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103rd out of 161 books
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The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, Day (Night)
by
Elie Wiesel
Night is one of the masterpieces of Holocaust literature. First published in 1960, it is the autobiographical account of an adolescent boy and his father in Auschwitz. Elie Wiesel writes of their battle for survival, and of his battle with God for a way to understand the wanton cruelty he witnesses each day. In the short novel Dawn (1961), a young man who has survived...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
April 15th 2008
by Hill and Wang
(first published 1969)
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Drew Darby
marked it as to-read
I've read Night before, but I was looking at a book called Hating God: The Untold Story of Misotheism by Bernard Schweizer, and there was a chapter on Elie Wiesel in there. His theodicy is so compelling and heart-wrenching, not to mention that it is a powerful encapsulation of what so many Jewish people must have gone through since the Shoah (not to mention thoughtful people of all faiths).
So, even though I'm totally broke right now, I picked up this book and got it. I was actually loo...more
So, even though I'm totally broke right now, I picked up this book and got it. I was actually loo...more
Overall I give the trilogy 3.5 stars. However, I give Night 5/5 stars Dawn 3/5 stars, and The Accident 2/5 stars. I read Night last summer and have currently just read Dawn and The Accident. I have included my reviews for each story featured in this trilogy.
Night
SO GOOD! Couldn't put the book down!!! This book is about a boy who is transported to concentration camp to concentration camp with his father. There are so many memorable lines that create such a vivid picture of the ...more
Night
SO GOOD! Couldn't put the book down!!! This book is about a boy who is transported to concentration camp to concentration camp with his father. There are so many memorable lines that create such a vivid picture of the ...more
These books are hard to read, as it is a true first-person portrayal of the horrors of concentration camps (Night) and then the permanent mental and emotional after-effects (Dawn and The Accident) in the survivor. Even though it is not happy reading, it is necessary that we all get a graphic and honest portrayal of the atrocities to ensure that it will never happen again.
In my opinion, probably the worst effect for each young man/hero in each story (we could even argue that the three survi...more
In my opinion, probably the worst effect for each young man/hero in each story (we could even argue that the three survi...more
I knew The Night was about the Holocaust, but didn't know much about the other two books. I thought about how I would have reacted if put in that situation, as a victim. I'm not sure I would have acted differently. He comments a few times on situations where, looking back, they could have avoided trauma. They could have escaped it. But, instead, because of fear or naivety, or trust in human decency, they continued to be herded and killed. I think I would have continued to hope for the best in ot...more
Night, the first of the trilogy, is a memoir. Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor, tells of his time at Auschwitz. From his home, to the ghetto, to the camps and the separation of his family… he and his father had only each other to help each other survive.
I will never understand the depths of human cruelty. Wiesel’s account will leave you feeling almost as if you were there. His words are simple and straightforward, but they have such an impact. I have no words to even begin to express...more
I will never understand the depths of human cruelty. Wiesel’s account will leave you feeling almost as if you were there. His words are simple and straightforward, but they have such an impact. I have no words to even begin to express...more
For my masters degree, I set myself the challenge to read all of Elie's books in order of publication--starting with Night. The journey through his works, one after the other, revealed an increasingly nuanced understanding of one man's struggle to come to terms with human evil, suffering, forgiveness and memory. Elie is a man of remarkable compassion. We are the richer for having his works in our libraries.
This is a collection of three novels- the first autobiographical, the second and third with elements of autobiography that lend realism to their traumatic plots.
I think the thing that impressed me most about this was how clearly it showed what witnessing and experiencing the horrors of a concentration camp at an early age did to the author. Besides the hard work, starvation, freezing, fear and abuse, he saw close relatives fed to the furnace. His devout faith in God burned with t...more
I think the thing that impressed me most about this was how clearly it showed what witnessing and experiencing the horrors of a concentration camp at an early age did to the author. Besides the hard work, starvation, freezing, fear and abuse, he saw close relatives fed to the furnace. His devout faith in God burned with t...more
This is a trilogy of three of Wiesel's books and I'm only giving this three stars because "Night" is an amazing book. The two following books were not my favorite.
Book one: "Night" is touching and a must read. A true story about a Concentration Camp survivor. It is incredible and a must read.
Book two: "Dawn" is disturbing and gave me nightmares even though there are no gory details or horrific scenes. It's about a Concentration Camp survivor w...more
Book one: "Night" is touching and a must read. A true story about a Concentration Camp survivor. It is incredible and a must read.
Book two: "Dawn" is disturbing and gave me nightmares even though there are no gory details or horrific scenes. It's about a Concentration Camp survivor w...more
I ended up only reading "Night" before I had to return it to the library... Absolutely amazing. Haunting. Chilling. Horrifying. I haven't read many first-person accounts of concentration camp survivors, but I can't imagine they get more powerful than this.
What affected me the most was the author's description of how the experience caused all the victims to lose concern for anyone but themselves. He was with his father almost all the way through his experience, and that rela...more
What affected me the most was the author's description of how the experience caused all the victims to lose concern for anyone but themselves. He was with his father almost all the way through his experience, and that rela...more
Reading the first part of the trilogy, Night, was heart wrenching. It's Elie's personal story of his time in Auschwitz. As I was reading it, the horrific account was beyond my comprehension and my heart ached for all victims of the Holocaust. Below is just one of the many passages that deeply moved me:
"Death enveloped me. To no longer exist. To no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot. To no longer feel anything, neither fatigue nor cold, nothing. To break rank, to let my...more
"Death enveloped me. To no longer exist. To no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot. To no longer feel anything, neither fatigue nor cold, nothing. To break rank, to let my...more
I am a baby boomer who didn't see relatives trying to hide numbers tattooed on their flesh; my ancestors emigrated to the USA decades before Adolf Hitler became der Fuhrer. And yet I have vivid memories of going to our attic to become Anne Frank. When we moved to a duplex that had no attic, I stopped pretending to be Anne Frank. The attic is
gone -- but not the freight trains. I seldom see them without imagining myself inside one of the sealed cars. In a second, the image moves on; th...more
gone -- but not the freight trains. I seldom see them without imagining myself inside one of the sealed cars. In a second, the image moves on; th...more
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This book is an incredible story of survival and rebirth. Just amazing. I cannot imagine experiencing some (or any) of the things inside these short stories/memoirs. This should be required reading for all.
Memoir and two novels of the Holocaust first published in 1958. NIGHT is the memoir of Wiesel as an adolescent and his father trying to survive the horror of the camps. DAWN is a short novel about a survivor who now lives in Palestine. He is commanded to execute a British officer, but can he do it after his experience in WWII? DAY is the story of a survivor living in New York who steps off the curb into traffic and suffers a traumatic injury. What are the limits of love and conscience of a survi...more
I acknowledge the inherent importance of these books. It's not overstating things to say that this is as important as any subject area in literature. That said, I only think one of these books is well written. 'Dawn' is a fantastic piece of literature: thoughtful, precise, wonderfully plotted. 'Night' is an excruciating read, and a very impactful one, but I don't think it's terribly well-written. (Can anything so emotionally wrought be well-written?) 'Day' just seemed indulgent. I could have don...more
The night trilogy depicts three stages of a man caught in the midst of a storm on his odyssey for the light of life. Night illustrates the peril of the storm, ready to exterminate a human race as that human race abandons the last grain of humanity to grasp a single additional breath of life. In this race for life, Eliezer Wiesel narrates his adversity on the ultimate test for human: to give in to animal instinct of survivalship or to sustain any leftover humaneness. Dawn and day seemed to lack h...more
I had previously already read Night, and it was wonderful to re-read it, almost like coming home to that comfy chair and getting right back into things. Dawn and Day were amazing fiction stories based on "what if's" and I'm glad those "what if's" got answered. All three are very poignant books, and I don't think the latter two could be held up if it weren't for Night. You need to read Night to understand them and where Mr. Wiesel is coming from. A must read for any histor...more
Elie Wiesel is a Jewish holocaust survivor from Auschwitz. The first novella, Night, is about how as a 15 year old teen, he suffered but survived. Intense and a must read. Dawn, the next novella, shows how he was recruited into an Israelite terror group to help eliminate those fighting against the establishment of the state of Israel. The Accident novella shows how, no matter what he does in his adult life, his relationships are always affected by his concentration camp experiences. These are dy...more
“The Night Trilogy” is a three separate novel of Elie Wiesel’s narrative on his experience at the concentration camp and struggle within himself and his faith. Although, the first novel “Night” was a factual testimony of Wiesel’s experience at the hands of the Nazis, the other two stories were fictional, an outcome of his experience told in “Night”. Of all three stories, my favorite would be “Dawn” because there are many essential aspects discussed in this short novel such as what’s really at st...more
How did I never read "Night"? It happens. This book has been languishing on my shelves for a few years, hidden between some others. "Night" is of course a vivid Holocaust memoir--perhaps the most honest. Elie Wiesel's sparse descriptive prose tells the horrid story with a rhythm the draws the reader along.
But I was most moved by "Dawn"--the story of an Israeli freedom fighter. Perhaps it is the same young man (Wiesel?) as in "Night"--it could ...more
But I was most moved by "Dawn"--the story of an Israeli freedom fighter. Perhaps it is the same young man (Wiesel?) as in "Night"--it could ...more
Mrs.
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people that want to learn about history
"Night" is the true account of Wiesel's survival as a boy in the Holocaust. It's gut wrenching and heart breaking, but it's also a book the reader is unable to put down. The word night is used over and over in all of his stories, and the way he uses the word is symbolic and powerful.
I’ve heard it said that the fictional stories are not as well-known as “Night”, and I would have to say that it is really too bad. Those stories are truly amazing.
"Dawn" is...more
I’ve heard it said that the fictional stories are not as well-known as “Night”, and I would have to say that it is really too bad. Those stories are truly amazing.
"Dawn" is...more
When Nazis were burning babies, where was God?
God was burning with them...
It is hard to realize that there was such intense event occurred before my time. What does that mean to my time then?
It is man's duty to make it (i.e., the suffering) cease, not to increase it... man must keep moving, searching, weighing, holding out his hand, offering himself, inventing himself. -- Gyula
_________________
Definition of evil: man's desire to be better than oth...more
God was burning with them...
It is hard to realize that there was such intense event occurred before my time. What does that mean to my time then?
It is man's duty to make it (i.e., the suffering) cease, not to increase it... man must keep moving, searching, weighing, holding out his hand, offering himself, inventing himself. -- Gyula
_________________
Definition of evil: man's desire to be better than oth...more
The Holocaust from someone who walked that horrific and bitter road. As the librarian said when I was checking it out, "This one will call for a box and a half." She was referring to Kleenex. And she was right...if only figuratively. But so well-written, as only Wiesel can do, that you can't put it down, despite the appalling story it tells. It's certainly a subject of which we should all have at least a conversing knowledge.
I read NIGHT in 3 hours while sitting at the pool on a Saturday. I had to keep stopping myself and remember "THIS REALLY HAPPENED". So crazy, intense and mind numbing. I was humbled knowing that my life has been relatively care free. The amount of pain or despair I may have gone through is nothing compared to this. Dawn and Day further discuss the resounding feelings leftover from the tragedies of the holocaust. Interesting perspective on human relationships and self. These stor...more
"Night. No one prayed, so that the night would pass quickly. The stars were only sparks of the fires which devoured us. Should that fire die out one day, there would be nothing left in the sky but dead stars, dead eyes."
Painfully illuminating and haunting. Even before the first words washed over my eyes like a stream of fresh, cool water, my skin already began to shiver. But I knew someday I would return to Wiesel. I avoided him for too long. I had to understand witho...more
Painfully illuminating and haunting. Even before the first words washed over my eyes like a stream of fresh, cool water, my skin already began to shiver. But I knew someday I would return to Wiesel. I avoided him for too long. I had to understand witho...more
I have actually only read Night out of these three novels in the trilogy, unfortunately there wasnt an option for just one when i searched for this book.
I read this book a long time ago, and I think it may have been for the same class as the rise and fall of the third reich, but I can't quite remember when i read it. It's another must read if you ask me, and it's not too long so it's a quick one as well.
I read this book a long time ago, and I think it may have been for the same class as the rise and fall of the third reich, but I can't quite remember when i read it. It's another must read if you ask me, and it's not too long so it's a quick one as well.
Apparently "The Accident" isn't listed separately here. Perhaps I've read too much of Wiesel in too short a time, but I really didn't care for this book. It was intriguing, and the characters were interesting, but it was mostly depressing. I know that post traumatic shock can influence a person's entire life, and in this story we see another facet of how the horrors of the Holocaust affected one couple.
I had already read Night and Dawn, but reread them. I got so much more out of Night this time, such a great book. Always feel like every person on the planet should read this book. Dawn is still my favorite, I just like the dilemma, thoughts and conflicts posed in this book. Day is very good also in portraying possible lives after surviving the Holocaust. Just gives you so much to think about.
Okay... so for the trilogy, I'd say this is a 4. The different books independently, I'd give Night a solid 5, Dawn a 4 and Day a 3... maybe even less...
Night is so incredibly well written... absolutely heartbreaking... I couldn't set it down. How is it that I never read this book before?
Dawn didn't have me sucked in quite as quickly but as I got farther into it, I became more and more engrossed. At the end of the book, I found myself on the L with my jaw dropped askin...more
Night is so incredibly well written... absolutely heartbreaking... I couldn't set it down. How is it that I never read this book before?
Dawn didn't have me sucked in quite as quickly but as I got farther into it, I became more and more engrossed. At the end of the book, I found myself on the L with my jaw dropped askin...more
The newest edition is titled Night, Dawn, Day. Translations are poetic and moving, but also an "easy read;" engrossing, hard to put down. These stories (1 memoir, 2 novels) communicate the experience of a holocaust survivor through thoughts, emotions and philosophical musings rather than disturbingly graphic descriptions (although there are some).
Unexpectedly, I found Night to be the least intriguing of the three novels. Having read a lot of first-person accounts of the holocaust in my youth, I wasn't much moved by Wiesel's Night. The other two novels were more interesting to me, discussing the challenges of facing life after the war in light of having lost faith in mankind and in the self.
What was most unsettling was Wiesel's description of the callousness and cruelty of himself and of the prisoners around him as a result of the ...more
What was most unsettling was Wiesel's description of the callousness and cruelty of himself and of the prisoners around him as a result of the ...more
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Eliezer Wiesel is a Romania-born American novelist, political activist, and Holocaust survivor of Hungarian Jewish descent. He is the author of over 40 books, the best known of which is Night, a memoir that describes his experiences during the Holocaust and his imprisonment in several concentration camps.
Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. The Norwegian Nobel Committee ca...more
More about Elie Wiesel...
Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. The Norwegian Nobel Committee ca...more
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“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.”
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“I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I hear that particular piece by Beethoven, my eyes close and out of the darkness emerges the pale and melancholy face of my Polish comrade bidding farewell to an audience of dying men.”
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