Thursday, September 06, 2007

Night

Night by Elie Wiesel
Non-fiction


What a powerful small book. Wiesel was born in Transylvania. In 1944 at the age of fifteen he and his family were rounded up and transported to Auschwitz and then Buchenwald.

Wiesel recounts the hardships and cruelty of the 'final solution'. He tells his story with a clarity that is hard to read about. He questions the obediance of the Jews and explains what happened. He relates very matter of factly about the transport, life in the concentration camps, the forced marches and finally his release.

It is very hard to review such a dramatic book. I will let Wiesel tell it himself.

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.
Never shallI forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even where I condemned to live as long as God himself.
Never"

I would add, never shall I forget this book.


Rating:

(4.5/5)

4 comments:

Happy Reader said...

Dana ~ I loved reading this book and like you said I can never forget it all my life!

Jeane said...

I think I need to read this. A long time ago my best friend was a huge fan of Wiesel, but I didn't know what he wrote about and had just read a ton of stuff on the holocaust for a school paper, so I couldn't face that subject anymore at the time...

Dana said...

I have never read anything by Wiesel but I will definitely try another one of his books

Lauren said...

Woops. Our comment moderation screwed up and accidentally rejected Diane's comment:
Yes, this was an amazing book! Gut wrenching, and I'll never, ever forget it. I remember thinking no one should leave high school without reading this one. I didn't read it until many years after school.
You can find Diane here:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/09927443258162528366