Rating: 
Summary: Haunting and troubling
Review: Levi's final account of his year at Auschwitz is concise, to-the-point, and absolutely fascinating. Words simply cannot do it justice; even four decades after the camps were "liberated," Levi's experience during the war remains for him (and to us) an exposed nerve. While Levi is unremitting in his condemnation of the Nazis and those Germans who stood silently by as unthinkable atrocitites were committed in their backyards, this book is evidence of a mind that, up until the very end, was still probing, still trying to understand, still offering up meaningful and timely questions which every human being--regardless of age or nationality or religion--should seriously ponder. The most striking aspect of this short narrative is its utter sincerity--Levi does not reach for hyperbole (though it's hard to exaggerate the inhumanity of the concentration camps), nor does he meditate at length on abstruse philosophy; to the contrary, he is always painfully, even brutally, honest and straightforward. His death was a great tragedy, but his written legacy is an even greater triumph; The Drowned and the Saved should be required reading for all.
Rating:
Summary: Primo Levi's Enduring Considerations of Auschwitz
Review: Primo Levi is an extraordinary writer and thinker. His writing is elegant, his language precise. And the distinctions he makes throughout the book, differentiating between types of violence, for example, are vital and sharp. There is much that I loved about this book. The two crucial flaws I see, and these are all the worse considering his precision elsewhere, are a very dangerous anthropocentrism and a just as dangerous ethnocentrism. So far as the former, he consistently speaks of the Jews and others in the camps being treated as "animals." He doesn't see the irony of having been labeled a subhuman, and thus one who may be (according to the master race) slaughtered, and then using "animals" as a pejorative. Given that our culture is killing the planet because we perceive all nonhumans as "subhumans," this blindness on his part is dangerous. I probably could have forgiven him this had it been alone, but his ethnocentrism was really appalling. He consistently paints the Holocaust as Unique with a capital U, somehow underplaying the at least one hundred million Africans killed in the slave trade, the tens of millions of indigenous peoples killed in North America, the indigenous peoples being killed today because they're in the way of the "lebensraum" our culture wants, in fact the genocide that characterizes industrial civlization (for a thorough exploration of this, see anything by Ward Churchill, Lewis Mumford's Myth of the Machine, or Zygmunt Bauman's Modernity and the Holocaust). He mentions these other genocides, and seems to give them their due, but then a page later will somehow elevate the Holocaust above them. The ethnocentricity manifests in other ways, too. For example, he talks about how shameful it was to be stripped naked when they first arrived at the camps. He paints this picture vividly and horrifyingly. He should have stopped there, because in his analysis he says things like "Anyone who does not have [clothes] no longer perceives himself as a human being but rather as a worm: naked, slow, ignoble, prone on the ground." Well, no. Many cultures of indigenous peoples have had traditions where clothes meant little. His categorization would seem to include these indigenous peoples as "worms," or, once again, subhumans. If you can overlook these deep flaws, you can still learn much from this beautifully-written book.
Rating: 
Summary: extraordinary book, but with two crucial flaws
Review: Primo Levi is an extraordinary writer and thinker. His writing is elegant, his language precise. And the distinctions he makes throughout the book, differentiating between types of violence, for example, are vital and sharp. There is much that I loved about this book. The two crucial flaws I see, and these are all the worse considering his precision elsewhere, are a very dangerous anthropocentrism and a just as dangerous ethnocentrism. So far as the former, he consistently speaks of the Jews and others in the camps being treated as "animals." He doesn't see the irony of having been labeled a subhuman, and thus one who may be (according to the master race) slaughtered, and then using "animals" as a pejorative. Given that our culture is killing the planet because we perceive all nonhumans as "subhumans," this blindness on his part is dangerous. I probably could have forgiven him this had it been alone, but his ethnocentrism was really appalling. He consistently paints the Holocaust as Unique with a capital U, somehow underplaying the at least one hundred million Africans killed in the slave trade, the tens of millions of indigenous peoples killed in North America, the indigenous peoples being killed today because they're in the way of the "lebensraum" our culture wants, in fact the genocide that characterizes industrial civlization (for a thorough exploration of this, see anything by Ward Churchill, Lewis Mumford's Myth of the Machine, or Zygmunt Bauman's Modernity and the Holocaust). He mentions these other genocides, and seems to give them their due, but then a page later will somehow elevate the Holocaust above them. The ethnocentricity manifests in other ways, too. For example, he talks about how shameful it was to be stripped naked when they first arrived at the camps. He paints this picture vividly and horrifyingly. He should have stopped there, because in his analysis he says things like "Anyone who does not have [clothes] no longer perceives himself as a human being but rather as a worm: naked, slow, ignoble, prone on the ground." Well, no. Many cultures of indigenous peoples have had traditions where clothes meant little. His categorization would seem to include these indigenous peoples as "worms," or, once again, subhumans. If you can overlook these deep flaws, you can still learn much from this beautifully-written book.
Rating:
Summary: Encourages introspection
Review: Primo Levi suggests that perceiving the experiences of others is extremely difficult and grows more so as the distance in time, space, and quality increases. "We are prone to assimilate them to 'related' ones, as if the hunger in Auschwitz were the same as that of someone who has skipped a meal, or as if escape from Treblinka were similar to an esacpe from an ordinary jail."If you are now living in an affluent democratic society, the book leads you to wonder, "Would I recognize the warning signs? If I were a victim, would I descend into barbarism? If I were not, would I have the courage to speak on their behalf? Would I become a monster?"
Rating:
Summary: Encourages introspection
Review: Primo Levi suggests that perceiving the experiences of others is extremely difficult and grows more so as the distance in time, space, and quality increases. "We are prone to assimilate them to 'related' ones, as if the hunger in Auschwitz were the same as that of someone who has skipped a meal, or as if escape from Treblinka were similar to an esacpe from an ordinary jail." If you are now living in an affluent democratic society, the book leads you to wonder, "Would I recognize the warning signs? If I were a victim, would I descend into barbarism? If I were not, would I have the courage to speak on their behalf? Would I become a monster?"
Rating:
Summary: Primo Levi's Enduring Considerations of Auschwitz
Review: The Drowned and the Saved is the haunting last-word meditation of the late Primo Levi on his Auschwitz camp experience. Describing his 1987 work as a collection of "considerations" rather than distinct memories, the thoughtful Levi nevertheless attempts to maintain--as much as possible--the spirit of the Auschwitz truth inevitably eroded, enhanced, or otherwise altered by the passage of 40 years and the flaws of memory: He writes in the first chapter ("The Memory of the Offense") that this later work is still considerably informed by and in concert with the substantial Holocaust literature of the "submerged" (i.e, the perished) and the "saved" that has accumulated since the publication of his 1947 memoir Survival in Auschwitz. But Levi writes, the submerged are the true, albeit lost, witnesses. Only imperfect witness of the monstrous Holocaust experience is available from the saved, like himself. In The Drowned and the Saved, Levi provides a discerning and articulate exposition of the psychological and sociological peculiarities of the Auschwitz camp--ideas virtually unexplored in popular literature and movies. Throughout the work, he discusses the collective responsibility of nonvictims (in his view, the entire German population) and of the moral dilemmas that arose in a horribly victimized, imprisoned community that was wildly pluralistic (in nationality, language, religion, education, trade, and individual personality). (Tensions between the disparate concepts of collective and individual responsibilities are mostly implicitly explored and not fully crystallized, however, by the author.) Levi explains the complex hierarchy and moral "gray zone" among Auschwitz prisoners who severely compromised humanitarian considerations for fellow inmates and supported the camp's illogical infrastructure to improve survival. Deep anguish befell the unfortunate intellectual who attempted to make sense of his utterly nonsensical existence. In "Shame," "Communicating," and "Useless Violence," Levi expatiates the Nazi perpetration of its systematic dehumanization, from the moment of transport to complete demoralization entrenched shortly after arrival. The explanation is necessary for the contemporary reader to understand later the feelings of absurdity (or even offense) aroused in the Auschwitz survivor when faced with the external world's disbelief that escape and revolt were not often thought of, much less attempted. In Auschwitz, escape and revolt did occur, to be sure, but infrequently and more often among the better fed and less severely victimized prisoners who were multilingual (most were imprisoned in a foreign country). And failed attempts were invariably countered by the SS's extremely public and vicious brands of individual and general punishment. Levi concludes his reflective work by presenting selected letters from ignorant and/or apologetic Germans after publication of his 1947 memoir (which the reader is advised to read beforehand). Finally Levi warns of the repetition of a kind of Auschwitz, if the core memory of it and the German responsibility for it are not maintained. But even Levi's reflective considerations of this peculiar historical hell are difficult, if not impossible, for the contemporary reader without direct connection to the Holocaust to know fully or hold onto. Periodic re-reading of Levi's writing is therefore recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Never Again
Review: The message for all of mankind out of the Holocaust visited upon European Jews, gypsies and other assorted "undesirables" has to be: Never Again. Primo Levi did an immeasurable service to western civilization in documenting so eloquently and powerfully his reflections on the greatest crime in human history. A survivor of Auschwitz by a combination of luck and skill (documented with rare clarity and mundane, brutal honesty in Survival at Auschwitz and The Reawakening) Levi returned to his native Italy and his work as a chemist - but he could never forget the horror visited upon himself and millions of others in similar situations. We are fortunate that an intelligent, humanistic mind survived long enough to give us this reminder - Never Again. Sadly, as Levi recognized, even a lesson of this magnitude cannot be wholly learned when good people are willing to stand by and let evil be done. Pol Pot's excesses in Cambodia before Levi's death, the Serbians in ! the former Yugoslovia since Levi's death, are two more examples. In my mind, Levi's body of literature is the defining memorial to the Holocaust, with a greater effect than, for example, the Holocaust Memorial in Washington D.C. (which is actually not a memorial but a timed entry exhibition) or Spielberg's Schindler's List. The moral question - how could any society be responsible for such an unspeakable atrocity against God and their own humanity? - must be addressed with unflinching honesty and clarity. Levi asks that question from a rare vantage point. Sadly, all too few take the time to listen to the answer.
Rating:
Summary: Never Again
Review: The message for all of mankind out of the Holocaust visited upon European Jews, gypsies and other assorted "undesirables" has to be: Never Again. Primo Levi did an immeasurable service to western civilization in documenting so eloquently and powerfully his reflections on the greatest crime in human history. A survivor of Auschwitz by a combination of luck and skill (documented with rare clarity and mundane, brutal honesty in Survival at Auschwitz and The Reawakening) Levi returned to his native Italy and his work as a chemist - but he could never forget the horror visited upon himself and millions of others in similar situations. We are fortunate that an intelligent, humanistic mind survived long enough to give us this reminder - Never Again. Sadly, as Levi recognized, even a lesson of this magnitude cannot be wholly learned when good people are willing to stand by and let evil be done. Pol Pot's excesses in Cambodia before Levi's death, the Serbians in ! the former Yugoslovia since Levi's death, are two more examples. In my mind, Levi's body of literature is the defining memorial to the Holocaust, with a greater effect than, for example, the Holocaust Memorial in Washington D.C. (which is actually not a memorial but a timed entry exhibition) or Spielberg's Schindler's List. The moral question - how could any society be responsible for such an unspeakable atrocity against God and their own humanity? - must be addressed with unflinching honesty and clarity. Levi asks that question from a rare vantage point. Sadly, all too few take the time to listen to the answer.
Rating: 
Summary: I Don't Understand
Review: This book was assigned to me in a History class in college... I expected it to be fairly interesting, as the Holocaust is certainly worth studying, and this book has a good reputation. I think I can speak for my fellow students, as well as myself. What's all the hype? This book was one of the dryest works I've ever been assigned in school, and I struggled to finish it. Levi seems to offer nothing new on the topic, and in fact seems to get lost in half-remembered, or at least half-told, stories of his times in the camps that illuminated nothing. Despite Levi's supposed "respect" for each individual word, I cannot say that a single one in this book left me with any deeper understanding of the concentration camps or his struggles. And in saying this, I do not mean to belittle his experience, because I can only imagine what it was like. Unfortunately, this book didn't bring me any close to that imagining.
Rating:
Summary: A must for students of ethics
Review: This is a book that causes the reader to reconsider, reflect critically one's own views, marvel at the level of depravity to which humans can steep, and is one which I imagine should be a standard text in ethics courses.
But it also raises questions of memory and the mind"s ability to adjust, amend and retool. Mr Levi must stand as one of that sad century's most astonishing examples of positive human achievement .
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