A Tranquil Star: Worth the read

Brian Iiyama | Staff Writer

A Tranquil Star is a collection of seventeen stories previously unpublished in America by Italian author Primo Levi. Best known for his works on the holocaust, Survival in Auschwitz and The Reawakening, Levi’s new book -published posthumously by 20 years- is a mix of stories that range from the desperation of a captured man who pulls the pin in a grenade to take out his captors to a satirical description of a new toy that melts steel and kills people instantly. Similar in theme to Terry Gilliam’s anti bureaucratic film Brazil, A Tranquil Star is a non-linear mix of strange ideas and bizarre images.

The only connection between the unrelated stories is the voice of the narrator, who may or may not be Levi himself. There’s an apparent distain for bureaucracies and a fascination with astrology.

At only 162 pages, each of the stories are short, no more than ten pages and written so beautifully that one feels a nice tight satisfaction from the shorts. While it passes a bit quickly, I feel like reading through it again, for I think there’s something more hidden in the text that I missed. A recommended read for people who aren’t the reading type and literary buffs as well.