Wiesel, Elie. Night

Night is a book written by Elie Wiesel in 1958. The original 865-page manuscript was written in Yiddish and titled "Un di Velt Hot Geshvign" which loosely translates to "And the World Remained Silent".

In 1958, a 178-page translation titled La Nuit, published by Les Editions de Minuit, first appeared in France. Hill & Wang published this book in 1960, and the Book Club print appeared in June1967, whilst the Bantam Edition in April 1982. The cover art of this book was by Bantam Publishers. This book is the first of a trilogy consisting of Night, Dawn, and Day, to express and reflect the different states of the author's mind. The first book expresses the end of everything, in particular the end in the belief of a God.

Night is a 100-page account covering the period 1944 to 1945 when Elie and his father, imprisoned at the Nazi concentration camps, experienced unspeakable horrors. The narrative is very powerful, and from the eyes of a young sixteen-year-old person witnessing the systematic murder of his family, and friends. It describes a Hellish inverted world where one is no longer a human being, where one has no name, family, or friends. A world where one has no value or worth, where you are dehumanised and you are alone.

Never Shall I Forget

"Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments, which murdered my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."

Wiesel, Elie. Night (p. 32)

A useful book even today

I found this book very useful in understanding some of the thought processes that are involved in the psychology of prejudice, and in particular how anyone in a position of authority can justify their inhumanity to another. In a modern day context, and from my personal experience, prejudiced attitudes are less overt and more covert when compared to the 1980s and 1990s, however, they still exist today in modern Britain. My problem in life, when I was growing up, was how to handle those feelings, of being unwanted, due to colour. Maybe the secret in life is to have the ability to convert that very crux of the moment, that apex, that very moment, of whatever you are feeling, especially that negative feeling, into love. Any human being that has that ability brings them closer to god, and therefore I always strive for that.

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