The Periodic Table
Ratings12
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings12
Average rating3.7
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.
Reviews with the most likes.
It is a perfect memoir, the author highlighted the fragments of his life which is the basic skeleton of his likelihood. The way he incorporated so many chemistry metaphors with his philosophical and psychological views was a joyous read for me. Each of the chapter titles and the contents had deep(sometimes shallow) connections throughout the book although The second fable he incorporated in the middle section was kind of broke the sequence for me and it felt unnecessary
Now onto my personal opinion- I would be much more delighted if the chemistry portion was highlighted much more here since I was very much looking forward to reading the science bit in every chapter, some of the chapters seemed a bit dull to me which had very minuscule chemistry on it. But I suppose it has the perfect balance for someone who isn't too interested in the science part or has a hard time understanding it. Still, I wanted more science bits since the Royal institute awarded it ‘Best science book of all time'
I especially liked how he incorporated his scientific philosophy into his regular life too which is always fun to read because I could see from this book how passionate he was about chemistry. my favourite chapters were Nitrogen and Carbon, also the part where the synthesised fats in Auschwitz
3.75 for me .......okay maybe 4.
This book is such a good read! I am sadly not too interested in the parts about chemistry or trying to understand it but I loved how Levi connected the elements with life, making analogies.
I love the writing though, the stories about WWII are so sad and tragic at times, pulling at my heartstrings. Most of the time the chapters/stories were a bit too short for me, I always need some time to get attached and this book barely gave me the chance to do so.
