NIGHT by Elie Wiesel

Synopsis: A memoir of surviving German concentration camps.

Writing Style: First person affecting.

Pacing: Fast.

Premise: A rendering revealing the realities of, and purpose behind telling stories from horrid lessons learned.

Personal Highlights: Upon opening the book the first question I jotted down was ‘why tell this story?’ This one question covered in passionate detail is what made the ending tremendously affecting. Night is concise, to the point, a literary sensation for sure.

There was no one place I related to as a favorite. This is a very hard story. The relationship Elie describes having with his father during confinement, revealing what sheer desperation does to the mind, stood out in my mind; though not as much as the questions he and others had for God, starting at the very beginning with Moishe the Beadle trying in vain to warn people. The question itself, coinciding with later events raised the hairs on my back, while the moral of the answer I got back provided me with a piece of wisdom I won’t soon forget.

The treatment and rendering of this story is indeed powerful. Highly recommended.