Die Nacht. Erinnerung und Zeugnis. (1955)

This book somehow eluded me during my obsessive, gotta-read-everything-about-the-Holocaust phase in middle school. I'm glad I've finally had a chance to read it. It is simple yet truly poetic, profound, and unswervingly honest--it challenges the reader in ways most books do not. Wiesel faced extremes of the human body and spirit and had the bravery to share it with the world. We all should read this book. ( )

A near constant kick in the gut. Wiesel's plain and clear descriptions lay what happened to him - and millions of others - bare and gives no place for the reader to hide. After the first few minutes of the book and going on straight through to the last word, my throat was tight with emotion.

A book every American should have to read. ( )

A really superb account of a young boy's experiences going from Sighet in Transylvania to Auschwitz. This book was a really emotional read and the sort of thing that should be taught in schools in my opinion. Bravely, Weisel also covers some of the more controversial aspects of his experiences when he effectively had to put his life before someone else's. Doing that must have been hard but admitting it and putting it into words afterwards for others to see must have been even harder. ( )

I still think this book is pretty fabulous. From a teaching perspective I would still give it 5 stars. From a "I Like to Read Books on My Own" perspective it would probably be like a 4. I don't typically like to read books where someone meaningful dies right at the end... but that does have to happen at times doesn't it? Especially during the Holocaust when the likelihood of a family member surviving was extremely slim in the first place. With that said, I believe that I will continue to teach this book for several years to come. ( )

This book was the first Holocaust memoir that I read in full, but for all that it’s a slim volume it has always stayed with me as a powerful experience, remembrance, and testimony. Coming back to it years later, this time without the lens of academia insisting on a thought-provoking analysis to get a good grade, I’m still left wanting to write. What I want to write, I’m not sure, though, as the book opens up so many emotions that I’m left with a feeling of emptiness and regret. Not regret for having read the book, of course, but regret that humanity sat idle and did nothing while those around them suffered; regret that those in power turned away refugees who would have elsewise been saved; regret that even with its shining moments humanity has at its core a darkness that must be acknowledged. Even with the hindsight of 75 years it often seems that we have yet to learn from the mistakes of the past, as we continue to allow those who warp power for their own gain to lead and to allow cruelty to overrule compassion. And yet, we have persevered throughout, so while the book may not leave readers with a happy feeling in their gut (or much more than a cliffhanger, not knowing what truly happens to the narrator until the subsequent books) we know that there are still next steps to be taken by those who are able and can make them. ( )