June 27, 2008

Night, by Elie Wiesel


Night, by Elie Wiesel, it one of the most powerful books on the Holocaust that I have read to date. It's his story of the year he spent in the concentration camps that killed off his parents and sister, yet somehow he survived. It is important to note, however, that this is not a memoir. He is not the narrator of the book, it is a boy named Eliezer. Weisel tells his story through the eyes of Eliezer.

This book is sometimes uncomfortable to read since, as he puts it, he is describing "man's inhumanity to man." The scenes of starvation, cuelty, "selections" and senseless death are hard to get through. So why would I recommend it? It's hard to put into words, all I can say is, I think it is a must-read.

I love his writing style...it is simple yet you feel that you are right there with him in the concentration camps and box cars. You feel his pain, humiliation, guilt and hopelessness. And it is short, just over 100 pages, but yet you find yourself reading it slowly. No speed-reading here!

Overall, it is an excellent book, and excellent reminder of what has happened, how the world after that vowed to never let another genocide happen again, yet the world has turned it's back on people time and time again, most recently the people of Darfur.

This is actually the first in a trilogy, the other two are Dawn and Morning. I look forward to reading those, too.

4 comments:

  1. I recently got this book and plan on reading it soon. It sounds like an excellent read!

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  2. I had no idea this was a trilogy but loved the first one. I may have to pick up two and three.

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  3. I read Night a long time ago. It was very powerful. I didn't know about the other two books, but I'll have to check them out. Thanks.

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  4. I'm having trouble finding it on my nook. I've searched and it doesn't come up. Any tips or help?

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