Night (Oprah's Book Club)

Customer Reviews:

Powerful is an understatement

By FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" - January 18, 2006

I recall when I first read 'Night', it was just after Elie Wiesel had given a lecture at my university. It was in the mid-1980s, and the lecture hall was standing-room-only. Wiesel's presentation moved us to tears, and moved us to anger, and moved me to want to follow up on his words by reading what he had written.

This is written a style that seems to be typical of many modern Israeli novelists; it is so close to the truth of the actual events that transpired in Wiesel's life that it might as well be treated as autobiographical. Thus, it seems to some to be more a work like a novel than a memoir, but Weisel describes it himself as more of a deposition. It isn't autobiography in the traditional sense, but that is what helps give the book its power. Weisel remembers the events here, This is actually part of a trilogy - Night, Dawn, and The Accident - although each element stands alone with integrity. (Dawn and The Accident are works of fiction, but also draw on Weisel's... read more

I Want More Info!

By Live Laugh Love - September 29, 2009

I recently finished reading Night for a school project. This was my second time reading it and I noticed so much more detail this time. While it was a good read, I was wanting more. I wish Elie would have included more about his life. Also, I would have loved to know more about his sisters and other family members. I did some research and found out that Elie was actually reunited with his sisters! You would have never known when reading Night, I thought they had perished in the Holocaust. I also would have liked to know about Elie's life after the Holocaust. What were the long term effects? What does he have to say to the world about his experience? What advice does he have to offer to the world?