Rating: 
Summary: A mediocre read
Review: All Rivers Run to the Sea presents a mediocre read-it did not totally satisfy me, but I did not regret reading the book. Elie Wiesel's life certainly proves exciting and worthy of an autobiography; however, I did not particularly enjoy his approach to the subject. Wiesel has served as a journalist in Israel, France, and New York, giving him ample experiences to detail. He also has met famous people including Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and Yitzhak Rabin. Wiesel's emotional and evocative chapter entitled "Darkness" dealing with the Holocaust will bring tears to any reader's eyes. Even Wiesel's interspersed commentary on his struggle for faith after the Holocaust fits together with the narration like a puzzle. However, Wiesel's general disregard for chronological order disoriented me and caused strains of the narration to seem fragmented. He would describe an experience with a certain person, then jump twenty years into the future with another anecdote concerning that person. Also, I felt that he delved too deep into describing worldwide historical events rather than his personal experiences. When a sentence establishing general background would suffice, Wiesel sometimes mirrors a history book, saying things such as "Spring 1958. The war in Algeria was at its height, gaining destructive momentum on both sides...At the UN France was on the defensive. Israel was among its few supporters" (Wiesel 561). Perhaps these criticisms stem from a personal style preference of mine. Yet, despite them, Wiesel still made me empathize with the Jewish people and during certain passages also captivated me.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful insight into Weisel's art, but it gets grating
Review: For anyone who is a Weisel fan and for anyone who needs introduction to Weisel this book is a godsend. His insights into the human condition are par excellance and his life is an amazing treasure trove of material. He writes with elagance and style that makes him instantly likeable. However, around page 300 you begin to get tired of his endless litany of people who turned against him. From the Israeli company that didn't do his play the way he wanted it done, to the critics who loved him and then dismissed him to a humble yet determined tirade against Isaac Bashevis Singer as the crown jackass of the Yiddish writers; you begin to wonder if Weisel has any friends who haven't terribly insulted him at one time or the other. He states that he will not write about those he grew up with in anything but the most glowing pictures but it seems as if he is comparing his contemporaries to these Jewish martyrs and constantly finding them wanting. Still Weisel is a great writer and you can buy his tendency to complain about everyone around him. You just won't want to befriend him, for fear that you'll be a target in his next memoir
Rating:
Summary: Peace alluded him
Review: He made his struggle quite evident but I never felt he appreciated how much he meant to others. He seemed to always be seeking more study, more people but none brought him peace. I was astonished that he told us practically nothing of Marion, his wife. The book was not finished when it ended.
Rating: 
Summary: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
Review: How many people in this world, as they go about living out their lives, will ever come to an understanding of the human cost that was exacted in the Holocaust? Sure, there will always be the auto-pilot responses in which people quote the six-million figure while shaking their heads, but often their knowledge does not go beyond this point. In the pages of "All Rivers Run to the Sea," Elie Wiesel is willing to lay bare his soul in order to create understanding as a living, yet still wounded, witness of the Holocaust. Without this premise, perhaps this would be just another autobiography of a globe-trotting journalist, and the intrigue of international diplomacy. But it is much, much more than that. Indirectly, Wiesel shows himself as a man who is never able to be completely happy, completely alive...completely whole. When the Jewish people in his village were rounded up, shipped off, imprisoned, starved, and killed, a part of himself dies as well. Thus, there are constant flashbacks in the book to his parents who did not survive. As Elie experiences the events of life, and the decades pass on, the reality of what occurred to his family and so many others haunts his dreams and his writings. By and by, the reader is able to see that the human cost of the Holocaust is as close as their own mother and father. This is the subtle power of these memoirs.
Rating:
Summary: disagree with "mediocre" label
Review: I found this a very compelling read, lasting over several readings. It's true the author did not stick tightly to chronological order, but anyone who has read his fiction knows his style tends to be very esoteric and rather free-floating (I personally do not care for his fiction, which I admit I do find to go over my head). However, as a reader, I certainly got a feel for emotions he felt throughout different experiences in his life. I found the last scene describing his emotions before and during his wedding to be really profound. It's true that there is a lot of Jewish content in this book, which may cause some of his analogies etc. to be less accessible to someone from a different background. However, for someone who wants to read a first-hand Holocaust experience without very strong graphic details, I do recommend it. (As a side note, just last week I actually attended a speech by Mr. Wiesel, and he is really a personable, funny, self-effacing and sweet man, not the really sad and somber person you might expect from his writings. I was surprised by this, pleasantly so!)
Rating:
Summary: An odd but pleasant memoir
Review: I liked this book, but not for most of the reasons I read in other people's reviews. I believe they have overvalued it because of what the author has undergone, because he's written other, more stunning books, and because Wiesel is almost a monument in himself.Having heard of his Holocaust speeches and read his famous early concentration camp account, _Night_, I was unprepared for the naivete and gentle self-mockery that pervade this book. Yes, it talks about his roots, his tussles with religion, his adventures and misadventures as a journalist and friend/antagonist of the great. But what a surprise to see his repeated references to all the pretty faces that caught his eye and how badly he usually fared in approaching them: "I indulged in some serious flirting, by which I mean that I talked to them of things too serious to achieve the desired result." "I thought about all the girls in Versailles and all the unknown women in trains who didn't know how much I loved them, and about all the sins I lacked the courage to commit." "I knew if I lowered my guard I would be hit by one of those thunderbolts I never knew how to handle. So of course I lowered my guard." "I spoke to her of destiny, and of Dante for good measure. She told me not to be a fool." It may strike some readers almost as monotonous, but I found Wiesel's willingness to speak of things all men experience, yet never include in their autobiographies, refreshing. The other reviews stress the IMPORTANCE, almost PONDEROUSNESS, of this book, yet that's not what I'm left with at all. Wiesel is also amazingly open and childlike. For instance, recovering from injuries suffered in a massive car accident, he writes: "Confined to bed and condemned to immobility, one dreams, one thinks about and sees the world in a whole new way. A simple painkiller is worth more than a dozen wondrous poems. I was more grateful to the nurse who came to turn me onto my back or stomach than I would have been to the most ravishing of creatures granting me her all. The most astonishing world news affected me less than the doctor's smile." This book shows the very human side of a "mere" journalist who in his time has become almost an institution.
Rating:
Summary: Elequent, compassionate, engrossing...fabulous writer
Review: I loved this book! It touched me deeply with its contents and was one of the best written books I've ever read. I love Mr. Wiesel's writing style! He captured me and transcended me into a world that is unknown to me. I think this man is fantastic! Normally I am not a big fan of history books, but because of this one I have become one. Mr. Wiesel describes his experiences from his heart with passion and not resentment (which he has every right to feel). How refreshing. I will certainly read more of his writings!
Rating:
Summary: The book All Rivers Run to the Sea was a great book
Review: I read the book All Rivers Run to the Sea, by Elie Wiesel. This book is about his amazing journey all throughout the Holocaust. Elie was split apart from his family and had to experience the worst pain that you could imagine all on his own. I think this book is very depressing but it also makes you think about how glad and grateful you should be for having a family who loves and cares for you.
Elie Wiesel is a very skilled writer and he easily makes you picture in your mind what he is writing about. I think that this book would be well suited for people who are either twelve or older. It is also well suited for people who enjoy reading about the Holocaust and all the people who experienced it. This book is more of a bibliography rather than a fairy tale so you have to be willing to read a lot. This book is also very long and at some parts it gets a little confusing but at other times it is really hard to put the book down. I do not think that this would be a very good book for teachers to have their students read in class because of the length. I think that they should use one of Wiesel other great books on the Holocaust.
I really enjoyed this book and the style of Elie's writing. He described every thing very well and he kept my attention throughout the whole book. I hope that others get the chance to read this book and learn as much as I did about the Holocaust. This is a very good book and is well suited for young adults and people who are older as well. It teaches you a lot and makes you think about your life. This was a very good book and I hope others will read this book and get as much out of it as I did.
Rating:
Summary: I'm still reading this book...
Review: I received this book as a gift from my father a few years ago. I've just recently graduated from high school and found the time to read this book. I have always been interested in the atrocities of the holocaust, myself being Jewish; and after reading Wiesel's "Night" I've wanted to know more. I am reading Wiesel's memoirs right now and I can't say how much he is inspiring me to follow whims and dreams that I might have. I have a friend who is attending Boston University, and will have Prof. Wiesel for a Humanities professor. I have been so touched by Wiesel's words that I am forcing my friend to allow me to sit in on one of his classes. I will do anything just to meet, or even see the man who has suffered and survived so much.
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful exploration
Review: I was assigned to write a report about Elie Wiesel for English class. In this class, we had to read a book by the author and get information about their background, etc. I went to the library to find "Night Trilogy" but it was out, so I got the other books by Elie and read the covers and decided this would be a nice book to start with and follow it with "The Generation After". I must say I was hooked. After reading "Night", this book gives you even more insight into his life and makes his other works even more touching. A definite must read.
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