My Reading Life

I have been away from the blogging world (and the internet world in general really) this week as I have been travelling around the place for work. My reading has also been a little sporadic but I have managed to delve into My Reading Life By Bob Carr. This book is one I have selected for the Non Fiction Five Challenge and I am finding it to be a book you can just dip in and out of (which was good while I was travelling and finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than driving a car for long periods!).

As I have mentioned before Bob Carr is a past Premier of the state of New South Wales in Australia and well known for his love of all things literary. I must admit although I was really looking forward to this book being released I was also feeling a little daunted as to how accessible the reading Bob Carr refers to in the book may actually be to me. After having read the first 100 pages or so I'm not feeling as daunted now!

As the title of the book suggests Bob Carr talks about the books that he has read, enjoyed and been moved by in his reading career. I was particularly interested in the first chapter of the book which discusses the book If This Is A Man By Primo Levi - a book that outlines the author's experiences as a prisoner in Auschwitz. Bob Carr describes this book as the most important book of the twentieth century because "it is the best of all the books in the literature of testimony. Because it is a monument to all who were killed in the last century by totalitarian dictatorships. Because it tells us what humans are capable of ".

I have heard of Levi's book before but I will certainly be seeking out a copy now. Has anyone read this one?