The Search for Roots: A personal anthology by Primo Levi, Allen Lane/The
Penguin Press, 拢12.99, ISBN 0713994878
PRIMO LEVI鈥橲 name on a book is a pretty good guarantee of sales. And though
this is a collection of other people鈥檚 writing, it鈥檚 well worth reading. All the
items are selected by Levi from books that he has read鈥攑assages that he
found especially significant and underlined on the page, something of a crime to
bibliophiles. They are likely to surprise because of their scope and the
unfamiliarity of many of the authors.
He provides a diagram as a curtain raiser to his selections, and with good
reason. They are not gathered into any kind of order, and the diagram suggests
four different paths through the throng, all of which set out at Job and take
you right through to black holes.
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In his introduction to The Search for Roots, Levi mentions that his father
was a devoted reader, so much so that he had jackets specially tailored with
large pockets to carry books. He always had three on the go at once, and read
sitting, walking or lying down. Levi was brought up in this idiosyncratic
atmosphere of constant discovery and followed its example, which is why the
anthology has no logical structure.
The Search for Roots is a celebration of the delights of indiscriminate
reading and its frequent rewards, and should be a first-rate proselytiser. Start
with Job and run smack into Rabelais. The surprises come thick and fast in what
the publishers describe as an anthology for helping us understand the human
predicament. It鈥檚 a grand claim. Read the book鈥攁 hugely enjoyable and
profound ride鈥攁nd see if it succeeds.