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The Survivor
'Back, away from here, drowned people, go. I haven't stolen anyone's place'
A selection of poetry from the author of If this is a Man and The Periodic Table.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
A selection of poetry from the author of If this is a Man and The Periodic Table.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
20 people are currently reading
683 people want to read
About the author
Primo Levi
178 books2,334 followersPrimo Levi was an Italian Jewish chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor whose literary work has had a profound impact on how the world understands the Holocaust and its aftermath. Born in Turin in 1919, he studied chemistry at the University of Turin and graduated in 1941. During World War II, Levi joined the Italian resistance, but was captured by Fascist forces in 1943. Because he was Jewish, he was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, where he endured ten harrowing months before being liberated by the Red army.
After the war, Levi returned to Turin and resumed work as a chemist, but also began writing about his experiences. His first book, If This Is a Man (published in the U.S. as Survival in Auschwitz), is widely regarded as one of the most important Holocaust memoirs ever written. Known for its clarity, restraint, and moral depth, the book offers a powerful testimony of life inside the concentration camp. Levi went on to write several more works, including The Truce, a sequel recounting his long journey home after liberation, and The Periodic Table, a unique blend of memoir and scientific reflection, in which each chapter is named after a chemical element.
Throughout his writing, Levi combined scientific precision with literary grace, reflecting on human dignity, morality, and survival. His later works included fiction, essays, and poetry, all characterized by his lucid style and philosophical insight. Levi also addressed broader issues of science, ethics, and memory, positioning himself as a key voice in post-war European literature.
Despite his success, Levi struggled with depression in his later years, and in 1987 he died after falling from the stairwell of his apartment building in Turin. While officially ruled a suicide, the exact circumstances of his death remain a subject of debate. Nevertheless, his legacy endures. Primo Levi’s body of work remains essential reading for its deep humanity, intellectual rigor, and unwavering commitment to bearing witness.
After the war, Levi returned to Turin and resumed work as a chemist, but also began writing about his experiences. His first book, If This Is a Man (published in the U.S. as Survival in Auschwitz), is widely regarded as one of the most important Holocaust memoirs ever written. Known for its clarity, restraint, and moral depth, the book offers a powerful testimony of life inside the concentration camp. Levi went on to write several more works, including The Truce, a sequel recounting his long journey home after liberation, and The Periodic Table, a unique blend of memoir and scientific reflection, in which each chapter is named after a chemical element.
Throughout his writing, Levi combined scientific precision with literary grace, reflecting on human dignity, morality, and survival. His later works included fiction, essays, and poetry, all characterized by his lucid style and philosophical insight. Levi also addressed broader issues of science, ethics, and memory, positioning himself as a key voice in post-war European literature.
Despite his success, Levi struggled with depression in his later years, and in 1987 he died after falling from the stairwell of his apartment building in Turin. While officially ruled a suicide, the exact circumstances of his death remain a subject of debate. Nevertheless, his legacy endures. Primo Levi’s body of work remains essential reading for its deep humanity, intellectual rigor, and unwavering commitment to bearing witness.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
July 14, 2025
چیزی غمبارتر از قطار هم مگر هست؟
سرِ وقت مجبور به ترک ایستگاه است،
فقط یک صدا میدهد
و بهیک مسیر میرود.
هیچچیز غمینتر از قطار نیست...
به جز اسب گاریکش؛
که میان دو الوار بسته شده
و نگاهی بهاطراف هم نمیتواند کند
و زندگانیاش سراسر حمالیست...
آدمی چه؟ آیا آدمی پر اندوه نیست؟
اگر زیادی تنها سَر کند،
اگر خیال کند همهچیز بهسر رسیده،
آدمی هم چیز غمباریست.
...
کتاب بازمانده، برگزیدهای است از سرودههای پریمو لِوی (۱۹۱۹–۱۹۸۷)، نویسنده و شیمیدان ایتالیایی، که از بازماندگان آشویتس و شاهد تاریکترین روزهای سدهی بیستم بود.
سرِ وقت مجبور به ترک ایستگاه است،
فقط یک صدا میدهد
و بهیک مسیر میرود.
هیچچیز غمینتر از قطار نیست...
به جز اسب گاریکش؛
که میان دو الوار بسته شده
و نگاهی بهاطراف هم نمیتواند کند
و زندگانیاش سراسر حمالیست...
آدمی چه؟ آیا آدمی پر اندوه نیست؟
اگر زیادی تنها سَر کند،
اگر خیال کند همهچیز بهسر رسیده،
آدمی هم چیز غمباریست.
...
کتاب بازمانده، برگزیدهای است از سرودههای پریمو لِوی (۱۹۱۹–۱۹۸۷)، نویسنده و شیمیدان ایتالیایی، که از بازماندگان آشویتس و شاهد تاریکترین روزهای سدهی بیستم بود.
Read
December 19, 2023The last unread volume of my 50 book Penguin set, I have tried multiple times to read these poems. I think they are good but I'm not able to absorb them. 2023 is not the year for me to become a poetry convert! Interestingly, decades ago, I frequently read poetry. One of my favorite activities was lighting a cigarette and losing myself in a poem. Perhaps the cigarette was an integral part of the ritual? I'm certainly not taking up smoking again....
July 4, 2020
'Once more he sees his companions' faces
Livid in the first faint light,
Gray with cement dust,
Nebulous in the mist,
Tinged with death in their uneasy sleep.
At night, under the heavy burden
Of their dreams, their jaws move,
Chewing a non-existant turnip.
'Stand back, leave me alone, submerged people,
Go away. I haven't dispossessed anyone,
Haven't usurped anyone's bread.
No one died in my place. No one.
Go back into your mist.
It's not my fault if I live and breathe,
Eat, drink, sleep and put on clothes'
Read
June 28, 202169th book of 2021.
I've never found a collection of Levi's poetry before, so was pleased, for once, that these small Penguin editions had published a small (very small) volume. As ever, talking about poetry is never really ideal, I don't think, compared to showing the poetry itself. So I'll do that. Levi is a great inspiration to me as a writer and as a man. He often has the title of the Writer, the Auschwitz Survivor, but I think remembering him as a wonderful Italian writer and poet alone should be exercised too. I've read several of his novels, If This is a Man, The Periodic Table, Moments of Reprieve and his posthumous short story collection. If you are looking for a place to enter his work, I would highly recommend the latter novel I listed above. Like his short stories, Levi's poem move in the autobiographical and the surreal.
The best poem in the collection is the titular poem, tight with survivor's guilt. All capitalisations are as they are in the poem.
I've never found a collection of Levi's poetry before, so was pleased, for once, that these small Penguin editions had published a small (very small) volume. As ever, talking about poetry is never really ideal, I don't think, compared to showing the poetry itself. So I'll do that. Levi is a great inspiration to me as a writer and as a man. He often has the title of the Writer, the Auschwitz Survivor, but I think remembering him as a wonderful Italian writer and poet alone should be exercised too. I've read several of his novels, If This is a Man, The Periodic Table, Moments of Reprieve and his posthumous short story collection. If you are looking for a place to enter his work, I would highly recommend the latter novel I listed above. Like his short stories, Levi's poem move in the autobiographical and the surreal.
Buna
Wounded feet and cursed earth,
The line long in the grey mornings.
Buna's thousand chimneys smoke,
A day like every other day awaits us.
The sirens are terrific in the dawn:
'You, multitude with wasted faces,
Another day of suffering begins
On the monotonous horror of the mud.'
I see you in my heart, exhausted comrade;
Suffering comrade, I can read your eyes.
In your breast you have cold hunger nothing
The last courage has been broken in you.
Grey companion, you were a strong man,
A woman travelled next to you.
Empty comrade who has no more name,
A desert who has no more tears,
So poor that you have no more pain,
So exhausted you have no more fear,
Spent man who was a strong man once:
If we were to meet again
Up in the sweet world under the sun,
With what face would we confront each other?
The best poem in the collection is the titular poem, tight with survivor's guilt. All capitalisations are as they are in the poem.
The Survivor
To B.V.
Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns:
And till his ghastly tale is told,
His heart within him burns.
He sees his comrades' faces
livid at first light,
grey with cement dust,
Vague in the mist,
Dyed by death in their restless sleep:
At night they grind their jaws
Under the heavy burden of their dreams
Chewing a nonexistent turnip.
'Back, away from here, drowned people,
Go. I haven't stolen anyone's place,
I haven't usurped the bread of anyone,
No one died for me. No one.
Go back to your haze.
It's not my fault if I live and breathe
And eat and drink and sleep and put on clothes.
May 23, 2021
A beautiful poetry collection from one of the twentieth century's most powerful writers, Holocaust survivor Primo Levi. Other than this, I've only read Moments of Reprieve and A Tranquil Star, so this has reminded me to dive back into Levi again at the earliest opportunity. He truly is a master of language. It is both raw and beautiful. My two favourite poems happened to be the first and the last in the collection, 'Buna' and 'Airport' respectively. I'll quote my favourite fragments below. It felt like a journey through Levi's extraordinary life reading this, as the poems have been ordered chronologically, from 1945 to 1985 (two years before his death in '87). To me, the closing stanzas of 'Airport' hum with a deeper meaning of the frailty and intense beauty of life itself.
I see you in my heart, exhausted comrade;
Suffering comrade, I can read your eyes.
In your breast you have cold hunger nothing
The last courage has been broken in you.
Grey companion, you were a strong man,
A woman travelled next to you.
Empty comrade who has no more name,
A desert who has no more tears,
So poor that you have no more pain,
So exhausted you have no more fear,
Spent man who was a strong man once:
If we were to meet again
Up in the sweet world under the sun,
With what face would we confront each other?
(taken from 'Buna', 1945)
It taxis, accelerates, gathers power,
Lifts off, and suddenly is raised into the sky
Body and soul: our bodies and souls.
Are we worthy of Assumption?
Now it flies into the purple twilight
Over the ice of nameless seas
Or above a mantle of dark clouds,
As if this planet of ours
Had hidden its face in shame.
Now it's flying with dull thuds
Almost as if someone were driving piles
Into the Stygian swamp;
Now along soft,
Smoothed tracks of air.
The night is without sleep, but brief,
Brief the way no night has ever been:
Light and carefree like a first night.
(taken from 'Airport', 1985)
I see you in my heart, exhausted comrade;
Suffering comrade, I can read your eyes.
In your breast you have cold hunger nothing
The last courage has been broken in you.
Grey companion, you were a strong man,
A woman travelled next to you.
Empty comrade who has no more name,
A desert who has no more tears,
So poor that you have no more pain,
So exhausted you have no more fear,
Spent man who was a strong man once:
If we were to meet again
Up in the sweet world under the sun,
With what face would we confront each other?
(taken from 'Buna', 1945)
It taxis, accelerates, gathers power,
Lifts off, and suddenly is raised into the sky
Body and soul: our bodies and souls.
Are we worthy of Assumption?
Now it flies into the purple twilight
Over the ice of nameless seas
Or above a mantle of dark clouds,
As if this planet of ours
Had hidden its face in shame.
Now it's flying with dull thuds
Almost as if someone were driving piles
Into the Stygian swamp;
Now along soft,
Smoothed tracks of air.
The night is without sleep, but brief,
Brief the way no night has ever been:
Light and carefree like a first night.
(taken from 'Airport', 1985)
September 25, 2018
I have read some of Levi's non-fiction in the past, but had no idea that he had written any poetry until I picked up The Survivor, the forty-eighth book on the Penguin Moderns list. The blurb notes: 'From the writer who bore witness to the twentieth century's darkest days, these verses of beauty and horror include the poem that inspired the title of his memoir, If This is a Man.' All of the poetry collected in The Survivor has been taken from Collected Poems, which was first published in 1988, one year after Levi's death, and have been translated from their original Italian by Jonathan Galassi.
I imagined, quite rightly, that the poetry collected here would be rather hard-hitting. The majority of these poems are haunted by Levi's experiences of the Holocaust, and his imprisonment in Auschwitz. Throughout, Levi's words and imagery are evocative and heartfelt, and there is a questioning and searching element to each of his poems. The collection is poignant and incredibly dark. Much of the imagery here is chilling; in 'Shema', for instance, he writes:
'Consider if this is a woman,
With no hair and no name
With no more strength to remember
With empty eyes and a womb as cold
As a frog in winter.'
There is an overarching sense throughout the collection, however, of looking forward rather than back, and of not losing hope. I found Levi's spirit remarkable; even in his darkest days, he is able to picture his future. In 'After R.M. Rilke', he says:
'We'll spend the hours at our books,
Or writing letters to far away,
Long letters from our solitude;
And we'll pace up and down the avenues,
Restless, while the leaves fall.'
The Survivor is an incredibly memorable collection, and one which I will certainly revisit in future.
I imagined, quite rightly, that the poetry collected here would be rather hard-hitting. The majority of these poems are haunted by Levi's experiences of the Holocaust, and his imprisonment in Auschwitz. Throughout, Levi's words and imagery are evocative and heartfelt, and there is a questioning and searching element to each of his poems. The collection is poignant and incredibly dark. Much of the imagery here is chilling; in 'Shema', for instance, he writes:
'Consider if this is a woman,
With no hair and no name
With no more strength to remember
With empty eyes and a womb as cold
As a frog in winter.'
There is an overarching sense throughout the collection, however, of looking forward rather than back, and of not losing hope. I found Levi's spirit remarkable; even in his darkest days, he is able to picture his future. In 'After R.M. Rilke', he says:
'We'll spend the hours at our books,
Or writing letters to far away,
Long letters from our solitude;
And we'll pace up and down the avenues,
Restless, while the leaves fall.'
The Survivor is an incredibly memorable collection, and one which I will certainly revisit in future.
March 6, 2025
Penguin Modern 48/50
(Reading them in order)
The best poetry collection in the Penguin Modern boxset series I think! Even though there were many amazing poets not in the series, so perhaps not the best indicator of the best 20th century poetry. It is not as passionate or warm as I like from poems, but definitely more measured and visual than most poems. Primo Levi writes well and is maybe underrepresented next to Saul Bellow and Philip Roth as a great Jewish writer, as his capability in poetry here is as strong as his memoir. I wish it was more passionate and varied but it is declarative and aims at a message and I value that decisiveness. Reads very much like his major work If This Is A Man, as it has the same gravity and seriousness of an Auschwitz survivor story, and I appreciate that. I like lighthearted love poems, but I also love these heavy dark poems, and both seem rare things in the current literary era we are in where contemporary poetry is in my opinion mostly too literal, simple, unexpressive, and dishonest with respect to the lived experience of the writer.
Favourite poem: Monday
(Reading them in order)
The best poetry collection in the Penguin Modern boxset series I think! Even though there were many amazing poets not in the series, so perhaps not the best indicator of the best 20th century poetry. It is not as passionate or warm as I like from poems, but definitely more measured and visual than most poems. Primo Levi writes well and is maybe underrepresented next to Saul Bellow and Philip Roth as a great Jewish writer, as his capability in poetry here is as strong as his memoir. I wish it was more passionate and varied but it is declarative and aims at a message and I value that decisiveness. Reads very much like his major work If This Is A Man, as it has the same gravity and seriousness of an Auschwitz survivor story, and I appreciate that. I like lighthearted love poems, but I also love these heavy dark poems, and both seem rare things in the current literary era we are in where contemporary poetry is in my opinion mostly too literal, simple, unexpressive, and dishonest with respect to the lived experience of the writer.
Favourite poem: Monday
February 22, 2023
It was… fine I suppose. Didn’t really know what I was reading. Perhaps I was too tired
December 1, 2020
A hit-and-miss short collection of Levi's poetry whose sublime beauty with words occasionally leap from this mini book's pages (Get Up, To The Valley, Heart of Wood). Whenever it doesn't impress, it feels distant which is perhaps a shortcoming due to the translation. A lot of biblical references from here to there, some inspired by T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland, Levi sketches the horrifying events of WWII, the lasting emotional and psychological corollary against spiritual-seeking moments within the transience and sorrow of our existence.
One that has struck ——
Monday
What is sadder than a train?
That leaves on time,
That only makes one sound,
That only goes one way.
Nothing's sadder than a train.
Unless it is a cart horse.
It's locked between two poles.
I can't even look askance.
Its whole life is plodding.
And a man? Isn't a man sad?
If he lives alone for long
If he thinks time is over,
A mans's a sad thing, too.
One that has struck ——
Monday
What is sadder than a train?
That leaves on time,
That only makes one sound,
That only goes one way.
Nothing's sadder than a train.
Unless it is a cart horse.
It's locked between two poles.
I can't even look askance.
Its whole life is plodding.
And a man? Isn't a man sad?
If he lives alone for long
If he thinks time is over,
A mans's a sad thing, too.
Read
March 26, 2022Really interesting little poetry collection that discusses war, peace, religion and a host of other topics. The author was a prisoner at Auschwitz and his experience definitely comes through in his poems. I liked how easy the themes were to understand, you didn't have to know obscure literary references to decode the metaphors used. Levi's style seems to be quite to the point which I enjoyed, although I do personally prefer poetry that has some rhyming to it which none of these did. One of my favourites was 'The Girl of Pompeii' which has some clear references to WWII:
The Dutch girl imprisoned by four walls
Who wrote of her youth without tomorrows.
Her silent ash was scattered by the wind,
Her brief life shut in a crumpled notebook.
Nothing remains of the Hiroshima schoolgirl,
A shadow printed on a wall by the light of a thousand suns.
I also really liked 'Still to Do' which I believe is a contemplation of suicide, which is ruled out due to the commitments and people that would be left behind. An extract:
And tell my lovely heart,
That mediocre musician with no rhythm:
'After 2.6 billion heartbeats
You must be tired, too; thank you, it's enough.'
The Dutch girl imprisoned by four walls
Who wrote of her youth without tomorrows.
Her silent ash was scattered by the wind,
Her brief life shut in a crumpled notebook.
Nothing remains of the Hiroshima schoolgirl,
A shadow printed on a wall by the light of a thousand suns.
I also really liked 'Still to Do' which I believe is a contemplation of suicide, which is ruled out due to the commitments and people that would be left behind. An extract:
And tell my lovely heart,
That mediocre musician with no rhythm:
'After 2.6 billion heartbeats
You must be tired, too; thank you, it's enough.'
July 27, 2021
I'll be honest: this is a difficult one to rate. I had heard a lot about Primo Levi, so when I had the chance to pick yet another Penguin Modern (my current obsession for shallow reasons), I chose this. Perhaps my expectations were based on a few beautiful lines I had read hastily before placing this on the pile of books I was taking home.
The collection definitely has poems I will revisit, but the majority of them didn't really move me. They were so dull that I read them like a grocery list. Maybe the translation isn't the best? I bet reading the original poems is an emotional journey. It's also possible and most likely that some things sound better in the original language and even the greatest of translators wouldn't be able to bring that out in another language.
I haven't given up on Levi's works yet. I'm sure I'll pick up his prose at some point. This collection is just not the perfect introduction to him.
The collection definitely has poems I will revisit, but the majority of them didn't really move me. They were so dull that I read them like a grocery list. Maybe the translation isn't the best? I bet reading the original poems is an emotional journey. It's also possible and most likely that some things sound better in the original language and even the greatest of translators wouldn't be able to bring that out in another language.
I haven't given up on Levi's works yet. I'm sure I'll pick up his prose at some point. This collection is just not the perfect introduction to him.
March 24, 2018
Many years ago, I read If this is a man by Primo Levi and it’s haunted me ever since. This book of his poetry is equally effective and visceral. I’ve already re-read some of them because they deserve to be read over and over again. His words are sometimes angry and bitter but never unnecessary. Like his memoir, this will stick with me. I’ve not given it 5 stars because I personally found the earlier poems more powerful but the later ones are still worthy.
December 2, 2023
#bookreview
The Survivor by Primo Levi
Translated poetry baffles me
On the intent of its creation.
At max it conveys the plotline
Albeit what's in a poetry
Without its essence of wordplay.
A body without soul,
A soul without body.
Pardon me for this blasphemy,
Yet again for a good author.
P.S. : यह बंदर अदरक का हकदार नहीं है।
P.P.S: If I omit the full stops,
And leave the sentence dangling,
Does it becomes poetry?
The Survivor by Primo Levi
Translated poetry baffles me
On the intent of its creation.
At max it conveys the plotline
Albeit what's in a poetry
Without its essence of wordplay.
A body without soul,
A soul without body.
Pardon me for this blasphemy,
Yet again for a good author.
P.S. : यह बंदर अदरक का हकदार नहीं है।
P.P.S: If I omit the full stops,
And leave the sentence dangling,
Does it becomes poetry?
December 27, 2022
some really great poems in here! I liked that the last one was airport - quite fitting.
my favourites so i can remember: Feb 11 1946, The girl of pompeii, unfinished business, A bridge, The survivor, Dust
my favourites so i can remember: Feb 11 1946, The girl of pompeii, unfinished business, A bridge, The survivor, Dust
December 13, 2023
I didn’t know what this book was about. After realizing it was about the Holocaust, I couldn’t help but think: never again means never again for anyone.
The poetry was incredibly sad. I don’t think I was in the right head space to read this.
The poetry was incredibly sad. I don’t think I was in the right head space to read this.
July 27, 2023
"February 11, 1946" changed my life
April 15, 2018
The Survivor is a collection of Primo Levi's poems taken from Collected Poems , ranging from 1945 with his poem Buna about the factory he was imprisoned and forced to work in, to 1985 towards the end of his life.
This is a strong collection of poems, but like any collection it ranges between weaker and stronger ones. The major themes are of life and death, the universe, stars, freedom and imprisonment, the big bang, love, war, religion, tragedy and myth. But some of his poems move away from these huge themes and tackle minute details, such as a singular old oak tree, a line of carts moving towards and village, or the appearance of an old boat in the harbour.
These poems are infused with lyricism, and some of theme have alliteration and half-rhymes in abundance, which is my particular weakness with poetry. Here are a selection of my favourite poems and passages:
- To The Valley
- Excerpts from Autobiography
- Excerpt from In Mothballs
This is a strong collection of poems, but like any collection it ranges between weaker and stronger ones. The major themes are of life and death, the universe, stars, freedom and imprisonment, the big bang, love, war, religion, tragedy and myth. But some of his poems move away from these huge themes and tackle minute details, such as a singular old oak tree, a line of carts moving towards and village, or the appearance of an old boat in the harbour.
These poems are infused with lyricism, and some of theme have alliteration and half-rhymes in abundance, which is my particular weakness with poetry. Here are a selection of my favourite poems and passages:
The carriages trundle toward the valley,
Smoke from the brush hangs blue and bitter,
A bee, the last one, pointlessly noses the autumn crocuses;
Slow, waterlogged, the landslides shudder.
Mist rises quickly among the larches, as if called:
I've followed it in vain with my heavy, fleshy step,
Soon it will fall again as rain: the season's over,
Our half of the world wends toward winter.
And soon all our season will be over:
How long will these good limbs of mine obey me?
It's grown late to live and love,
To see into the sky and understand the world.
It's time to go down
To the valley, with shut, silent faces,
To shelter in the shadows of our troubles.
- To The Valley
I'm old like the world, I who speak to you.
[...]
I swilled salt with a thousand infinitesimal throats;
I was a fish, sleek and fast. I avoided traps,
I showed my young the sidewise tracks of the carb.
[...]
I sang to the moon the liquid song of the toad,
And my hunger perforated wood.
[...]
- Excerpts from Autobiography
Late and alone an old keel rocks,
Among the many new ones, in the slicked,
Oil-iridescent water of the harbor.
Its wood is leprous, its iron rusty orange.
Its hull knocks blind against the dock, obese
Like a belly pregnant with nothing.
Under the water's surface
You see soft seaweed, and the slow, slow drills
Of teredos and stubborn barnacles.
On the torrid deck, white splotches
Of calcined gull guano,
Tar oxidized by sun, and useless paint
And brown stains, I'm afriad, of human excrement,
With spider lines of salt; I didn't know
Spiders too nestled
in mothballed ships.
[...]
- Excerpt from In Mothballs
June 4, 2020
I read in English but this review is in Bahasa Indonesia
Nama Primo Levi sempat disebut oleh Ursula K Le Guin dalam esainya di buku Utopia. Aku teringat bahwa aku punya judul dalam serial Penguin Modern yang ditulis oleh Primo Levi. Tanpa banyak berpikir, aku coba membacanya.
Pada The Survivor, Levi menumpahkan isi hatinya dalam bentuk puisi. Total ada 38 puisi yang memperlihatkan bagaimana Levi berusaha bertahan hidup dari beragam cobaan. Buatku yang belum tahu siapakah Levi dan bagaimana kisahnya, membaca puisi-puisi mereka membuatku menduga bahwa Levi mengalami nestapa akibat peperangan. Bagaimana ia menorehkan rasa sedih ke dalam diksi seperti terasa. Namun di satu sisi, ada kesan indah.
Ada beberapa puisi yang menggunakan bahasa asing seperti bahasa Jerman dan istilah dalam keyakinan Yahudi. Editor buku ini telah berbaik hati memberikan catatan kaki untuk mempermudah pembaca dalam memahami puisi Levi. Tapi bagiku, untuk teman-teman yang belum familiar dengan istilah dalam keyakinan Yahudi, agaknya perlu usaha tambahan seperti mencari definisinya melalui mesin pencari Google. Selebihnya, tulisan Levi bisa dikunyah secara perlahan.
A day is nothing but a day;
And seven of them make a week.
Killing was something wrong to us;
Dying, something far away.
Nama Primo Levi sempat disebut oleh Ursula K Le Guin dalam esainya di buku Utopia. Aku teringat bahwa aku punya judul dalam serial Penguin Modern yang ditulis oleh Primo Levi. Tanpa banyak berpikir, aku coba membacanya.
Pada The Survivor, Levi menumpahkan isi hatinya dalam bentuk puisi. Total ada 38 puisi yang memperlihatkan bagaimana Levi berusaha bertahan hidup dari beragam cobaan. Buatku yang belum tahu siapakah Levi dan bagaimana kisahnya, membaca puisi-puisi mereka membuatku menduga bahwa Levi mengalami nestapa akibat peperangan. Bagaimana ia menorehkan rasa sedih ke dalam diksi seperti terasa. Namun di satu sisi, ada kesan indah.
Ada beberapa puisi yang menggunakan bahasa asing seperti bahasa Jerman dan istilah dalam keyakinan Yahudi. Editor buku ini telah berbaik hati memberikan catatan kaki untuk mempermudah pembaca dalam memahami puisi Levi. Tapi bagiku, untuk teman-teman yang belum familiar dengan istilah dalam keyakinan Yahudi, agaknya perlu usaha tambahan seperti mencari definisinya melalui mesin pencari Google. Selebihnya, tulisan Levi bisa dikunyah secara perlahan.
March 19, 2024
February 11, 1946
by Primo Levi
"I looked for you in the stars
When as a child I questioned them.
I asked the mountains for you
But all they gave me were a few moments
of solitude and short-lived peace.
Since you weren't there, those long evenings
I contemplated the mad blasphemy
That the world was one of God's mistakes,
And I was one of the world's.
But when, in the face of death,
I shouted no with every fiber,
That I wasn't through,
That I still had too much to do,
It was because you were there in front of me,
You with me beside you, as today,
A man a woman under the sun.
I came back because you were there."
by Primo Levi
"I looked for you in the stars
When as a child I questioned them.
I asked the mountains for you
But all they gave me were a few moments
of solitude and short-lived peace.
Since you weren't there, those long evenings
I contemplated the mad blasphemy
That the world was one of God's mistakes,
And I was one of the world's.
But when, in the face of death,
I shouted no with every fiber,
That I wasn't through,
That I still had too much to do,
It was because you were there in front of me,
You with me beside you, as today,
A man a woman under the sun.
I came back because you were there."
August 28, 2018
Some pretty good poetry here, really. I don’t know a huge amount about Primo Levi, but I did enjoy the poems that were in the collection. I’d read more, but I doubt I’ll actively seek it out. We’ll see.
January 18, 2020
"Don't deride me, then, men of Agrigento,
If this old body is engraved with strange signs."
I'm usually not a great lover of poetry, but this short collection was really raw and beautiful. "The Girl of Pompeii" is the first poem ever I couldn't stop re-reading because it just hit so deeply.
If this old body is engraved with strange signs."
I'm usually not a great lover of poetry, but this short collection was really raw and beautiful. "The Girl of Pompeii" is the first poem ever I couldn't stop re-reading because it just hit so deeply.
November 4, 2025
“(…)
It’s grown late to live and love,
To see into the sky and understand the world.
It’s time to go down
To the valley, with shut, silent faces,
To shelter in the shadows of our troubles.”
september 5, 1979
It’s grown late to live and love,
To see into the sky and understand the world.
It’s time to go down
To the valley, with shut, silent faces,
To shelter in the shadows of our troubles.”
september 5, 1979
November 30, 2021
Spectacular!
October 19, 2023
I personally preferred the earlier poems.
February 25, 2024
My kind of poems - telling a very miniature story in each one, concocting vivid imagery. Levi in particular succeeds in creating an underlying sense of unease and introspection in virtually every one, but always with even the faintest light of hope.
December 25, 2024
this is some of the best poetry i’ve ever read, i underlined more than 50% of the words. i love it. idk how i haven’t read more Primo Levi but I will be now obsessed
February 24, 2022
New insights into poetry.
It's hard for me to rate this little anthology of poems without an historical bias.
It was fascinating to read these poems from someone who wrote these lines a year after the liberation from Auschwitz. The poems have a different tone to them, a certain mood is radiated that I have seldom caught in such direct and toneless poems.
While the poems are certainly not technically phenomenal, there is something else about them, that blunt and informational makeup is a stylistic device in itself that Levi has almost mastered here.
What also fascinated me is the comparison of his poems from 46 and a few years later, you can feel an evolution in the way he expresses himself.
I especially liked “February 11, 1946”.
It's hard for me to rate this little anthology of poems without an historical bias.
It was fascinating to read these poems from someone who wrote these lines a year after the liberation from Auschwitz. The poems have a different tone to them, a certain mood is radiated that I have seldom caught in such direct and toneless poems.
While the poems are certainly not technically phenomenal, there is something else about them, that blunt and informational makeup is a stylistic device in itself that Levi has almost mastered here.
What also fascinated me is the comparison of his poems from 46 and a few years later, you can feel an evolution in the way he expresses himself.
I especially liked “February 11, 1946”.
June 24, 2018
Wow! What a writer. This collection follows the poet from early writings in his twenties, shortly after his release from a concentration camp, to his writing as an old(er) man. The painful early writing struggles to make sense of the horror he has survived; the later ones still bear the scars but also testify to a life that refused to be stolen.
Incredibly powerful and skilled poetry too.
Incredibly powerful and skilled poetry too.
Read
June 29, 2023“I wouldn’t disturb the universe.”
March 1, 2021
Felt like reading some poetry and Primo Levi is great. Whilst some of the poems are better than other the descriptiveness of his language and his ability to note minute details is really interesting. The poetry stemming from his experiences of the Holocaust are captivating and haunting at the same time - definitely a must read and his writing and experiences are very unique.
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