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A review by rbruehlman
Night by Elie Wiesel
5.0
Truly haunting. I felt as if I looked into the face of evil itself--a mere fleeting glimpse, but a glimpse that was nonetheless too long. No glimpse of that evil is forgettable.
I do not know how Elie Wiesel persevered. I know how, in a sense--he recounts how the evil the concentration camp detainees suffered twisted their soul beyond recognition, how he himself lost himself in the pursuit of just survive. The biological drive to survive is one that isn't easily stamped out. But survival--base, physical survival--is so different from survival of the soul.
Wiesel's faith in God was destroyed. I do not believe in God. I do believe humans are fundamentally good. However, I wonder if, like Wiesel, my faith is misplaced.
How does anyone create Hell on Earth itself, as they did with Auschwitz-Birkeneau? And how does anyone come out of that experience with their soul and will to live intact? I have no answers to either. Contemplating either is truly painful.
There is so much to say about this book, but it is not a review I can write.
I do not know how Elie Wiesel persevered. I know how, in a sense--he recounts how the evil the concentration camp detainees suffered twisted their soul beyond recognition, how he himself lost himself in the pursuit of just survive. The biological drive to survive is one that isn't easily stamped out. But survival--base, physical survival--is so different from survival of the soul.
Wiesel's faith in God was destroyed. I do not believe in God. I do believe humans are fundamentally good. However, I wonder if, like Wiesel, my faith is misplaced.
How does anyone create Hell on Earth itself, as they did with Auschwitz-Birkeneau? And how does anyone come out of that experience with their soul and will to live intact? I have no answers to either. Contemplating either is truly painful.
There is so much to say about this book, but it is not a review I can write.