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If This Is a Man / The Truce cover art

If This Is a Man / The Truce

By: Primo Levi, Stuart Woolf - translator
Narrated by: Henry Goodman
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Summary

Translated by Stuart Woolf.

'With the moral stamina and intellectual poise of a twentieth-century Titan, this slightly built, dutiful, unassuming chemist set out systematically to remember the German hell on earth, steadfastly to think it through, and then to render it comprehensible in lucid, unpretentious prose. He was profoundly in touch with the minutest workings of the most endearing human events and with the most contemptible. What has survived in Levi's writing isn't just his memory of the unbearable, but also, in The Periodic Table and The Wrench, his delight in what made the world exquisite to him. He was himself a magically endearing man, the most delicately forceful enchanter I've ever known.' (Philip Roth)

©2014 Primo Levi (P)2014 Hachette Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"The death of Primo Levi robs Italy of one of its finest writers...One of the few survivors of the Holocaust to speak of his experiences with a gentle voice." ( The Guardian)
"A life-changing book." ( Daily Express
"One of the greatest human testaments of the era." (Philip Roth)

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What listeners say about If This Is a Man / The Truce

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  • Overall
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A book everyone should read, with great narration

An outstanding autobiography, written very matter of factly but with beautiful emotion. I find that most books written about the holocaust put a lot of focus on the perpetrators, while this is a very human and very sad recollection of Levi's time in the camp which dwells on his story and those of the other remarkable people around him.
It is a book which I always recommend to others as it is not only an interesting history but a beautifully written one.

The narrator conveys the at times quite detached way in which Levi writes, but also brings great emotion when appropriate.

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Powerfully moving

The story of one man of many's ordeal. Important that we still keep remembering and learning so that we don't allow hatred of a race to decimate the world again.

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Superb

If you only read/listen to one book about the Holocaust, let it be this one. Honest, measured, humane, beautifully observed and written. Also read The Truce, the story of Primo Levi’s return journey home. These books are for everyone - they were set texts for my undergrad students, who always appreciated them. This audible version is excellent - Henry Goodman’s narration is superb. Primo Levi added a postscript that answered frequently-asked questions; it would have been helpful for many listeners if that afterword were also included in this audio version.

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A unique...

gripping and informative story in these two books. The narrator was very good as well.

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insightful moving stories, superbly narrated

a superb classic of survival, brilliantly translated and sensitively narrated with changes of tone and emphasis

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Beautiful writing brought to life by excellent narration

Levi's writing style is often clear and profound in equal measure. I found myself blindsided many times by his ability to cut through the chaff and hit straight upon the heart of the matter. The narration is expertly done. The cadence and rhythm of the narrator alongside the personality of accents renders the memoir vivacious.

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Everyone must read this book and know the truth x

Everyone must read this book to understand what happened from the perspective of a good and honest man, at times this is very hard to listen to, but a story like this is not meant to be enjoyable, it is meant to let us collectively remember, so we always know this is wrong, and there is joy in knowing you do not have to experience such atrocities x

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Full humanity

Great performance by Henry Goodman. Feeling the pain and the truce. Tragic history one of millions untold.

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Great stuff

What made the experience of listening to If This Is a Man / The Truce the most enjoyable?

The story, the narration was excellent also.
You get two books in one here. One in the camp, then the second the journey from being liberated To his home.
I thought I would not enjoy the second part as much, but it turned out to be so interesting, especially because of the schemes and tricks they use to survive.

What was one of the most memorable moments of If This Is a Man / The Truce?

For me it was when he goes to the markets in Poland to get eggs and tries to impress someone with a trick.

What does Henry Goodman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Not sure, I think I would have pronounced some of the names wrong.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book is quite moving. It's also funny, so don't assume this book is completely depressing.

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  • EG
  • 19-06-21

powerful and absorbing.

A very moving and powerful account, beautifully read, and in which there is much to reflect on.

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