an entirely different matter. The voice that sounds in his writing is that of a reasonable man...it warns and reminds us that the unimaginable can happen again. A would-be tyrant is waiting in the wings, with 'beautiful words' on his lips. The book is constantly impressing on us the need to learn from the past, to make sense of the senseless' PAUL BAILEY
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catiewithac
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5⭐️ book! Primo Levi‘s final book gives an unwavering look at the legacy of Nazi Germany and the phenomenon of concentration camps, of which Levi was a survivor. I know a lot of people are escaping into comfort reads and fantasy, but I can only find solace in authentic human testimonies of suffering. This motivates me to be vigilant and speak up. These essays are exceptional but “The Gray Zone” stands out. Powerful read; please add it!!!

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Soscha
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I knew this was going to be a difficult read.

Here is page 1.

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Soscha
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I‘m getting ready to start “The Drowned & the Saved” tomorrow. I‘m thinking of reading it in tandem with watching “Shoah”.

Has anyone seen “Shoah”? I know it‘s 10 hours long so I‘d be pacing it out over several days.

Is there anything you‘d recommend to get through it? I realize it‘s going to be emotionally difficult.

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CafeMom
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The third book in the Auschwitz trilogy. The author, a survivor, committed suicide at 68 one year after its publication. Given that the author committed suicide you can see the darkness in its pages. Focusing on humans who do the inhumane, an important story told from first person knowledge. Primo Levi is told by a religious friend that one of the reasons he survived is to bear witness which is one of the reasons he wrote his books. #1001books

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ericas
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You bleed every single line and learn that the worst you can do is judge. You discover about human soul what you wouldn't like to, digging into the roots of violence and meeting what a man can do to survive. It's a strange book. The content is extreme mostly because you know that it's true and I wanted to stop reading it many times but I couldn't leave the perfect beauty of the author's writing. A spell. A sharp clean mind. Rarity.

CafeMom I'm reading this now. Good description. I can only read one chapter a night. 5y
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Claus
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L'ingresso in Lager era invece un urto per la sorpresa che portava con sé. [...] Si entrava sperando almeno nella solidarietà dei compagni di sventura, ma gli alleati sperati, salvo casi speciali, non c'erano; c'erano invece mille monadi sigillate e fra queste una lotta disperata, nascosta e continua. #lager #worldwarII #secondaguerramondiale