A Review of 'Night' by Elie Wiesel

"Night-- 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."

For the longest time (before reading this book), I thought that this was historical fiction.  As I was reading, I kept hoping that this was all made up in the sick mind of the author only to look at that unnerving word on the spine: Autobiography.  It's shocking and all-consuming.  You feel the same desperation and sadness as someone who was actually there might feel-- the anxiety that settles in when there's a selection, the feeling of hopelessness when on a death march between concentration camps, the feeling of yourself splitting in two over the decision of abandoning your only remaining family and taking care of yourself instead... Everything came through in Elie Wiesel's writing.

I don't know what else to say about this book.  I don't want to say that it's good, because everything that happens is not good.  I can say that it's well-written.  Even though this was a black time in history, I'm very glad that Elie Wiesel didn't hold anything back.

This book is shocking, heart-breaking, and depressing, but it is well-worth the read.

I give 'Night':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude