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Mandatory reading for every person. His book is as relevant today as it was during the Second World War. Night is a powerful personal account of a holocaust survivor from capture to liberation. Wiesel brings the horrors of Buchenwald and Auschwitz to life through the eyes of the victims as only a survivor can.
Night is a short yet very powerful book. This beautifully-written book provides emotional, physical and spiritual insight into what is a hellish nightmare. At times its haunting images and perspective are overwhelming so I can only read a chapter or two at a sitting.
I decided to give "Night" a try given its popularity. In order to evoke human emotions , the author needed to develop his humanity and those around him first. There are have been numerous accounts of the holocaust and exceptionally detailed footage of the Nazis' atrocities (many footage was filmed by the Nazis themselves) over the past 60 years or so. The book reads almost like a series of events like dot points in a presentation. This is not a commentary on the holocaust or politics.
These were the more interesting and reflective parts of the book which I wished he had discussed more deeply. He touches on the times when self preservation and survival trump morality even in the most ethical people. He recounts the events in a robotic manner. Similarly, people would throw pieces of bread towards the prisoners and watch them fight for the crumbs. It is a short book that covers an important year in Nazi concentration camps. He also briefly touches on his discomfort when years later tourists dropped coins in the water so that poor natives could dive for it. The writing is dry and merely chronicles the events that the author experienced in 1944-45 during the Nazi occupation of Eastern Europe. For example, he examines hi s desire to abandon his father and is instantly ashamed by the thought.
I realize that giving a book like this a poor review may offend many people but I am merely evaluating it as a book. There are some parts where he is more reflective and analytical which I enjoyed more. Unfortunately, it was mostly a disappointing read. The events, of course, are gruesome but the author's writing has no soul.
I would highly recommend this book. I understand these events occurred quite some time ago, and that any recollection as time goes on is a wonderful work of art,but in the 'gaps' of recollection that seemed, I would have liked more of a description of the surroundings and people. Even those not terribly schooled on the Holocaust are able to follow quite well. I did enjoy this book. However it seemed to have missing parts or something of the like.
God (and humanity) are changed by experiencing such horror, either directly as participants in the horror, or indirectly by reading works such as Night. Hopefully we are changed by the experience of reading Night, as I believe that God was changed by the suffering of the holocaust. Night is an amazing little book, filled with horror and pain. They do change us by, unfortunately, feeling the grotesqueness to which humanity can sink. If so, then the book is a success. It really raises the question of where God is in the midst of unimaginable pain and cruelty. There is no real answer to this, although I choose to believe that God is in the midst of all the horror.
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