In 1944, Elie Wiesel and his family are rounded up and shipped off to a German concentration camp. The author recounts the tale of his own survival. Although the book is not written in the present tense, there is an immediacy to the language that makes it feel as though it is. Things happen quickly, with little time spent reflecting on them. Perhaps this explains the detached quality of the narration, a quality that makes the horror described manageable. This memoir deals with themes of losing faith and of man’s great and yet banal capacity for evil. The author also examines the idea that deception and illusion are necessary defenses against despair. Young Elie is not only in conflict with the Nazis who imprison and torture him. He also struggles with balancing his instinct for self-preservation against his desire to be noble and ethical. This book ends with a rather bleak outlook for humankind's future. The later books in this trilogy balance that despair out, so perhaps the books should be recommended in conjunction with one another. ( )

Everyone should read this book. PERIOD. ( )

Good for all High School levels. The author writes about the holocaust from his personal perspective. Engrossing, disturbing and emotional.

This is a disturbing memoir the author wrote about his life in concentration camps during the Holocaust. The only thing that gave me hope about the book was to know that somehow the author actually survived. It is not exactly my first pick for leisure reading, but in hind-sight, I'm glad I did read it because it gave me an inside look at what actually happened. I would recommend it only to individuals that want to learn more about the Holocaust or concentration camps.

For those who've not heard of it, this book is the author's memoir of his time at Auschwitz and Buchenwald death camps during World War II. His entire family was killed there and throughout the book his sense of survivor's guilt is palpable and heartbreaking.

Having learned about the Holocaust pretty much every year in school from age 10 to 18, I realized it was surprising and strange that I had never read this before. I picked it up knowing full well what happens, where they were going, how it would end. It's not the plot you read this book for, it's to privately allow yourself to mourn and remember those who were killed. It's to join your soul to Wiesel's in order to more fully understand his reminisces. His writing evokes so much emotion that it would be hard for any reader not to be moved.

I do not want to "recommend" this book, but I do think that it should be read by everyone to understand the atrocities man is capable of and to reflect on the history that has brought us to this place and time. ( )