Night

I recently had the chance to reread Night, and was floored by how much ten to -cough- fifteen years can change one's perspective on a book. When I first read this book, I was unaware of any accounts of survivors of the Holocaust. I specifically remember not having a tangible emotional reaction to the horrors described by Mr. Wiesel, instead attempting to apply some sort of logic to it.

My sister-in-law who is in high school had to read this for a project, and to assist I picked it up once again. The reaction that I had to the simplicity of Mr. Wiesel's telling of an event that changed the face of humanity was visceral. My stomach clenched at hearing of the physical, emotional and spiritual abuse that he and his father were put through. The fact that the author never saw his mother and sister beyond the beginning of their forced exodus from Turkey left me tasting bile.

This book is a horrific account of a time in history that has left a smudge on humanity as a whole; not to experience it as an adult in society would be a crime.