Night Review

Quick show of hands: who hasn't read this book?  I'm just curious.  Where I come from, this Nobel Prize winning book was required reading in my freshman year of high school, but maybe that isn't so in other states and other countries.  Of course, even if it is required reading, perhaps you haven't got to high school yet, so you haven't read it.

In my opinions, everyone should read this historic book, and they shouldn't wait until high school to do so.  Parents should read it to their children when they're still in elementary school.  I don't think someone should withhold Night from someone just because "they aren't old enough."  It's an important book to be familiar with.  It affects your worldview when you immerse yourself in its contents.

As someone who appreciates literature, I also should note that on top of this being a moving true story about one of the most significant events in the twentieth century, but it is also written by a master of storytelling.  Elie Wiesel tells his story not just as an historian, but as an artist.  He speaks with a rare and special voice that one can only have if one has gone through and been permanently affected by his experiences.  He manages to succeed in expressing his suffering through his words, which is very hard to do.  It is quite fortunate that of the few Jews who survived the Holocaust, at least one of them should have his ability to speak as clearly as he does on the subject of that long, long night.