Night by Elie Wiesel
Memoir
1982 Bantam (First published in 1958)
Finished on November 13, 2017
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family... the death of his innocence... and the death of his GOD. Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.
Original Yiddish title: Un di Velt Hot Geshvign/And the World Remained Silent
This is another book that I decided to re-read for the Nonfiction Challenge last November. It's a very quick read and I got halfway thru in one afternoon/evening. I found it to be much more powerful than the first time I read it, perhaps because I'm 21 years older than I was back then? It's still a keeper!
My Original Notes (1996):
I highly recommend this book. Short, concise and heartbreaking. How could anyone survive the ordeal without losing their mind?!
I did read this one way back and 'enjoyed' it. I think the first book I ever read about the concentration camps was The Hiding Place. Then I went on to read Anne Frank. That was in my teens.
ReplyDeleteKay, I read The Hiding Place many, many years ago, too. Probably in my teens. I gave this one a 5/5 when I read it in 1996, but this time around, while it was very good, I didn't think it was excellent.
DeleteVance read this in high school and, at first, he recommended it to me. After he thought about it, he decided it would make me too sad. It sounds like I need to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteKathy, it is sad, but not like some fiction books about the Holocaust like The Book Thief. It's very powerful and one I think everyone should read.
DeleteI think I first read this book sometime around '96 too! It was so heartbreaking. This is a book I would definitely consider re-reading.
ReplyDeleteIliana, it's definitely worth a second reading. I was not disappointed!
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