Customer Rating: 
Summary: Lest we forget
Comment: Every human being should read this book. Emotionally speaking, it's hard to get through. Otherwise,
it's amazing how short, how powerful, and how readable it is.
After I finished Night, I
had a chance to read another first-person account called Doctors from Hell. If you want to learn
more about this period in history, the history of medicine, or man's capacity for atrocity, you'll
enjoy it. Like Night, it's upsetting, but you'll be glad you read it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A good historical account, not such an amazing novel
Comment: This was another book I had to read for school and when I heard about it, it seemed kind of
interesting. I had heard a lot of things about it and many people said it really impacted them.
When I finished reading it, though, it was a little hard for me to understand why the book had
gotten such rave reviews.
This is not a book you can "enjoy" and I really can't say
that I did. The book was filled with emotionless passages describing hangings, beatings, and the
general horrors of the Holocaust. I will say that it was interesting in the fact that it was the
first book I read about the Holocaust that actually described what went on inside the concentration
camps. I think that that is really the one reason that I will give this book three stars, for the
simple fact that it is one-of-a-kind. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the only book I know of
that is an actual account of a person living through the concentration camps.
The
writing style of Elie Wiesel, though, is really unamazing. He writes in short, simple sentences
that are supposed to be a kind of "style" that conveys his emotionlessness in the ordeal. I really
think the book could have benefitted from being written in a different way. The way it is written
did not move me at all. I had to question myself as to why I would keep reading the book. Also,
the narrator is constantly reminding the reader of his lack of will to live. It makes reading the
book even more arduous. I cannot speak of what I would have done in his situation, because I was
simply not there, but I would like to think I would have had something of a will to survive. I
would read the book thinking, "Why doesn't he fight for his right to live? Why won't he see beyond
the seeming hopelessness of his situation and... just try, just...?" I wanted to reach into the
pages and just like shake the guy and say, "You gotta get a hold of yourself, man. Grin and bear
it, or something. You can make it." Again, I can't say how I would of acted in that situation, but
I was very frustrated reading it as he simply had no will to surive. Whatsoever. Reading the book
was like witnessing a very slow death. It was probably meant to be read that way, but witnessing a
slow death does not appeal to me at all.
Call me simpleminded, but I like books with
satisfying endings, with climaxes, with any kind of action. This book really has none of that. I
think this book was a very good historical account but a novel it is not. I wouldn't recommend this
book to anyone unless they are some kind of historical scholar. Most can imagine what kinds of
things went on in the concentration camps, and if you have any kind of imagination whatsoever, you
can leave the book closed. It was very gruesome. I am not a very sensitive person but it
definitely shook me up a little.
I give this book three stars for the fact this book
functions as a good historical account of the concentration camps and for the fact that it must have
taken the author a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to write the book. I will not say it was
enjoyable by any means. Read this book if you really, really want to know what happened in the
camps. If you just want a book, a good novel that will leave you with any kind of peace of mind, I
would recommend you not to read it.
