Night

Rating:
Summary: Lifechanging experience
Review: Night, by Elie Weisel, is a book different than any other I have read. Many opinions about history, and even life in some cases changed while reading Night. For a very long time I believed that Josef Stalin was the most evil man to live in the twentieth century. After reading Night I believe that Hitler and his relentless "fight" to exterminate Hebrews from the face of the planet is the most evil act of hate ever. Elie Weisel is a 12 year old boy living in the town of Sighet. Untouched by Nazis until about 1942, Elie begins his long tour of numerous concentration camps throughout Europe. This book is about the lengths a human will go through to survive. Night is about love, hope, determination, and the spirit of humanity to survive, forgive, and to inform us, the readers, that we must never forget the lives lost during the years of Nazi occupied Germany. We must never forget how 12 million people just like you and I were executed because of differences. Night is a book that should eventually be read by all high school students. I am still humbled by Night.

Rating:
Summary: chilling
Review: I have read a number of Holocaust books and most all of them are poinant and moving. There are some works that seem more of an exploitive nature but mostly each work is another opportunity to try and understand the incomprehendable. Numbers tend to numb but first person accounts bring to life the insanity that was and is the Holocaust. In "Night", Elie Wiesel does as good a job as anyone in giving us a glimpse of life in a death camp. What stands out is how well he is able to say so much with such brevity. Every sentence has its' purpose and every character his as well. There are many unforgetable passages. One I recall tells of a fellow prisoner who spoke of loading corpses and discovering he was loading his own father. That and many other images will stay with me forever. This book should be read by all.

Rating:
Summary: Small but packed with eye opening power.
Review: No matter how much I think I know about the horror of the Holocaust during World War II, whenever I read an unknown view my disbelief and disgust continues to grow. This especially holds true with Elie Wiezel's personal account of this terrible time in his life. Wiezel is a teenage boy who goes through the journey that we have become familiar with. His family endures the infamous Star of David armbands, Jewish ghettos, and the crowded train ride that leads them to their fate. The family is separated at the first concentration camp, Auschwitz. Elie is able to stay with his father as him mother and sisters are ushered away, most likely to the crematories that are blazing and smoking of human flesh. As Elie and his father are being moved, Elie loses his faith with each step. As he watched young children being burned alive, his God was murdered forever. This is such a significant part of the book because it shows the incredible impact that only one night had on this boy. This boy who was so completely devoted to his religion and faith, but lost it all after one night in a concentration camp. After this night, staying with his father and getting food were the two most important things to Elie, in that order. As the time wore on, Elie began to find himself hoping for freedom from his father's burden. This also shows how the Holocaust tore people down until they could care about nothing. Elie Wiezel lived to tell his story and people should definitely take the opportunity to see through his eyes. It's hard to read and a difficult subject matter, but it opens up people's eyes. I have deep appreciation for this book but it would have had a larger impact if the book were longer.

Rating:
Summary: seems more like a medival horror story
Review: What Elie Weisel has accomplished in this book is beyond description. I have read a lot of books about concentration camps but such graphic descriptions are hard to come. most of the time it gives you shivers and sends chills down your spine. I just cannot believe why the rest of the world so silent for such a long time before acting more aggressively? I do not understand how he kept his balance - it seems tragedy saw no limits and the sensation of sadness due to a tragedy ceased to exist. I just hope people remember this tragedy to understand the boundaries of our cannibalism that still exist amongst some of the 'civilized" human beings in the developed nation. Well we have seen history repeat at Rwanda. I will also recommend a book called We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our family. Same genre but different taste - little milder.
Night primarily deals with Elie's experiences in the camp - there are often touches of the soul which reminds us that the soul never died even when tortured to such extremes. Endurance and love for life helped him to survive. This can be our guide for survival in the rainy days.

Rating:
Summary: The horror of humanity
Review: I have heard the question asked more than once "How could they just stand there and let the Holocaust happen and not fight back?" Elie Wiesel has answered this question along with describing his ordeal he suffered at the hands of the Nazis. The short simply written book shows the true horror when man suffers at the hand of man. He gives descritions of various moments during his concentration stay and the reader is left knowing that these moments happend all of the time to the victims. The humiliation, torture, and degradation were commonplace. More imporantly. Wiesel writes about thinking at any given moment how to survive even if it meant turning his back on his friends. He describes how various people would leave loved ones to die so they could survive themselves. Animal instinct took over when humanity failed. This is truly an imporant book of a first hand witness and should never ever be forgotten. Highly reccommended.

Rating:
Summary: Thinking About The Holocaust? Or Just Interested?
Review: Night by Elie Wiesel was very interesting, sad and kept me reading it non-stop. Some points in this book were very inhumane yet depressing at the same time. Elie had gotten emotionally scarred many times and was harassed too by Nazi guards when he was a prisoner at Auschwitz. This book was very engrossing to me, because it identifies with something distressing that has happened in my religion. I advise you to buy this book for a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing writer
Review: I found this book to be absolutly amazing! The use of detail made you put yourself in Elie's shoes! I definitly give this book 5 stars! I have already read it 3 times and there will be many more!

Rating:
Summary: Night - When the worst occurs
Review: I read this for my English class my senior year of High School, and I have to say that I learned quite a bit more than I already knew about the Holocaust when I read this book. It really taught me a bit, despite how short it was. Wiesel is a wonderful man who has since dedicated his life to humanitarian issues and making sure that we don't forget this tragic part of our history.

Rating:
Summary: Deeply moving!
Review: "Night" is absolutely breath taking and will leave you speechless! You must give it five stars alone knowing that this is a true story and someone actually lived this life. At first, I found the writing style chopping, but before I knew it, I was flying through the pages like it was nothing! It's an incredibly fast read, but it will leave an impression deep within you. If you're learning about the Holocaust, or are interested in this time in history, then read this book! I recommend.

Rating:
Summary: A lean and powerful Holocaust narrative
Review: "Night," by Elie Wiesel, has been translated from French by Stella Rodway. The copyright page notes that the book was originally published in French in 1958. The author bio at the end of the book informs us that the Hungarian-born Wiesel was deported to Auschwitz and Buchenwald and eventually received the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Night" is a first-person account of surviving the Nazi Holocaust. The narrative spans the years 1941-45 and recounts the atrocities committed against the European Jews by Hitler's regime. At 109 pages, the narrative is slim, but it is powerful.

Wiesel vividly depicts the dehumanization of concentration camp inmates. He effectively recounts the details of life in the shadow of Hitler; the Holocaust experience is depicted as a nightmarish mix of absurdity and horror. Some key questions raised by the narrative are theological; for example, how can anyone continue to have faith in a deity in light of these horrors?

Wiesel's prose, as translated by Rodway, is stark and grim--very effective for his subject matter. The well-written text leads up to a truly haunting final image. I recommend this book not only to those interested in the Holocaust, but to anyone interested in human cruelty and the human will to survive.