Night

Title: Night
Author: Elie Wiesel
# of Pages: 115
Published: 1958
Genre: Biography
Rating: --

Summary:

Night is Elie Wiesel's autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps.


As most of you can probably tell, this far from what I would usually read. In fact, the only reason I picked up this book initially is because it's required reading for a religions class that I am taking in school. I don't want to say that the book was a pleasant surprise, or that I enjoyed reading it because it wasn't and I didn't. However, this book is beautifully written and extremely powerful. We are all taught in school about the Holocaust, but it is one thing to be told another to read about it in such a way as to make it real for you. As I remarked to a friend last night, crematoria had to be one of the most frightening words in the English language, when put into the context of the Holocaust.

So, no. I didn't enjoy reading this book, as parts of it made me feel decidedly uneasy and others downright disturbed. I am, however glad I did read it, because it speaks of a time that needs to be remembered, if only to ensure that nothing like it can ever happen again. I'm not rating this book - I give rating to books to provide a concise picture of how much I liked a book, and as I said, I didn't like this book. I do however believe that it is not only well worth reading, but is something that should be read.