Wednesday, July 19, 2017

The One Time I Was Satisfied With A School Book.

So, my opinion of school required books is usually pretty bad. I mean, both of my flop posts were school required books. Last year I did a review of one of our required books, The Outsiders, so I decided to keep it going.
We only had one required book this year, so here it is:

Night
By Elie Wiesel

Year of Publishing: 1958
Publishing House: Hill and Wang
Genre: Nonfiction
Age: Literally Anyone 13 and Up
Short/Long Read: It is a very short book; you could probably read it in a day if you wanted to. However, I suggest reading it over a much longer period of time, at least a week. If you're feeling like it, annotate it. I promise it will help with your understanding of the book (there are a lot of double meanings).
Rating Out Of Five: 5/5 Stars

I'd like to preface this review by informing you (if you didn't already know) is a documentation of Elie Wiesel's experience during the Holocaust. Real events are written about in this book.

The greatest thing about Night is that it really makes you think. My language arts class would end up talking about a specific line and its meaning for a good amount of time (which is a good thing because they were very good conversations). You could read something and think it meant one thing, but unless you thought about it, you wouldn't get the real meaning.
Another thing, Elie Wiesel is able to pack a punch in one line that could make you cry or completely change your perspective on life.
Here's one of the most impactful quotes I remember:


“Where is God? Where is He?” someone behind me asked...
For more than half an hour [the child in the noose] stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed.
Behind me, I heard the same man asking:
“Where is God now?”
And I heard a voice within me answer him:
“Where is He? Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows. . . .”

I know that school required books can be a pain for students, especially with annotations and assignments for the book, but Night made the experience enjoyable. I have no critiques or complaints for this book. The next time you're at a book store, I suggest that you grab this book.

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