The Dramatisation of Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table
Primo Levi, an Italian Jew, was born in 1919. In 1939, he entered university – just in time – to study chemistry, as it was just before Mussolini’s racial laws, barred the Jews from entry.
He survived the horrors of Facist Italy and even the Auschwitiz death camp..
Yesterday, on Radio 4, Janet Suzman – introduced Primo Levi to us – in a captivating thirteen minute documentary.
The episode was an introduction to the following episodes, that will be dramatisations of his short stories.
In yesterday’s program we heared archive footage of Levi speaking, describing how he was captured and sent to Auschwitz along with another 650 ‘pieces’ as they were called..
When the Allies were nearing the camp, the Nazis made the remaining Auschwitz inmates march to their death, but by a querk of fate, Levi was left in the camp..
After the war he returned to his home town in Turin and resumed his life as a chemist. He published his first book in 1947 which was an account of his experience during the war, but the world wasn’t ready at that time to relive such trauma.
His most famous book called The Periodic Table, was written many years later, but with stories that had been in his head a long, long time. It is and was, a best seller, in the format of a collection of short stories, each one entitled with an element from the Periodic Table; but it was also his autobiography.
He brought his scientific knowledge together with his immense talent as a writer about human relationships and created such a renowned book that in Britain it earned the accolade of being ‘the best science book ever’.
I personally haven’t read anything by Primo Levi yet, but after listening to this fascinating thirteen minutes
I definitely will…
I do hope you find this interesting and the dramatised short stories in the ensuing episodes enjoyable. They will be very useful for you because they will help you to speak clearly and well.
Being only 14 minutes each, they are in manageable sound bites for convenient listening.
Interesting Radio 4 dramas, are perfect for good audio instruction: how to speak expressively; clearly with good diction; and through a variety of voices..
Have a good week.