Night

I just finished reading "Night" by Elie Wiesel. The novel is a terrifying account of the author's experiences (can I even call them that?) in Auschwitz and then Buchenwald. Elie was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home. It's not a pleasant read and occasionally, I needed to put the book down.

What amazed me again about the whole thing is the capacity for evil in humans. What did it take for all those officers to be so hardened that they would be able to extinguish the lives of so many, including children?

Another thing that amazes me is the will to survive. I couldn't believe how the author could continue to exist. I feel sure that I would have given up, but I guess we don't know how strong our will to survive is until we're put to the test. I'm not surprised that his faith was tested. In the middle of the book he cries out to God while his fellow prisoners are praising God during Rosh Hashanah. He says, "when you were displeased by Noah's generation, You brought down the Flood. When Sodom lost Your favour, You caused the heavens to rain down fire and damnation. But look at these men whom You have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, gassed and burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise Your name!"

I would highly recommend the book. It's short (thank goodness) and very gripping. It happens to be Oprah's current book club selection. I think it's a good follow up to her last one, "A Million Little Pieces" (a supposed memoir which turned out to be full of lies). As hard as "Night" must have been to write, I'm so glad Mr. Wiesel has written his memories. He says in the last lines of his preface....."The witness has forced himself to testify. For the youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow. He does not want his past to become their future."