In honor of my 500th post

[byu71]

Welcome, I am glad to have you here.

[pellegrino]

Come on Pilgrim....keep those posts coming!

Nobody will ever have to bone up on my posts, even though many will want to.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Ever since pellegrino basically said I was the smartest person on the board, because I gave the best answers in the IQ thread, I have thought he was the best poster here.

[pellegrino]

Ever since pellegrino basically said I was the smartest person on the board, because I gave the best answers in the IQ thread, I have thought he was the best poster here.

You had me with the yellow Easter suit you posted pictures of back in April.

[I.J. Reilly]

pellegrino, fwiw, I enjoy your posts here. Not sure that I count for much, but there it is. Also, give up your mission to bring light unto CB; from what I've seen, it's a tough road to walk.

[TripletDaddy]

Great belated intro post; I wish everyone on the board had a similar Q&A sheet.

This is a good idea. Esp since many of the newcomers have no idea who the regulars are. It would be cool if we did a questionnaire.

[RobinFinderson]

Pellegrino,

In honor of your 500th post, I'll point out that for lunch today Faith cooked up some delicious tomato-based pasta dish that you posted in some food thread (I missed it), but the recipe was super delish. Thanks for the recipe, and thanks for posting 500+ times here on CUF.

[wuapinmon]

pellegrino, answer the following question, but choose carefully as our continued facebook "friendship" depends largely upon how you answer the following question:

When Primo Levi's body was found on the ground floor of his 3-story apartment on April 11, 1987, days after complaining to his doctor about dizzy spells, Elie Wiesel commented that "Primo Levi died 40 years ago at Auschwitz." So, the question remains, did Levi commit suicide?

[pellegrino]

pellegrino, answer the following question, but choose carefully as our continued facebook "friendship" depends largely upon how you answer the following question:

When Primo Levi's body was found on the ground floor of his 3-story apartment on April 11, 1987, days after complaining to his doctor about dizzy spells, Elie Wiesel commented that "Primo Levi died 40 years ago at Auschwitz." So, the question remains, did Levi commit suicide?

Ah Wuap, you have chosen wisely as Levi is one of my favorite authors and I'll be presenting a paper next spring about the appropriation and adaptation of Dantean themes in If this is a Man. As it would be, I have studied his passing to some extent. I even wrote a paper on it once upon a time as an undergraduate.

My opinion is that he didn't commit suicide. The absence of a note is particularly strange for an author as notable as he was. If you're going to go to the trouble of staging this fantastically dramatic fall as a means of stating that you wanted to leave this life on his own terms, then why not leave a note that explained the decision? Furthermore, all of his relations and friends felt that he was happy with life at that time. They detected no signs of depression.

Another strange thing is the mode of death chosen. He was a chemist. If he wanted to commit suicide he could have found a less painful, more certain and more lethal way to end his life. Falling three flights of stairs is no guarantee of death and potentially just intensifies an already painful existence. He was too smart to try and kill himself like that and leave any room for error. I would add that jumping from a building, while stereotypical for those with suicidal tendencies, is not a common means for taking one's life.

The kicker for me is that when you look at studies of suicide rate among Shoah survivors, the rate is very low to begin with and the more distance between the horrific events of the death camps, the lower that rate gets. I don't have the number handy, but it was extremely rare for a survivor of Levi's age to choose to end his/her life, almost one in a million. As exceptional as Levi was, that was not the type of distinction he sought in life or death. He had proven time and time again that he was a survivor and to say that he committed suicide under those conditions (complaints of dizziness) goes against everything he had written and done in his life after Auschwitz.

On a side note, for all of you who don't know who Primo Levi is, I'd suggest his first book If this is a Man which narrates his imprisonment in Auschwitz. Read it, have your children read it. As unpleasant as it is, it could very well be one of the most important books written in this century.

In honor of your 500th post, I'll point out that for lunch today Faith cooked up some delicious tomato-based pasta dish that you posted in some food thread (I missed it), but the recipe was super delish. Thanks for the recipe, and thanks for posting 500+ times here on CUF.

I'm glad yall liked it. Tell Faith to keep an eye out for more. I plan on posting a few each month until either I get bored or booed off stage. It's summer and the Trattoria pellegrino is in full operational mode with hungry customers crowding the table nightly.

[Pheidippides]

This is a good idea. Esp since many of the newcomers have no idea who the regulars are. It would be cool if we did a questionnaire.

I agree, even if you were joking (I don't think you were). Anything to feed my own narcissism.

[MindfulCoug]

You had me with the yellow Easter suit you posted pictures of back in April.

It was actually his final blue touch which made it a hit .

[TripletDaddy]

I agree, even if you were joking (I don't think you were). Anything to feed my own narcissism.

No, I was being serious.

We want new people to come and post something about themselves (the basics, at least) and yet we haven't done the same thing here. So obviously the new folks may be a little reticent to do the same. And since many of our newcomers are lurkers, perhaps they have the same questions of us that we have of them. Although I doubt any lurker wonders which NBA team is my favorite.

[wuapinmon]

Ah Wuap, you have chosen wisely as Levi is one of my favorite authors and I'll be presenting a paper next spring about the appropriation and adaptation of Dantean themes in If this is a Man. As it would be, I have studied his passing to some extent. I even wrote a paper on it once upon a time as an undergraduate.

My opinion is that he didn't commit suicide. The absence of a note is particularly strange for an author as notable as he was. If you're going to go to the trouble of staging this fantastically dramatic fall as a means of stating that you wanted to leave this life on his own terms, then why not leave a note that explained the decision? Furthermore, all of his relations and friends felt that he was happy with life at that time. They detected no signs of depression.

Another strange thing is the mode of death chosen. He was a chemist. If he wanted to commit suicide he could have found a less painful, more certain and more lethal way to end his life. Falling three flights of stairs is no guarantee of death and potentially just intensifies an already painful existence. He was too smart to try and kill himself like that and leave any room for error. I would add that jumping from a building, while stereotypical for those with suicidal tendencies, is not a common means for taking one's life.

The kicker for me is that when you look at studies of suicide rate among Shoah survivors, the rate is very low to begin with and the more distance between the horrific events of the death camps, the lower that rate gets. I don't have the number handy, but it was extremely rare for a survivor of Levi's age to choose to end his/her life, almost one in a million. As exceptional as Levi was, that was not the type of distinction he sought in life or death. He had proven time and time again that he was a survivor and to say that he committed suicide under those conditions (complaints of dizziness) goes against everything he had written and done in his life after Auschwitz.

On a side note, for all of you who don't know who Primo Levi is, I'd suggest his first book If this is a Man which narrates his imprisonment in Auschwitz. Read it, have your children read it. As unpleasant as it is, it could very well be one of the most important books written in this century.



I'm glad yall liked it. Tell Faith to keep an eye out for more. I plan on posting a few each month until either I get bored or booed off stage. It's summer and the Trattoria pellegrino is in full operational mode with hungry customers crowding the table nightly.

I too do not believe that the author of Survival in Auschwitz and The Periodic Table killed himself. And, knowing your field, I figured that you would have to be a Levi fan, as I am. We shall continue to be great friends.

[Rosebud]

How did you find CUF?
Creekster recruited me from CB. Initially I didn't think I would post that much here because I felt I had a mission to force CB to think critically and be more introspective. I've seen the error of that line of thinking.

I'm glad you chose to bring your critical thinking and introspection here. I learn a lot from your posts... thanks for the thought and time you put into them. You are appreciated. And thanks, Creekster, for recruiting the best.


Self-introductions from oldies might go a long way to motivate newbies and lurkers with qualms to start their own Ellis Island threads.

[beefytee]

Curse you Pellegrino!

You stole my idea.