The Mirror Maker
by Primo Levi
On This Page
Description
I hope the reader will be indulgent toward the extreme dispersion of themes, tones, and angles of approach that he will find in this collection. My justification is: the 'pieces' are situated in an arc of time that is close to a quarter of a century, the time of my almost total fidelity to LA STAMPA: and in twenty-five years many things change, inside us and around us. Furthermore, they are conditioned by my intrinsic libertinage, in part willed, in part due to the itinerary fate has show more reserved for me; I've drunk at various founts and breathed different airs, some salutary, others quite polluted . . . I'm a normal man with a good memory who fell into a maelstrom and got out of it more by luck than by virtue, and who from that time on has preserved a certain curiosity about maelstroms large and small, metaphorical and actual. From Primo Levi's introduction to The Mirror Maker, his eloquent, witty and wise collection of short stories and essays. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Une jeune fille qui se voit pousser des ailes, un passe-muraille victime de ses dons, un fabricant qui invente un miroir capable de révéler ce que les autres voient réellement de vous... Les contes philosophiques ou fantastiques de Primo Levi alternent ici avec les récits de son enfance, des évocations d'Auschwitz où il fut interné de 1943 à 45 et des réflexions que lui suggèrent les sujets les plus divers : les rêves des cosmonautes, les alcools frelatés, les dangers de la recherche scientifique, le désarmement nucléaire. En 1986, un an avant son suicide, Primo Levi réunissait ces textes qu'il avait publiés à l'origine, sur un quart de siècle, dans le quotidien La Stampa.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
173+ Works 25,475 Members
Primo Levi was born on July 31, 1919 in Turin, Italy. He pursued a career in chemistry, and spent the early years World War II as a research chemist in Milan. Upon the German invasion of northern Italy, Levi, an Italian Jew, joined an anti-fascist group and was captured and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. He was able to survive show more the camp, due in part to his value to the Nazis as a chemist. After the war ended, Levi did chemistry work in a Turin paint factory while beginning his writing career. His first book, If This Is a Man (title later was changed to Survival in Auschwitz) was published in 1947 and its sequel, The Truce (later retitled The Reawakening) came out in 1958. These two books recount Levi's story of surviving concentration camp life. Levi also published poetry, short stories, and novels, some under the pen name Damianos Malabaila. His 1985, largely autobiographical work, The Periodic Table, cemented his world fame. Awards in tribute to his writing included the Kenneth B. Smilen fiction award, presented by the Jewish Museum in New York. Ironically, despite his surviving Auschwitz, Primo Levi appears to have died by suicide, in Turin on April 11, 1987. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Mirror Maker
- Original publication date
- 1986
- Important places*
- Turijn, Piëmont, Italië
- Disambiguation notice
- Original title: Racconti e Saggi
Unlike 'The mirror maker', 'De spiegelmaker' is not a straightforward translation of 'Racconti e saggi', but a selection from both 'Racconti e saggi' and 'L'altrui mestiere'. Please do not combine this work with The... (show all) Mirror Maker.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genre
- Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 853.914 — Literature & rhetoric Italian, Romanian & related literatures Italian fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999
- LCC
- PQ4872 .E8 .R313 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures Italian literature Individual authors, 1961-2000
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 348
- Popularity
- 91,274
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.67)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, French, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 3
