4 out of 5 stars
You may have noticed that I'm a month behind in my classics. Well, I just couldn't get it together in March, so I decided not to worry about it. I'm sure I'll catch up eventually, probably with my Summer Steinbeck-palooza. And Night is actually the second classic I started for April...I first started with Vanity Fair, recommended by a few friends, but I just couldn't get into it and things were stressful at work (which is where I was reading it) so I wanted something lighter and switched books.
Then my 14 yr old sister said she was reading Night for school and I decided to read it too. Mostly because it's a super quick read, but also because I hadn't read it since I was her age. She spoiled it a little for me too, I hadn't remembered who had died and who hadn't. Also, I learned recently that Wiesel had written 2 other books about that time and I'd like to get them soon.
It's hard to review a book like Night. At 109 pages, it is a succinct account of Wiesel's harrowing years in Auschwitz and several other concentration camps. It doesn't have the same flow and poetry that The Book Thief does, but this is a true story. Elie Wiesel is still alive. He will never forget what he went through. He still remembers how he never got to say goodbye to his mother and sisters.
"Men to the left! Women to the right!"
And that is what makes this an important story. I remember being so fixated on this book and Auschwitz in the 8th grade. It was probably the first time I really questioned historical events. I couldn't believe something like this had happened in recent history. Survivors of that time were still alive. How could the rest of the world not know? And if they did know, how could they just keep letting it happen?
"Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible..."
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