Other People's Trades

by Primo Levi

Levi writes on a variety of subjects, always of interest, always lucid, and always literary

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, Italy, Short Stories, Biography, Jewish

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Primo 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.

Reviews

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are newspaper articles, collected over a period of time and published in English for the first time in 1989. It was remaining unread on my shelf for quite some years, and resurfaced lately as I was rearranging my library.

Since Levi writes on all subjects under the sun (predominantly literature and science, however), it was a pretty mixed bag for me. I loved some of the essays, others I found so-so, and some put me to sleep. I daresay that all readers will have a similar experience; maybe the pieces which work would be different.

The translation also is rather cumbersome.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book of 43 collected essays, wonderfully written by Primo Levi. Focusing on various topics while providing his amazing perceptions, those that might not be easily thought by many of us, they bring out the wonder and the class of things that are in existence! The marvels and phenomenons described in the book are quite optimistic in nature. For them having delighted me to a large degree, being thankful to the late writer here is the least that I can do.

Some of the topics he writes about are:
His house
Butterflies
Starry skies
The wonder of Beetles
On different types of receptacles
The relation between the moon and us (which was published just eight days before the moon landings in 1969)
Inventing original animals (unlike as in mythologies)
The essence of the jumps of the flea
Frogs
The world of the living invisible
His grandfather's store that sold fabrics
On why does one write
Education in Judaism, and Yiddish
The word-processor
The birds as the most joyful creatures in the world
Wood as a material
The language of the chemists
Strange data
On the surreal aspects of writing a novel
Books that are dear to us
Electrical effects
Irritability of chess-players and poets
On the fear of spiders
Wax: its usage and origins
On obscure writing
On children's street and playground games
Studying in classrooms with the young
On a chemist as a writer
Signs and marks on stone
Against affliction of pain
Rituals in Judaism
Fear of creatures
Advice on writing

Levi writes on other people's and creature's trades, as well as his own, apart from events, various forms of occurrences and material objects. His writing style is such that he makes nearly everything interesting to read about.

I would rate about 85% of the essays here to be 5-stars, the remaining at 4-stars.
A great book. Fascinating and beautiful. Certainly recommended. :D

[Eliot Parulidae · Rating 5 out of 5]

If The Drowned and the Saved is the essay collection that represents Primo Levi at his darkest and most troubled, then Other People's Trades is the one that represents him at his happiest. It could reasonably be retitled The Primo Levi You Don't Know. In this book, Levi offers his Saganesque observations about science and nature, as well as reminiscences from his childhood, advice for young writers, and reflections on everything from the anthropology of children's games to the subtle pleasures of living in the same house for decades. I would be selling the essays short if I didn't note that a few of them conceal a jarring sting - his opinion that unclear writing is a symptom of mental illness, for instance, or the horror of the last paragraph of "Fear of Spiders" - but this primarily serves to add piquancy and depth. All in all, a fascinating trip into the mind of a man who had a scientific curiosity about everything under the sun and was determined to share his gift with the world.

[Alessandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primo Levi is a magnificent writer, and this book marked my discovery of his literary universe. Talking about different issues, as varied as butterflies, the moon, tadpoles and children´s toys, he manifests the same wit, and the same excellence in building up descriptions that hook you up to the book. His memory is also amazing, and multivariate. He describes the sounds, smells, and colors of his childhood, as if they were happening now. I guess I was lucky enough to start Primo Levi through this amazing book. It gives you sips, with the taste of a full cup.

[Lorenzo Berardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best present I received for my quarter of a century last birthday. Primo Levi taught me one fundamental rule: you must have something to write about before deciding to write.

[Stefano Sotgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raccolta di articoli pubblicati su La Stampa. Grandissima varietà nei temi: zoologia, linguistica, antropologia, chimica, ingegneria, astronomia, tutto sembrava interessare Primo Levi, e di ogni cosa scriveva con curiosità, rispetto, passione e precisione.

[Leka · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La fantasia opera per salti, nei tempi brevi, attraverso mutazioni radicali e rapide".

[Ela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi è piaciuto leggere questa raccolta di articoli scritti dalla mente brillante di Levi, chimico diventato scrittore. Ci si trova di tutto e in piccoli morsi, difficile resistervi.

[LS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly comfy stories

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, as expected-- drew it out to better enjoy it over time. A wide variety of very different short essays, some just really good, some utterly fantastic.

[VJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The breadth of Levi's interests is remarkable, but these essays didn't grab me the way his short stories do. Pressing on to The Periodic Table.

[Nathanial]

A posthumous collection of essays and magazine articles...

[Maurizio Manco · Rating 4 out of 5]

"È difficile compito di ogni uomo diminuire per quanto può la tremenda mole di questa «sostanza» che inquina ogni vita, il dolore in tutte le sue forme." (Contro il dolore, p. 48)

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pezzi brevi sul mondo, i lavori e le cose. Qualcuno arguto, qualcuno meno.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is formed from a collection of essays, or articles, most of which were previously published in the Turin newspaper La Stampa. They cover a whole manner of subjects from chemistry and science, astronomy, literature and memories of his childhood and youth. All of which display his deserved status of a Renaissance man.

The most charming and playful to read are the memoirs from his younger days especially Love's Erector Set, a story of romantic rivalry with his friend Carlo when he was eleven for the attention of the beautiful Lydia. Between them the boys had an almost complete Erector set, that is more or less Meccano for UK readers, and Primo wanted to build something that would impress Lydia. Being clever and a planner and plotter at heart, he decided to make a mechanical clock for her birthday. He succeeded to a point. It used a pendulum to move the single clock hand and couldn't really tell the time but to Primo it looked the part. When he showed it to Lydia her heartbreaking response was simply “What's it for?” and she turned smartly for the cake and real presents. His despair was worsened when she clearly loved Carlo's simple present: a packet of Nicaraguan postage stamps to add to her collection.

In The Scribe the author describes his decision to buy a word processor and become computer literate. Like so many of us, and I am certainly one, he is fascinated with a sense of wonder at what the machine can do but has absolutely no idea how it does it and has to hope that, now it is working, it never breaks down. I know how he felt.

The essays cover so many aspects of Primo Levi's world that it becomes quite breathtaking. His fear of spiders, François Rabelais, Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed, butterflies and beetles, constructing the right type of container for the right substance. It goes on and on, always fascinating and intriguing. A must read if ever there was.

[James Askari · Rating 3 out of 5]

The conceit of this essay collection is that Levi is making incursions on other experts' turf--zoologists, historians of Judaism, philologists; but this isn't really so--the information he commands is that of the well-read amateur and man of curiosity for whom he says he writes. At times this is not so mich a dilettantism as the mark of an educational formation that betrays its limitations or specificity: He plays chess but has not learnt the openings; he excuses Celan his 'obscurity' (that of the 'fate' of his generation), but not Pound. Some of the essays, originally newspaper columns in La Stampa, are close to book reviews--of Talmudic lore and proscriptions; of the Opies on children's games; of 'odd data' compiled by Houwink. There are autobiographical reminiscences of his time at an elite all-male liceo, where he is part of an informal fraternity who value natural philosophy and athletics. His rival (scarcely friend), who is of a less cultured background and from whom he is inseparable, bests him at every event but the 800m, in which they are evenly matched.

In the end I think we read for Levi, for his humanity, his good humour, the evenness of his temperament, and perhaps for his facts, though not in my case for his theories or mind.

[Yaotl Altan · Rating 4 out of 5]

El italiano Primo Levi es el autor de esta serie de minuciosas descripciones de diversos oficios: un escritor, un químico, un traductor, una ardilla, etc. Al ser traductor, evidentemente fue uno de los oficios cuya descripción más me gustó. Tomemos en cuenta que Levi muere en 1987, así que no alcanzó a ver el desarrollo de las computadoras actuales, por lo que es muy divertido leer lo que pensaba sobre el incipiente uso de las primeras computadoras para escribir. Creo que a todos nos pasó algo similar.

Levi imprime un estilo ágil al incorporar escenas de su infancia y juventud relacionadas con varios de los oficios. Me agrada cómo expande algo que pudiese ser descrito en uno o dos párrafos, y nos hace ver ángulos de análisis no considerados a simple vista.

Le asigno unas 4 estrellas de 5 posibles a El oficio ajeno, 254 páginas de Editorial El Aleph.

[Jonathan Hunsberger]

854.91 -
8 Literature
85 Italian, Romanian, and related Literatures
854 Italian Essays
854.9 1900-
854.91 20th century
Me walking through the nonfiction section of the library looking at travel books on one side, see the name Umberto Eco on the other. Briefly checking i see there are several collections of essays by him. I have read several of his novels and think he would write interesting essays so I choose one to check out. Right beside it is this intriguing cover illustration. The back cover blurb tells me this is a collection of essays by another interesting person, so I get it as well. Over the next few weeks I switch back and forth between the two books and enjoy them both immensely.
5 stars for physical libraries and the Melvil Decimal System! I don't feel qualified to assign a rating to this book, but I do recommend it to curious folk.

[Maria Chiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

libro piacevolissimo. credo si possano individuare categorie fondamentali cui appartengono gli articoli: scienza (sopratutto chimica, ma anche zoologia), linguistica, biografia, letteratura, e qualcosa sulla società. gli articoli sugli animali per me non sono stati molto interessanti, ma la maggioranza degli altri sì. i miei preferiti sono in particolare:
- ex chimico
- tornare a scuola
- perché si scrive?
- dello scrivere oscuro
- tradurre ed essere tradotti
- gli scacchisti irritabili
- un lungo duello

ma segnalo anche:
- aldous huxley
- contro il dolore
- il pungo di renzo
- il libro dei dati strani
- la forza dell'ambra
- il mondo invisibile
- il segno del chimico
- il teschio e l'orchidea
- l'eclissi dei profeti

[Vijay Raaghavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other People's Trades" by Primo Levi is a gem of a quick read. I stumbled upon it by chance, but once I made it past the first chapter, I was completely hooked—both my eyes and my imagination glued to every page.

It's one of those rare books that opens by thoughtfully setting the stage. Levi weaves imagery from butterflies and bumblebees to the vastness of a starry sky, effortlessly guiding you into the depths of his reflections on life, work, and the art of craftsmanship.

If you're naturally curious, this book deepens your understanding and admiration for the everyday trades of others in a way that feels both profound and practical.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great.

Best essays were on the house he spent most of his life in, his grandfather's shop in Turin (very charming), and a study on the international spread of spontaneous children's games (games that don't require an adult or any objects like balls or chalk or whatever).

Also essays on translation, writing, his profession as a chemist, Rabelais, Queneau, Alduous Huxley, butterflies, his fear of spiders, chimaeras, going back to school as an adult, the moon landing, that one Italian novel I can never remember the name of.

[incipit mania]

Incipit
Abito da sempre (con involontarie interruzioni) nella casa in cui sono nato......
L'altrui mestiere Incipitmania

[Gregoire Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

[Ava LeHebenstreit · Rating 2 out of 5]

you need to be interested in practically everything to keep up with this man. wow. i am more impressed with his vast knowledge as an individual

[Sanjana Rajagopal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the essays in this were excellent but a lot were actually disappointingly boring.

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

[Gili · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
כוכבים מעוגל למעלה
אוסף של מאמרים ותובנות מנושאים רבים ומגוונים.
כתיבה קולחת.
חלק מהנושאים באופן טבעי פחות מענינים

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t even know what to say about this book. By the time I reached the end, I felt like Primo and I were old friends. Being able to read about things that have interested him and the his view on the world made the whole reading experience very personal. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I wasn’t reading so much as I was getting to know someone.

Although Other People’s Trades was published thirty years ago (is it too much for me to think it serendipitous that this was published in the year of my birth?), with some of the essays originally published more than a decade prior to that, you can’t read this and not see our current society reflected. Of particular note are his reflections on how wasteful technology can be. In modern times it is the black hole otherwise known as the Internet, full of cats and people doing stupid things. In Primo’s time, it was his new word processor with inbuilt games (like chess):

“I did not want any games: I can produce trustworthy witnesses. I have owned a word processor for a whole year now; it has almost become part of my body, as happens with shoes, glasses, or dentures; I absolutely need it to write and file; but I did not want it to take me over, and so I did not want to let frivolous programmes into the house. The computer was supposed to be used for work, and that’s all. Instead the unforeseeable (or foreseeable) took place, I have received the gift of a programme for chess playing and have yielded to the sedcution.”

I especially enjoyed reading his thoughts on being a writer, and I think anyone who has had even the smallest thought of making a profession out of writing would benefit greatly from his thoughts on the matter. Even those who already consider it their profession would gain something.

Literature, science, the natural world, the man-made world: none escape the sight of Primo Levi. This book shows a man who was curious about everything around him and is honest in his assessment of things – and himself. I know there are books often described as having something for everyone, but this is genuinely one of those books. If you’ve ever had an interest in anything, then you should give Other People’s Trades a go; you’ll come away from it feeling enlightened and maybe a little bit better about your procrastination habits.

[Fabiola · Rating 5 out of 5]

'L'abitudine a penetrare la materia, a volerne sapere la composizione e struttura, a prevederne le proprietà e il comportamento, conduce ad un insight, ad un ambito mentale di concretezza e concisione, al desiderio costante di non fermarsi alla superficie delle cose. La chimica è l'arte di separare, pesare e distinguere: sono tre esercizi utili anche a chi si accinge a descrivere fatti o a dare corpo alla propria fantasia.'
.
La chimica trasmutata nel nuovo elemento della scrittura, la zoologia, la linguistica, i libri, l'astronomia: sono questi gli oggetti a cui si rivolgono l'attenzione e la curiosità enciclopedica di Primo Levi una volta in pensione. Si svela così un nuovo volto rispetto al Primo Levi superstite della Shoah: quello di persona curiosa con molteplici interessi 'non per edificarmi una cultura organica, ma per puro divertimento: il diletto incontaminato dei dilettanti'. Da cui appunto 'l'altrui mestiere'. Trovo molto calzante come lo definisce Domenico Starnone e cioè 'un nonno ideale', quello che racconta gli episodi di guerra, sì, ma anche quello che sa sempre rispondere a tutti i perché e ha sempre qualche aneddoto interessante e istruttivo. Un po' come tutti i nonni