Copyright date: 1994
Genre: Fictionalized Memoir
Age/Interest Level: 14 and up
Number of pages: 193 p.
SUMMARY:
This is the Elie Wiesel's personal account of the Holocaust. The book describes Wiesel's first encounter with prejudice and the persecution he faces because his is a Jew. It also describes the powerful bond between father and son and the loss of his family. Wiesel's experiences in the death camps of Auschwitz and Buchenwald are detailed; his accounts of starvation and brutality are shattering, a horrific testimony to the consequences of evil. Throughout the book, Wiesel speaks of the struggle to survive, and the fight to stay alive. While Wiesel lost his innocence and many of his beliefs, he never lost his sense of compassion or his sense of humanity.
NOTES: Although the interest level says 14 and up, people who have a hard time with graphic material or books that contain no happy ending should make sure they’re ready before undertaking this story. There are graphic accounts or torture and people being killed in all kinds of ways including starvation, hanging, and execution. There are prolonged passages of the main character discussing his loss of faith. Some themes of the book are: survival, courage, compassion and retaining ones humanity no matter what.REVIEW:
I found Night to be horrific and sad yet the most beautiful and stunning piece of literature I have ever read. It starts off simple like the calm before the storm and then hurls the reader into a nightmarish world of agony, horror and death. The story is full of despair but the writing itself is beautiful. It’s hard for me to cry and yet every time I read Night it makes me feel sad and alone and brings tears to my eyes. Night captures the horrors of the holocaust better than any other book and most movies. The author, Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize for this book, and for good reason. This is a must read for everyone. In fact it should be read by all people, everywhere.
