reviews
Sep 07, 2011
This short novel is powerful, at times harrowing. The writing is compressed, the tone conversational. One would not think the language capable of handling so many large themes--God, the Holocaust, Hell, Suffering, Love--that the author freights it with. Yet it is the very lightness of the language that buoys the subject matter. There is even a touch of humor, albeit of a very black gallows variety. The writing is deft. It possesses a wonderful contiguity, a narrative cohesion as the incidents un
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Jan 05, 2010
Oh, God, why, why, why... why would someone given the option to create a fictional universe make one so... so... depressing, with seemingly no reason to it?!—that's the deal you see, I can handle depressing. The Road is depressing, so depressing it actually depressed my wife. But it has a message: if we don't stop fucking around, this is the endgame. This, apparently, is supposed to be about how Holocaust survivors can never find true happiness and blah blah blah, and about how hard it is to bel
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Apr 07, 2010
Used this book to ease myself into reading Night by Elie Wiesel. Powerful illustration of how difficult almost impossible is it for a victim of absolute horror to recover from it.
Not as difficult to read as I thought it would be. Now to attempt Night.
Update after thinking about the book:
One thing that makes this book difficult is it more a book of questions than answers. It is also a book that tells more than shows. One scene of the book kept running thro More...
Not as difficult to read as I thought it would be. Now to attempt Night.
Update after thinking about the book:
One thing that makes this book difficult is it more a book of questions than answers. It is also a book that tells more than shows. One scene of the book kept running thro More...
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Nov 13, 2011
Pared to the bones, Day is a short novel in which a Holocaust survivor asks himself why he should still try to live - and taken on its own it is an unforgettable read. As part of the Night-Dawn-Day "trilogy", however, I found it disappointing. Maybe my expectations were unreasonable, but given the names of the three works I expected the sequence to lead from the horrors of Auschwitz through a struggle to a gradual emergence into light. Yet to my mind "Day" is actually a darke
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Dec 12, 2010
The final book in Wiesel's trilogy that began with "Night." Here, he speculates about the possibility of a Holocaust survivor ever really being able to put the past aside. He IS his past and his past IS him. To relinquish suffering is to relinquish memory and the lives of the dead. And yet is not voluntary suffering, immersion in suffering, suffering almost as a badge of identity not a denial of possibility, of creativity, of the responsibility to live when given the chance? Is not
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Feb 21, 2010
Day was about a Holocaust survivor who got ran over by a taxi in New York, and while in the hospital he reflected on his past in the concentration camp. This book kind of started out boring at first, but as time went on, it progressively got more and more interesting. Also as time went on in the book, the memories got more and more deeper into thought and it really got me interested in the book, and after a while, I could not stop reading it. The book was related to Elie Wiesel's other books Nig
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Jun 26, 2009
This novel was a bummer after "Night." To me, "Night" seemed to be one of those rare books who's creation was not due to a fanciful idea to create, but rather a deeply rooted need to document and process an experience. Perhaps if I read it 4 months after "Night" I would feel differently? Perhaps not? I'm not sure.
The ending was what I found to be most disheartening. Withouth adding spoilers (hate adding those!), suffice it to say that I wanted som More...
The ending was what I found to be most disheartening. Withouth adding spoilers (hate adding those!), suffice it to say that I wanted som More...
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Dec 25, 2009
Reading Night is a recommended to understand the main character of Day. What it is like to experience post-traumatic stress, survivor guilt and depression is well portrayed. The ending of the book seems to imply that the "solution" is to choose not think so much about the past. I suspect it might not be that easy.
Reading the "Night" trilogy during Advent season was a meaning experience. We humans are capable of some terrible behavior and the hope, love, joy and peace of More...
Reading the "Night" trilogy during Advent season was a meaning experience. We humans are capable of some terrible behavior and the hope, love, joy and peace of More...
Jun 08, 2011
Wiesel has a haunting way with words and images. Though he keeps his writings brief and to the point, I never have trouble feeling the words that aren't said and the implications of the words that are. Neither this book nor Dawn have the same completely negative tone taken in Night, but this one strikes home in a different way. Night presents all of the pieces to an elaborate puzzle and Dawn and The Accident (Day) attempt to put those pieces together in a way that creates and resembles a world-v
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Jan 06, 2008
I'd like to read this book in French, the language it was originally published in. Interesting book about a Holicaust survivor who is hit by a cab and the course of his wandering thoughts while he is in the hospital. Sounds boring, but I thought it was well done.
One of my favorite passages in the book, where one of the characters tells his friend about a near drowning experience and being saved.
"I thought, I am alive, I have outwitted death. One more time de More...
One of my favorite passages in the book, where one of the characters tells his friend about a near drowning experience and being saved.
"I thought, I am alive, I have outwitted death. One more time de More...
Dec 28, 2009
The last in his 'trilogy' of stories meant to catapult one ungently into the world of grief that is an often overlooked but unforgettably powerful left over casualty of unspeakable tragedy like the Holocaust. This novella in particular, previously entitled The Accident, speaks to survivor guilt. It strikes you subtly at parts and sharpy at others with investigations of the self, the ability we have to destroy ourselves and others and where we can find the desire not to, or if we indeed can.
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Nov 28, 2010
I found this book much more interesting than his "Dawn." I have not been through the experiences that this author has and so what he leaves unsaid for the reader to fill in from personal experience, I find, leaves to large of a gap for me to really get into the book. It is a short read and interesting, and most likely worth it. But not one I would read again or spend much time contemplating. The book I read was used and heavily marked up by previous readers and in many cases I found th
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Dec 25, 2009
His views on death and God are so striking. I love feeling like I know this man, but knowing that I can never even begin to understand the life he has had to live. I'm so grateful he was courageous enough to share his experiences with the world. Judging by his next two books, reliving the camps wasn't the best therapy for him to go through, but the world is better off knowing what he had to say. He'd hate me for saying this, but he's a saint.
May 02, 2009
The third book in Wiesel's exploration of meaning in life and why some people survive only to live as the walking wounded for the rest of their lives. All three of these books are painful to read but they are also full of beauty. I assume that Wiesel is looking for answers for himself by writing these three books (Night, Dawn, and Day)so it is a cathartic experience for him. The books, although dark and horrific, offer hope as well.
May 10, 2011
This short novel was the third and final piece in the "Night" triology. Interesting trilogy in that they are all focused on different aspects oft he Holocaust. This one was the most real for me ( and this one wasn't the autobiographical piece) and evoked more emotional reaction from me in response to the main characters struggle to find connection, aim and a desire to live on after experiencing such a tremendously horrible tragedy. Good read--would have rated higher but I am not a fa
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Feb 25, 2011
This was a powerful look at the negative impact the Holocaust had on the lives of it survivors. Written in an unusual flashback format, Wiesel tells the challenges of burying the dead that died in the camps. It was interesting to note that the haunting pain always stays with the survivors and how that stunts their emotional growth later on. A quick read for anyone interested in post traumatic stress and Holocaust stories.
Oct 28, 2010
This is the third book by Elie Wiesel that I have read. He is a beautiful writer, but his stories are so dark. They are also hard to understand, at least for me. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood.
The first book I read, "Night", I liked a lot. It is not fiction, but rather autobiographical about his experience in the concentration camps during WWII. I am fascinated by this kind of story, and have read a lot of them. It is amazing that Elie lived through it.
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The first book I read, "Night", I liked a lot. It is not fiction, but rather autobiographical about his experience in the concentration camps during WWII. I am fascinated by this kind of story, and have read a lot of them. It is amazing that Elie lived through it.
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Aug 03, 2010
A very sad ending of Wiesels trilogy (Night, Dawn, Day). A Holocaust-survivor reflects about his life as he is in the hospital trying to recover from a car-accident that nearly killed him. He reflects about life and death, the distant silent God, his inability to love, his desire to die, the emptiness of life - his soul died in the nazi-camps - is it at all possible for him to return to life and to love again?
Jul 27, 2011
It was alright. It was interesting to look through the main character's psyche, but it's definitely a downer. Interesting and I'm glad I read it, I just don't know that I'll read it again.
Not that it has anything to do with the quality of the book, more the philosophy, but I don't believe that suffering brings out the worst in humans. It certainly can, but suffering can also bring out the best in people. It all depends on the person and what they allow the suffering to do to them
Not that it has anything to do with the quality of the book, more the philosophy, but I don't believe that suffering brings out the worst in humans. It certainly can, but suffering can also bring out the best in people. It all depends on the person and what they allow the suffering to do to them
Jun 22, 2011
This is decent, but Wiesel really should stick to his non-fiction writing, like Night. He has an incredible life story that is so powerful that makes his fictional works seem a little lackluster. Day (while better than Dawn) is confusing, repetitive, and ends too "easily." I would recommend that everybody reads night and ignores the rest of this "trilogy."
Aug 03, 2010
I followed the suggestion of others, reading "Night" and then "Dawn" and then this book. I did this in a relatively short time, so each prior book was still fresh for me. I am not sure how I would have felt about "The Accident" (Day) if I had read it before the other two.
I already knew this book would be depressing. I also did not connect with it at first, maybe due to translation as Max Maxwell (Dec. 2009) commented on in his review. But, the book More...
I already knew this book would be depressing. I also did not connect with it at first, maybe due to translation as Max Maxwell (Dec. 2009) commented on in his review. But, the book More...
Aug 17, 2010
Day is the final book in Elie Wiesel's trilogy. It was originally published as The Accident. Day is a fictional story about a Holocaust survivor who is hit by a car. While recovering from his injuries, he is left with time to think about his relationships during the war, and how he could possibly come to terms with everything that happened.
Jan 11, 2012
this book was no exception to fabulous. like everything else mr. wiesel has written his words are very matter of fact and the characters created are hauntingly flawed. the difference in this book is that the story takes place post holocaust where a survivor copes with what has happened to him and all those he knew. he labels himself as a "living dead" and no matter who he is with or what he tries, the struggle to break out and "live" haunts him like the ghosts of his past.
Aug 01, 2010
I found this book disturbing. Elie Wiesel is a good author, but it was hard to follow at times. The story was depressing, as I suppose should be considering the topic, but geez! It was a quick read and I heard great reviews, but this book wasn't for me....not one that I will read again. Some things weren't ever explained correctly, or at all for that matter. BUT it was not awful. This book was ok, not great and not awful.
Mar 21, 2009
A holocaust survivior gets into an accident and can't find the will to live, to survive. In a world deviod of real love, who can live? This book reminds me of a line in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors "We need a great deal of love to persuade us to stay in this life." This is a great companion to Wiesel's Night.
Jan 01, 2009
An extremely sad and moving novel. What motivation could there be for someone to try to live a "normal" life after such tragic events? It seems an impossible task, and it seems to me that Wiesel is trying to explain to us just how difficult a choice it is to make. I now understand better just what Holocaust survivors meant when they said they felt guilty for making it out of the concentration camps alive. I cannot imagine the bravery it took for them to choose love and life.
Sep 18, 2011
I expected that Dawn and Day would be more uplifting...judging by the titles. I thought it would be how he came from such a dark Night of the Holocaust and figured out how to make things work. I guess I was wrong on that. These books are all around depressing...unfortunately, I think that is the reality of many Holocaust victims. :(
Mar 11, 2011
Gripping. I picked this up for a dollar. I've read ABOUT Elie Wiesel and his other books, but have not gotten the gumption to read NIGHT or any others. Intriguing discussion in here about the value of a life, life purpose, survivor guilt, suicide, fate and all the BIG questions - from this Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate.
Aug 09, 2011
This book is another work of fiction and quick read from Eile Wiesel. It is the third book in the Night trilogy. It looks at a Holocaust survivor and what his life is like when he is struck by a New York taxicab. There is a lot of reflection in this book and pretty good lines that really made me think.
Mar 26, 2010
Listened to this one on cd. This one didn't touch me as much as Night, but it was still powerful. It highlighted the affects of the Holocaust years later and the insidious way everything about his life was affected - relationships, moving on, living.
