Night by Elie Wiesel | Teen Ink

Night by Elie Wiesel MAG

May 31, 2012
By crysy BRONZE, Lincoln, California
crysy BRONZE, Lincoln, California
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

I don't believe words could do this book justice. Night by Elie Wiesel will appeal to anyone, whether you enjoy nonfiction or not. If you're interested in the history of the Holocaust, you might like Night because it shocks your brain out of reality, to a point where it doesn't seem real. Keep in mind, though, that everything here adds up to make a realistic story that teaches you to cherish the good things in your life – because you don't know how long they will remain.

The astonishing story is told in a deeply moving account by Elie Wiesel. He recounts his experiences as a Hungarian Jew who is taken with his family to a concentration camp. Like Anne Frank, he is separated from some of his family, never to see them again. What is amazing about this story is that Wiesel gives you the facts straight up, in a calm, almost casual manner. It's like he's told the story so many times and he's not trying to make you pity or feel sorry for him. From my perspective, that's what makes Night stand in the limelight. There were no sensational details, and maybe that's what slapped my conscience into remembering that it's nonfiction.

But that was just the beginning of the end of his world. It was one never-ending emotional roller coaster. Actually, it stopped being emotional after some time at the camps. Everyone was traumatized by all the petrifying factors surrounding them. I compare this to a roller coaster because if you spend too much time on one, you begin to not pay as much attention and everything buzzes by you, as it did for Wiesel. How did he survive it?

Night taught me to cherish everyone around me and not to take them for granted, even if I see them every day. I learned to smile as much as possible to make up for the not-so-great moments in life.


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