The writings of Primo Levi have been read predominantly in terms of Holocaust literature. From his early testimonies, If this is a Man (1958) and The Truce (1963), to works such as The Periodic Table (1975), The Wrench (1978), Moments of Reprieve (1981), If not Now, When (1982) and through to his final admonition, The Drowned and the Saved (1986), Levi never ceased from bearing witness to the incommensurable horrors of Nazi genocide, and, specifically, his own experience of incarceration in Auschwitz. Each novel is, in the survivor's own words, an “account of atrocities”, and the immediate and violent impulse which pushes each narrative forward is the overwhelming need to commu

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First published 20 September 2002

Citation: Baxter, Jeannette. "Primo Levi". The Literary Encyclopedia. 20 September 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2709, accessed 9 February 2010.]