“Would you agree to an interview?”
"The Interview” is the very first entry in this collection and it sets the tone for much of what is to come. The book is divided roughly equally into short stories and essays, but there is connective tissue between the fiction and the non-fiction. That connection is the demonstration of Levi as a writer who sees things through a perspective that it is not exactly common. That is not to argue that it is bonkers or off-kilter or anything. In fact, it is often just the opposite. A fundamental focus on the mundane which gives the writing a kind of tweaky twist separating it from the herd is the major tendency being exhibited. Case in point: this “science fiction” story about an alien culture’s first contact with human beings. The very first contact is the above quote which is most assuredly not the usual sort of line that initiates interstellar contact. The interview as conducted follows in this vein.
What does a mirror do? “It reflects,” like a human mind; the ordinary run of mirrors obey a simple and inexorable physical law; they reflect as would a rigid, obsessed mind that claims to gather in itself the reality of the world—as though there were only one!
This quote directly refers to the title character of the story. It is genuinely about a guy who makes mirrors that offer a different variety of reflection that gives lie to the idea that there is just one and only authentically true reflection. Metaphorically, this line can be interpreted to apply to Levi and the writings collected in this book. When one hears that a story is about the first contact between an alien race and humanity, certain conventions leap immediately to mind, right? One of the last to leap to mind is likely the portrait of this monumental event as described in “The Interview.” This undermining of expectations and presentation of an alternative viewpoint is not limited to just that story nor, indeed, limited to merely the fiction. The essays also confound expectations which one brings to their subjects by virtue of Levi subtly tweaking the perspective on his topics and subjects. He is like his own creation, the mirror maker, of whom he asserts, “Timoteo’s secret mirrors were more versatile.”
It seems to me just as strange that varnishes are displacing Auschwitz in the “ground floor” of my memory: I realize this from my dreams…
“The Spider’s Secret” appears in the essay section of the book, unlike the source of the previous two quotes. It is heavy on the hard science of how to create a varnish. The essay is peppered with jargon peculiar to the process such as polymerization, solidification, and high-tension electroducts. The significance of the essay for this purpose, however, lies not in its contents, but precisely the opposite: what it is not about. The first entry in the essay section—following a poem, that is—is titled “The Commander of Auschwitz.” “Translating Kafka” joins “The Spider’s Secret” in containing a brief allusion to Auschwitz. “The Dispute Among German Historians” describes conditions at the infamous Nazi death camp as part of its overall argument that there is something unique to the genocidal horrors perpetrated during the Third Reich which differs from similar mass disposals of humanity in the Soviet Union. These references and centering of the infamous concentrated camp where millions were sent to their deaths is not mere imagery or backdrop. They are an essential element to the character of the author. He was deported to Auschwitz in February 1944 and would remain a prisoner until finally being liberated by Soviet forces nearly a year later.
