The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

How would a group of readers from The Institute of Cancer Research react to The Periodic Table, Primo Levi’s semi-autobiographical work which fuses together his life as a chemist with his life as a Jew? Many of them discussed his enthusiastic approach to chemistry but others felt that the structure of the book produced a disjointed narrative which did not flow. Here is a summary of the points covered by the readers group.

The Book

The properties of elements often reflect the properties of life itself - volatile, inert, lustrous, precious, poisonous, brittle...

Inspired by the rhythms of the Periodic Table, Primo Levi assesses his life in terms of the chemical elements he associates with his past. From his birth into an Italian Jewish family, through his training as a chemist to the pain and darkness of the Holocaust and its aftermath, Levi reflects on the difficult course of his life in this heartfelt and deeply moving book - one of the key testaments of the last century.

The Readers

The Institute of Cancer Research Reading Group meet once a month to eat, drink, chat - and of course to discuss the book they’ve been reading. Some people were colleagues and clearly knew each other well; for others this was their first experience of a readers’ group, and the first time they had met many of the people there. Each member of the group introduces themselves and then gives some comments on their interpretation of the book.

THEME

Chemistry

Many of the readers loved the excitement and enthusiasm for chemistry that Levi conveys in the book. They were impressed by Levi’s passion for chemistry and his passion for elements and matter. They found his description of life in the lab interesting. One reader (James) said that ordinary lab work was made accessible and that the lab work was written about in a sincere and non-patronising way.

Alan felt that the chemistry in this book was spot on. He had read The Periodic Table whilst at University and as a result thought that chemists would talk about poetry and philosophy. He thought this was the most interesting and moving book that he had read.

Geoff really enjoyed this book because it hits you on so many different levels. The thickening paint story rang true for him (and was mentioned by many others in the group) where 2 or 3 drops became 23 drops because the formula cards were stained with acid etc. This is evocative if you are a chemist and have worked in the lab.

One reader enjoyed reading about the chemistry in the book. This is old-fashioned ‘bucket’ chemistry where you spend eight hours in the lab with an unknown substance. Today, there are all sorts of instant tests to work out what a substance is - you don’t really need to know what you are doing now. This reader admired Primo Levi because he really knows his chemistry.

Another reader had never heard of the periodic table until she read this book and thought it was a good way to get to know a little bit more about science.

The rise of Nazism

Many people commented on how far in the background the threat of the rising Nazism is in the book.

One reader felt that because Levi was writing from a distance of 30 years that he could look back on the whole period objectively. The people Levi comes across are apathetic - but this is how these things happen. Levi is not judgmental. There is an evil force coming in and people just step aside. But Levi is saying that you can’t just step aside. This reader takes as an example the man at Auschwitz who claims he didn’t see anything. Levi is not there to get the man to admit to his fault, but just to admit to what he did. Levi wants to be a witness, and doesn’t want to colour the story with his own judgements.

Another reader commented that The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann is one of Levi’s favourite books and this book is an analogy the rise of Fascism through Europe.

Difficult Language in the First Chapter/Translation

Some readers found chapter one laborious and intractable. One reader skipped chapter one altogether after trying for a week to read it.

Questions were asked about whether this was to do with Primo Levi’s writing style or if it was to do with the translation. The first chapter is difficult to interpret but after that there is a change in style - the language is more simplistic and straightforward. It is as though, in the first chapter, the translator tried to find the most difficult word he could use. The argument was raised that that it is not like this in the original Italian and that the translator probably tried to find the correct/precise word, rather than to match Levi’s style. It was suggested that this may be because a lot of the Italian language is Latin based and so will seem more sophisticated and elevated to us as English readers.

Occasionally the odd original German/Italian sentence remains in the text untranslated. This annoyed some readers.

The structure

A lot of readers felt that the different parts of the book didn’t fit together well but other readers liked the book because its style was unique.

One reader views Primo Levi as a short story writer. This collection was written over a long period of time and that is why it is so uneven. This reader enjoyed the fictitious stories on lead and mercury.

One reader said this book was an autobiography piggy-backed on to Levi’s professional life but the contrived nature of this is off set by the deep personal experience conveyed in the book.

One reader liked the idea of using the Periodic Table as a leitmotif to relate to his life and thought that the episodic nature was fine - it left you champing at the bit to see what happened next.

Another reader, Alan, felt that it was a fantastic idea to name each chapter after the names of the elements. Felt that this made the narrative flow.

Characterisation

Rachel enjoyed the characterisation of the Grandmother, the mountain climbing friend and other characters in the book and felt that in a few sentences Levi could really sum up a character.

Another reader commented on the wonderful descriptions of his relatives in chapter One. Felt that Levi is a brilliant writer and describer of people.

The Story

One reader particularly liked the two juvenile stories because they were written whilst Levi was in isolation and this comes through in the stories. Levi had just discovered he was a non-person with the new racial laws against Jews having now been introduced. He managed to get a job and wrote these stories in isolation in the mountains. One story is about an isolated man and the other is about four people on the island who are morally shabby gentiles.

Carbon/The last chapter

One reader felt that the last chapter was an anti-climax and some people felt that the last chapter was a cliché. Other readers were moved by this chapter and thought it philosophical and poignant.

One lady wrote her final examination on reincarnation but her interpretation was that the body is buried and is taken by the soil and enters the chain of life in this way. In literary terms, this has been discussed before. For example, Hamlet discusses similar concepts. Is this a cliché about carbon? Carbon can just be a formula about life but if you look at the bigger picture you can see how it relates the different parts of life to each other. The connectedness of all life on earth, the air, the planets etc. One reader walked away with the feeling of connectedness she had with the air.

Levi’s other work

One reader enjoys Levi’s work but felt that of all his books, this is the least accessible. Another reader felt that The Periodic Table was an unfortunate first choice of Levi books.

Other readers felt that it was hard to separate this book from his other work, especially after they had read more in order to give it a new context.

The Critics

“The book it is necessary to read next. After a few pages I immersed myself gladly and gratefully. There is nothing superfluous here, everything this book contains is essential. It is wonderfully pure, and beautifully translated... I was deeply impressed.” Saul Bellow

“Levi’s troubled honesty is not what usually gets hailed as a triumph of the human spirit. His work dispels such clichés: it is a victory, against great odds, for the preservation of memory.” Time

“Wonderfully daring... Its extraordinary shifts of tone, from learned scientific treatise to epic war narrative, reflect Levi‘s eclectic reading and mesmeric story-telling gifts” Ian Thomson, Guardian