By Primo Levi - If Not Now, When? (Penguin Modern Classics) (New Ed)

Where to start. And once I start I doubt I'll know where to finish. Primo Levi is, in my mind, a genius. I read 'If This Is A Man' a couple of years ago and it left me stunned and breathless. This book too, is written with such simple honesty and without judgment, yet delves into the depths and flaws of characters with such raw brutality, I'm left feeling not only better informed, but humbled and with a desire to be more accepting, and be, well, be better... do better.The book is the story about a band of partisans traveling across eastern Europe, disrupting the German army where they can, surviving the chaos, the hunger, the cold, the loneliness, the distrust, the boredom, the friendships and betrayals, the horrors, the uncertainties... all of it. What it isn't is a typical war story about victories and heroes.I'm left thinking that if there were any winners, they were the ones who made it to a home with their sanity, dignity and compassion intact. Those that were left hating and weighted down with bitter resentfulness, no matter on which 'side' they fought, were left unhappy. And being unhappy isn't winning. Achieving happiness is success, right?The book is also a reminder, and Lord knows we need reminding right now, that we are all people wanting to live a peaceful and contented life, with food in our bellies, warmth, family and friends... Also it reminds us how good people can be manipulated into thinking and behaving in a way that is, not only unnatural, but counterproductive to their wants in the name of nationalistic duty, when the real battle is between good and evil.There's a particularly poignant passage when the lead character queries the reasoning behind the urge to avenge a killing with ten lives for the one taken. Where is the tipping point? Perhaps when the revenge is carried out, or maybe when pleasure is felt from said revenge. After all, if the revenge was in the avengers mind justified, then there'll be no guilt or shame to mar any future happiness/success.The book ends with a birth - 'A baby's a baby; he becomes something else only later.' Whenever a new life is brought into the world it offers hope. A brand new person, not yet spoiled or misguided, but clean and pure.So yeah, this is a book that'll make you think and will likely stay with you.Of course I've written the above after one read, maybe when I read it again (and I will... several times) I might be left feeling differently. Someone cleverer than me once said something about each story being unique to each reader. And there are a lot of potential stories in this one book.