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"Not since Albert Camus has there been such an eloquent spokesman for man." --The New York Times Book Review
The publication of Day restores Elie Wiesel's original title to the novel initially published in English as The Accident and clearly establishes it as the powerful conclusion to the author's classic trilogy of Holocaust literature, which includes his memoir Night and novel Dawn. "In Night it is the ‘I' who speaks," writes Wiesel. "In the other two, it is the ‘I' who listens and questions."
In its opening paragraphs, a successful journalist and Holocaust survivor steps off a New York City curb and into the path of an oncoming taxi. Consequently, most of Wiesel's masterful portrayal of one man's exploration of the historical tragedy that befell him, his family, and his people transpires in the thoughts, daydreams, and memories of the novel's narrator. Torn between choosing life or death, Day again and again returns to the guiding questions that inform Wiesel's trilogy: the meaning and worth of surviving the annihilation of a race, the effects of the Holocaust upon the modern character of the Jewish people, and the loss of one's religious faith in the face of mass murder and human extermination.
The publication of Day restores Elie Wiesel's original title to the novel initially published in English as The Accident and clearly establishes it as the powerful conclusion to the author's classic trilogy of Holocaust literature, which includes his memoir Night and novel Dawn. "In Night it is the ‘I' who speaks," writes Wiesel. "In the other two, it is the ‘I' who listens and questions."
In its opening paragraphs, a successful journalist and Holocaust survivor steps off a New York City curb and into the path of an oncoming taxi. Consequently, most of Wiesel's masterful portrayal of one man's exploration of the historical tragedy that befell him, his family, and his people transpires in the thoughts, daydreams, and memories of the novel's narrator. Torn between choosing life or death, Day again and again returns to the guiding questions that inform Wiesel's trilogy: the meaning and worth of surviving the annihilation of a race, the effects of the Holocaust upon the modern character of the Jewish people, and the loss of one's religious faith in the face of mass murder and human extermination.
109 pages, Paperback
First published March 21, 2006
543 people are currently reading
36907 people want to read
About the author
Elie Wiesel
271 books4,491 followersEliezer "Elie" Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.
In his political activities Wiesel became a regular speaker on the subject of the Holocaust and remained a strong defender of human rights during his lifetime. He also advocated for many other causes like the state of Israel and against Hamas and victims of oppression including Soviet and Ethiopian Jews, the apartheid in South Africa, the Bosnian genocide, Sudan, the Kurds and the Armenian genocide, Argentina's Desaparecidos or Nicaragua's Miskito people.
He was a professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor. He was involved with Jewish causes and human rights causes and helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Wiesel was awarded various prestigious awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active in it throughout his life.
In his political activities Wiesel became a regular speaker on the subject of the Holocaust and remained a strong defender of human rights during his lifetime. He also advocated for many other causes like the state of Israel and against Hamas and victims of oppression including Soviet and Ethiopian Jews, the apartheid in South Africa, the Bosnian genocide, Sudan, the Kurds and the Armenian genocide, Argentina's Desaparecidos or Nicaragua's Miskito people.
He was a professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor. He was involved with Jewish causes and human rights causes and helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Wiesel was awarded various prestigious awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active in it throughout his life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 916 reviews
August 7, 2012
I made the mistake of reading reviews before reading this book ,and I have to say that I am amazed at the number of poor reviews. Day is one of the most eloquently written books I have ever read and to achieve this status with such simple prose in dealing with so many complicated subjects is amazing! So many times reviewers said this book is "depressing". I disagree. This book is informative, it gives us a glimpse into human nature that is NEVER TO BE SPOKEN. It is more acceptable to discuss the atrocities of the Holocaust than to talk about the monsters within us all,the dark places that inhabit us ALL, the suffering all humans endure because of our connections to this world and to one another ,the judgements we pass over one's reasons for suffering. These are unpleasant aspects of the human condition, but never-the-less... THEY ARE REAL! I was not depressed at all, I read this book with intentions solely my own , and I got what I came for. If your intention is to be entertained, DO NOT READ! If your intention is to read about happy fairy tale endings, DO NOT READ! If your intention is to be inspired to rethink your relationship with yourself ,the world, and how you manage life circumstances, YOU MUST READ! As dark a tale as this book spins... and it is darker than anything I have ever read. Light pours from its pages if you chose to see it. Gyula was very wise and added a complete and total conclusion to this book. Too bad it seems so many missed it...
January 26, 2025
Part 1
Quite different from Night and Dawn.
Having said that, the rawest images come from the story of a woman named Sarah who was abused in the concentration camps as a girl and the accusations Wiesel
then hurls at God. Not for the faint of heart or faint of faith.
The narrator is excellent.
Audiobook read by George Guidall
Part 2
So l'm here to review Day.
Wiesel has his way of writing that is meditative and contemplative and poetic, at times melodramatic.
I feel like I'm floating between heaven and earth, life and death (for he's always talking about death), earth and a 7th dimension.
A man is hit by a vehicle and hospitalized, almost dies, then begins to think over some of the more salient events of his life.
Quite different from Night and Dawn.
Having said that, the rawest images come from the story of a woman named Sarah who was abused in the concentration camps as a girl and the accusations Wiesel
then hurls at God. Not for the faint of heart or faint of faith.
The narrator is excellent.
Audiobook read by George Guidall
Part 2
So l'm here to review Day.
Wiesel has his way of writing that is meditative and contemplative and poetic, at times melodramatic.
I feel like I'm floating between heaven and earth, life and death (for he's always talking about death), earth and a 7th dimension.
A man is hit by a vehicle and hospitalized, almost dies, then begins to think over some of the more salient events of his life.
May 18, 2023
A review of the final book in the Night trilogy, Day, and a little about the series as a whole.
Well, jesse, was it a good book?
It was ok...I tend to miss some of the deeper meanings (which I'm sure this book was chalked full of) in books due to my "lack of emotional depth" or my "emotional immaturity" but it was ok.
How did it compare to the other books in the trilogy?
For me, it was the worst in the series. Now, that doesn't mean it was bad. It was just the worst of the three. For me, the order they appear in is best to worst, Night, Dawn, and someone had to come in last, Day.
Would you recommend the Day and the Night trilogy to your friends?
What friends? There's that one co-worker I like and my cat. Day as a stand-alone book, no. But the night trilogy in its entirety, heck yes. I don't think you can read one without the other two. They all work together to bring you full circle. Tragedy, healing (sort of), and moving on.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read and a great series. I love sad, depressing, emotional books, and this was just the ticket. Do yourself a favor and read the series. It's short and highly enjoyable.
Well, jesse, was it a good book?
It was ok...I tend to miss some of the deeper meanings (which I'm sure this book was chalked full of) in books due to my "lack of emotional depth" or my "emotional immaturity" but it was ok.
How did it compare to the other books in the trilogy?
For me, it was the worst in the series. Now, that doesn't mean it was bad. It was just the worst of the three. For me, the order they appear in is best to worst, Night, Dawn, and someone had to come in last, Day.
Would you recommend the Day and the Night trilogy to your friends?
What friends? There's that one co-worker I like and my cat. Day as a stand-alone book, no. But the night trilogy in its entirety, heck yes. I don't think you can read one without the other two. They all work together to bring you full circle. Tragedy, healing (sort of), and moving on.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read and a great series. I love sad, depressing, emotional books, and this was just the ticket. Do yourself a favor and read the series. It's short and highly enjoyable.
February 9, 2017
This short novel is powerful, at times harrowing. The writing is compressed, the tone conversational. One would not think the language capable of handling so many large themes--God, the Holocaust, Hell, Suffering, Love--that the author freights it with. Yet it is the very lightness of the language that buoys the subject matter. There is even a touch of humor, albeit of a very black gallows variety. The writing is deft. It possesses a wonderful contiguity, a narrative cohesion as the incidents unfold. It is Wiesel's second novel and a translation from the French. The narrator, a Holocaust survivor, is in wrenching pain, both physical and emotional. He cannot let go of the past with its many dead. At any other time he would probably be a morose and dull fellow, but when he steps off a curb in Times Square and is struck by a cab his painful emotional life is brought to the fore. The accident is a nasty one. This febrile, near-death experience reanimates his sense of personal loss. This is essentially a philosophical novel, but so nicely undergirded with action that the reader is never adrift in abstractions. Eliezer, the narrator, cannot let go of his anger and despair. He was raised with a strong belief in God which his experience in the camps has annihilated. Kathleen, raised in affluence in the US, is his lover who, like Eliezer, but for different reasons, cannot wrap her mind around "the event." Both are sufferers of what psychologists would call survivor guilt. Don't let this crude partial summary I'm providing here put you off. The writing is nuanced, beautiful, and to use a phrase Anthony Burgess used in praising another book: "almost unbearably moving." Highly recommended.
December 12, 2024
I had not been able to understand for a long time what in the world God had done to deserve man.
'Day', the third book in Elie Wiesel’s trilogy is a work of fiction tinged with the author’s real-life bitter experiences and struggles.
The story is about a broken man who is hit by a cab in New York City while crossing the street with his girl friend.
His shattered body is transferred to a hospital where he has to stay for weeks on end to recover.
Paradise is when nothing comes between the eye and the tree.
But what about his broken soul and his disillusionment with humanity?
Could his inner wounds ever be healed? Would he be able to cope with his past and find a way to love and live, despite going through the horrors of the Holocaust.
Would he be able to lay his ghosts to rest?
'Day', the third book in Elie Wiesel’s trilogy is a work of fiction tinged with the author’s real-life bitter experiences and struggles.
The story is about a broken man who is hit by a cab in New York City while crossing the street with his girl friend.
His shattered body is transferred to a hospital where he has to stay for weeks on end to recover.
Paradise is when nothing comes between the eye and the tree.
But what about his broken soul and his disillusionment with humanity?
Could his inner wounds ever be healed? Would he be able to cope with his past and find a way to love and live, despite going through the horrors of the Holocaust.
Would he be able to lay his ghosts to rest?
May 15, 2016
I was disappointed with this one even more than I was with “Dawn”. “Night” is powerful and the other two are a definite let-down and depressing. I cannot understand why these three books are part of a trilogy. The last two are a bit muddling and all over the place. I almost abandoned both of them.
January 2, 2022
I didn't "really liked it" as 4 stars by GR is identified, but the sublime writing that can be found throughout this short novel deserves the rating. This small book could probably be read in a day by most in this community. I needed to read slowly and reflect on what I was reading and let some of the words burn themselves in my brain. Just as I have to think more about how best to review this book. So full review to come (I hope!).
This novel with an original title of The Accident was written in 1962. The 2006 edition I read had a new introduction by the author. It sets the tone for what is to come. Having survived the cruelest of wars, how does one go on in a hostile or indifferent world? We cannot forget. The images are there in front of our eyes. And from the back cover A profound confrontation with the burden of memory.
Let's see....a fictionalized story drawn from the author's post-holocaust experience as a young adult trying to find his place in the world. He is obsessed with death. Rivers flow toward the sea, which is never full. Men are swallowed by death, which is never satiated.
He has survivor's guilt. He feels he is still living in the past as he watched his family go up in smoke, literally. He is haunted by thoughts of his Grandmother & her black shawl and the ashes she became. He has difficulty connecting with life and pushes away the one woman who loves him. ...how can one love if at the same time one doesn't care about life, if one doesn't believe in life or in love?
He is involved in an accident. In the hospital while the providers work to keep him alive, his time is filled with remembering and coming to grips with reality. His physician tries to see into his soul so that he can help not only his physical healing but also with the emotional scars. But the MC is reluctant to share.
If I had spoken to him out loud, he would have understood the tragic fate of those who came back, left over, living-dead. You must look at them carefully. Their appearances are deceptive. They look like others. They eat, they laugh, they love. They seek money, fame, love. Like the others. But it isn't true: they are playing, sometimes without even knowing it. Anyone who has seen what they have seen cannot be like the others, cannot laugh, love, pray, bargain, suffer, have fun, or forget. You have to watch them carefully when they pass ab innocent-looking smokestack, or when they lift a piece of bread to their mouths. Something in them shudders and makes you turn your eyes away. these people have been amputated; they haven't lost their legs or eyes but their will and their taste for life.
This novel with an original title of The Accident was written in 1962. The 2006 edition I read had a new introduction by the author. It sets the tone for what is to come. Having survived the cruelest of wars, how does one go on in a hostile or indifferent world? We cannot forget. The images are there in front of our eyes. And from the back cover A profound confrontation with the burden of memory.
Let's see....a fictionalized story drawn from the author's post-holocaust experience as a young adult trying to find his place in the world. He is obsessed with death. Rivers flow toward the sea, which is never full. Men are swallowed by death, which is never satiated.
He has survivor's guilt. He feels he is still living in the past as he watched his family go up in smoke, literally. He is haunted by thoughts of his Grandmother & her black shawl and the ashes she became. He has difficulty connecting with life and pushes away the one woman who loves him. ...how can one love if at the same time one doesn't care about life, if one doesn't believe in life or in love?
He is involved in an accident. In the hospital while the providers work to keep him alive, his time is filled with remembering and coming to grips with reality. His physician tries to see into his soul so that he can help not only his physical healing but also with the emotional scars. But the MC is reluctant to share.
If I had spoken to him out loud, he would have understood the tragic fate of those who came back, left over, living-dead. You must look at them carefully. Their appearances are deceptive. They look like others. They eat, they laugh, they love. They seek money, fame, love. Like the others. But it isn't true: they are playing, sometimes without even knowing it. Anyone who has seen what they have seen cannot be like the others, cannot laugh, love, pray, bargain, suffer, have fun, or forget. You have to watch them carefully when they pass ab innocent-looking smokestack, or when they lift a piece of bread to their mouths. Something in them shudders and makes you turn your eyes away. these people have been amputated; they haven't lost their legs or eyes but their will and their taste for life.
January 26, 2025
Jan 26, 1130am ~~ The final book in the Night trilogy.
Deeply moving, but often traumatic and painful to read, this 1961 novel is best summed up by the author himself in the preface he wrote for the 2006 edition of the book.
"This novel deals with a number of obvious themes, but its true subject remains unspoken: Having survived the cruelest of wars, how does one go on in a hostile or indifferent world?"
How does a survivor cope with surviving? Can they ignore the memories, stop seeing what they saw in the death camps? Turn off the pain? The smell?
In this book, Wiesel imagines one man's approach to this dilemma. As heartbreaking as the other two titles in the trilogy were, this one hit me even harder.
I can't say more right now. I am too full of tears.
Deeply moving, but often traumatic and painful to read, this 1961 novel is best summed up by the author himself in the preface he wrote for the 2006 edition of the book.
"This novel deals with a number of obvious themes, but its true subject remains unspoken: Having survived the cruelest of wars, how does one go on in a hostile or indifferent world?"
How does a survivor cope with surviving? Can they ignore the memories, stop seeing what they saw in the death camps? Turn off the pain? The smell?
In this book, Wiesel imagines one man's approach to this dilemma. As heartbreaking as the other two titles in the trilogy were, this one hit me even harder.
I can't say more right now. I am too full of tears.
December 16, 2017
3.5
The one big flaw in this work is one I mentioned in my last read: didactic dialogue. The narrator’s thoughts I could believe in, though they were a bit tedious at times, but much of the dialogue did not feel real. What does feel real is the suffering of a man who saw human beings at their worst. He survives by communing with his dead, and engaging superficially with the living. This novella was once called The Accident and I wondered why the title was changed until I got to the penultimate page: the most affecting part of the story, along with the almost-unbearable Night-like flashbacks.
The one big flaw in this work is one I mentioned in my last read: didactic dialogue. The narrator’s thoughts I could believe in, though they were a bit tedious at times, but much of the dialogue did not feel real. What does feel real is the suffering of a man who saw human beings at their worst. He survives by communing with his dead, and engaging superficially with the living. This novella was once called The Accident and I wondered why the title was changed until I got to the penultimate page: the most affecting part of the story, along with the almost-unbearable Night-like flashbacks.
March 3, 2012
Elie Wiesel’s Day (once entitled The Accident), the third and final book in his Night trilogy of memoirs, is causing some clenching in my brain. After reading Night some two years ago — which was by far the most resonating and heart-breaking of the three books — my entire mindset concerning the suffering and guilt associated with Holocaust survivors has shifted: witnessing that type of human destruction and atrocity on such an astonishing scale can rip the humanity right from a person’s core. Death becomes life.
Which leads us to the burning question of this novel: “Is it ever possible for Holocaust survivors to create new lives for themselves without remembering their old ones?” In Day, Wiesel gives a brief glimpse of his life in New York City — many years after the war — and the struggles he faces connecting in love, feeling undeserving of life’s gifts and pleasures, being incapable of honesty to others, as well as himself, the list goes on and on. You cannot read two sentences without being reminded of the tragedy day-to-day life brings. Wiesel will remind you, constantly and unwaveringly, lest you forget.
The basic premise is this: Wiesel is struck by a cab and critically wounded. He welcomes death, but is refused it. Life is simply not worth living, but he can’t seem to stop living it. As he remembers the events leading up to this moment and the time that follows — centered mainly on his “relationship” with Kathleen, a woman he in no way deserves — he philosophizes on the things in his past that make it impossible for him to move on with life.
Simply put, I did not like this book. I did not enjoy it. I did not empathize. I did not have patience with it. But there was something that affected me. Good, bad, I don't know — essentially, it’s irrelevant, because I responded, and sometimes, that’s all that matters. It may not be enough, but it matters, nonetheless.
Although the book is well-written, and it's natural to feel how his experience in during the Holocaust could have hindered his ability to love, his self-pity and self-loathing was too much for me to stand. I know this is unfair: I’ve read Night, I should know better. But I still couldn’t stop myself from despising him. A terrible and painful past is no excuse for treating people like shit. Period.
Then it hit me: This is his intention: To detach us from him, to push us away, to force us to look at him through eyes of judgment and hatred. It is how he looks at himself. It is how he believes others should look at him. And he does it unapologetically, which cannot have been easy. He wants you to hate him, all while knowing his past. He wants us to see that despite pitying him, we can still find his behavior sickening.
The book is short, which is a relief; 109 pages of self-imposed suffering isn't so bad. The ending will leave you hanging, but at least it is wrought with symbolism. The best character in the book, arriving too late for my taste, is the voice of reason concerning Wiesel’s suffering. I would like to think that this person is none other than us — his irritated readers — having a chance to say what we’ve all been thinking for the last 106 pages. I’m paraphrasing here, but basically: Get over it. Those people around you? It's not their fault.
I’m probably going to Hell, but my forced detachment will not let me escape the thought. I’m going to assume he got the message. I’ll also admit now that, in all likelihood, I’m probably not objective enough. Wiesel deserves far more credit than I’m giving him, as far as this particular story goes.
Not an enjoyable read, despite some enlightening moments, so it is not coming recommended. Do yourself a favor and read Night instead. It's brilliant.
Which leads us to the burning question of this novel: “Is it ever possible for Holocaust survivors to create new lives for themselves without remembering their old ones?” In Day, Wiesel gives a brief glimpse of his life in New York City — many years after the war — and the struggles he faces connecting in love, feeling undeserving of life’s gifts and pleasures, being incapable of honesty to others, as well as himself, the list goes on and on. You cannot read two sentences without being reminded of the tragedy day-to-day life brings. Wiesel will remind you, constantly and unwaveringly, lest you forget.
The basic premise is this: Wiesel is struck by a cab and critically wounded. He welcomes death, but is refused it. Life is simply not worth living, but he can’t seem to stop living it. As he remembers the events leading up to this moment and the time that follows — centered mainly on his “relationship” with Kathleen, a woman he in no way deserves — he philosophizes on the things in his past that make it impossible for him to move on with life.
Simply put, I did not like this book. I did not enjoy it. I did not empathize. I did not have patience with it. But there was something that affected me. Good, bad, I don't know — essentially, it’s irrelevant, because I responded, and sometimes, that’s all that matters. It may not be enough, but it matters, nonetheless.
Although the book is well-written, and it's natural to feel how his experience in during the Holocaust could have hindered his ability to love, his self-pity and self-loathing was too much for me to stand. I know this is unfair: I’ve read Night, I should know better. But I still couldn’t stop myself from despising him. A terrible and painful past is no excuse for treating people like shit. Period.
Then it hit me: This is his intention: To detach us from him, to push us away, to force us to look at him through eyes of judgment and hatred. It is how he looks at himself. It is how he believes others should look at him. And he does it unapologetically, which cannot have been easy. He wants you to hate him, all while knowing his past. He wants us to see that despite pitying him, we can still find his behavior sickening.
The book is short, which is a relief; 109 pages of self-imposed suffering isn't so bad. The ending will leave you hanging, but at least it is wrought with symbolism. The best character in the book, arriving too late for my taste, is the voice of reason concerning Wiesel’s suffering. I would like to think that this person is none other than us — his irritated readers — having a chance to say what we’ve all been thinking for the last 106 pages. I’m paraphrasing here, but basically: Get over it. Those people around you? It's not their fault.
I’m probably going to Hell, but my forced detachment will not let me escape the thought. I’m going to assume he got the message. I’ll also admit now that, in all likelihood, I’m probably not objective enough. Wiesel deserves far more credit than I’m giving him, as far as this particular story goes.
Not an enjoyable read, despite some enlightening moments, so it is not coming recommended. Do yourself a favor and read Night instead. It's brilliant.
February 10, 2025
Originally published in English as The Accident, this final volume in the trilogy is a cross between the autobiographical Night and fictional Dawn insofar that it draws heavily on events from Wiesel's life to build a fictional novel about a Holocaust survivor (who even shares the author's name) grappling with survivor's guilt. The Eliezer in Day only superficially engages with the living; he lost everyone he loved and went through unimaginable hardship, but even so, life goes on... even though he doesn't want it to. When he is struck by a cab and is left in critical condition with every bone in one side of his body broken, he doesn't fight death, he even welcomes it, but he is refused its release, and so we follow his reflections on his relationships as flashbacks leading up to the accident while he slowly recovers from his injuries.
His life ended in the concentration camps with everyone he loved—how can there be a life of joy and hope after that experience? His tragic past is what he chooses to wallow in, and it has caused a disconnect to his present life, as well as stunted his ability to get close to another person. The most philosophical of the three books in the trilogy, it revolves around a somewhat unlikeable nihilist of a main character who gives in to meaningless suffering and is unable to come back from all he experienced to find meaning in life. It was an unflinching, heavy book, but the turn it took at the end made it a worthy, poignant, and realistically ambiguous final chapter in this trilogy of death and rebirth.
—————
My other reviews for the Night trilogy:
1: Night · ★★★★★
2: Dawn · ★★★★
3: Day · ★★★★
"Suffering pulls us farther away from other human beings. It builds a wall made of cries and contempt to separate us."
His life ended in the concentration camps with everyone he loved—how can there be a life of joy and hope after that experience? His tragic past is what he chooses to wallow in, and it has caused a disconnect to his present life, as well as stunted his ability to get close to another person. The most philosophical of the three books in the trilogy, it revolves around a somewhat unlikeable nihilist of a main character who gives in to meaningless suffering and is unable to come back from all he experienced to find meaning in life. It was an unflinching, heavy book, but the turn it took at the end made it a worthy, poignant, and realistically ambiguous final chapter in this trilogy of death and rebirth.
—————
My other reviews for the Night trilogy:
1: Night · ★★★★★
2: Dawn · ★★★★
3: Day · ★★★★
September 18, 2021
CW: Holocaust/genocide, depression/suicide ideation, discussion of child rape
Survivor's guilt, the short story.
"Day" deals with how to move on after trauma and the unimaginable, after living through and surviving a genocide that everyone you knew and loved didn't. Or rather, it's about whether such a person can truly be said to have survived, to be living, when the dead surround them and invade them with every breath and every thought.
This is not an uplifting story and it doesn't provide any answers or a neat resolution. Which is fine. I definitely don't need that when a story doesn't require them, and this one doesn't. That's not what this is about. This is a study in the psyche of a broken man, both inside and outside. The other characters are there as a mirror to the MC's pain and how that pain impacts those around him.
Unfortunately, I found this rather repetitive, and since this is already a short story, that made it feel a little thin on substance, even though there's plenty to chew over in this. The MC, understandably, was rather standoffish. He's meant to be. How can he not be abrasive? But it was harder to "get on his side" as a result, unlike the MC in "Dawn."
Make sure to read the foreword from the author after the story. I do this as a rule, since such things always seem to have spoilers. In this case, I think it's just more interesting to read his thoughts with the context of the story in mind.
Survivor's guilt, the short story.
"Day" deals with how to move on after trauma and the unimaginable, after living through and surviving a genocide that everyone you knew and loved didn't. Or rather, it's about whether such a person can truly be said to have survived, to be living, when the dead surround them and invade them with every breath and every thought.
This is not an uplifting story and it doesn't provide any answers or a neat resolution. Which is fine. I definitely don't need that when a story doesn't require them, and this one doesn't. That's not what this is about. This is a study in the psyche of a broken man, both inside and outside. The other characters are there as a mirror to the MC's pain and how that pain impacts those around him.
Unfortunately, I found this rather repetitive, and since this is already a short story, that made it feel a little thin on substance, even though there's plenty to chew over in this. The MC, understandably, was rather standoffish. He's meant to be. How can he not be abrasive? But it was harder to "get on his side" as a result, unlike the MC in "Dawn."
Make sure to read the foreword from the author after the story. I do this as a rule, since such things always seem to have spoilers. In this case, I think it's just more interesting to read his thoughts with the context of the story in mind.
April 15, 2016
The problem is not: to be or not to be. But rather: to be and not to be. What it comes down to is that man lives while dying, that he represents death to the living, and that's where tragedy begins.
God, what a disappointment.
After loving Night and Dawn, I expected I will love Day as well. But whereas the previous novels had very strong messages, this one didn't really tell me anything rather than 'after a hellish life of Holocaust and torture, one can't simply love again and be happy.'
Honestly? The whole book was a hundred pages of depressive thoughts with vague descriptions that made you feel bored and left you unattached to the story in a way that you simply could not care.
I was expecting much of a better ending for this trilogy.
September 6, 2024
dnf at page 19
January 23, 2022
Argh...I didn't love this one. I started this one yesterday afternoon and as I went to finish it this morning, I didn't really want to. I'm glad I did though. Once I was able to settle into it, it was smoother sailing.
I enjoyed the writing when it came to emotion. That was my favorite part. So I added a star for that.
I enjoyed the writing when it came to emotion. That was my favorite part. So I added a star for that.
March 1, 2018
A little more biographical than the second book.
I thought the idea of being living history was interesting - especially the way that was carried over into to into his mental state.
I thought the idea of being living history was interesting - especially the way that was carried over into to into his mental state.
April 24, 2015
Description: The publication of Day restores Elie Wiesel's original title to the novel initially published in English as The Accident and clearly establishes it as the powerful conclusion to the author's classic trilogy of Holocaust literature, which includes his memoir Night and novel Dawn. "In Night it is the 'I' who speaks," writes Wiesel. "In the other two, it is the 'I' who listens and questions."
In its opening paragraphs, a successful journalist and Holocaust survivor steps off a New York City curb and into the path of an oncoming taxi. Consequently, most of Wiesel's masterful portrayal of one man's exploration of the historical tragedy that befell him, his family, and his people transpires in the thoughts, daydreams, and memories of the novel's narrator. Torn between choosing life or death, Day again and again returns to the guiding questions that inform Wiesel's trilogy: the meaning and worth of surviving the annihilation of a race, the effects of the Holocaust upon the modern character of the Jewish people, and the loss of one's religious faith in the face of mass murder and human extermination
Read by George Guidall
Although this is a novel, it does draw heavily on real events in Wiesel's life.
UR Night (The Night Trilogy, #1) *
WL Dawn (The Night Trilogy, #2)
2* Day (The Night Trilogy, #3)
TR A Mad Desire to Dance
* Un-rated because it was such a gruelling account
In its opening paragraphs, a successful journalist and Holocaust survivor steps off a New York City curb and into the path of an oncoming taxi. Consequently, most of Wiesel's masterful portrayal of one man's exploration of the historical tragedy that befell him, his family, and his people transpires in the thoughts, daydreams, and memories of the novel's narrator. Torn between choosing life or death, Day again and again returns to the guiding questions that inform Wiesel's trilogy: the meaning and worth of surviving the annihilation of a race, the effects of the Holocaust upon the modern character of the Jewish people, and the loss of one's religious faith in the face of mass murder and human extermination
Read by George GuidallAlthough this is a novel, it does draw heavily on real events in Wiesel's life.
UR Night (The Night Trilogy, #1) *
WL Dawn (The Night Trilogy, #2)
2* Day (The Night Trilogy, #3)
TR A Mad Desire to Dance
* Un-rated because it was such a gruelling account
November 7, 2019
This book tore my heart out. Now, I'm lying on my bed and I feel like crying. The author had suffered so much and had witnessed so much suffering. Can one ever come back from that? Can one ever succeed in living a normal life? This book seems to answer "no", but that "no" is ambiguous towards the end. I hope it's not a "no". I hope the true answer is "yes". I don't know enough about Elie wiesel to know if he found a "yes" or not. I hope he did. I hope we can put our suffering behind us, individually, nationally, and as humankind, and that we can move forward to freedom and to a life of goodness once again.
July 9, 2019
The writing was profound and beautiful. I just didn't like the main character. I understand that he is a holocaust survivor, but he was obsessed with death and his grandmother. To the point that he was comparing everyone to her. It was sickening and disturbing. There is a scene with the death of a baby, and a part where he says that God wants to sleep with 12 year old girls, and it just left a sour taste in my mouth.
May 26, 2012
How can a book told from the perspective of a nihilist, someone who is the very definition of survivor's guilt, be so incredibly moving? Day, the final book of the Elie Wiesel's Night series is full of gems. I can't remember ever re-reading so many sentences because they were so profound, so full of the stuff life is made of, which is astounding coming from the narrator.
Night was dark, horrific, yet very moving. Dawn raised serious moral questions both on a personal level and a societal level. With Day we find that life continues, even if the survivors of the worst treatment imaginable don't necessarily want it to.
And one more thing about all three books, the Prefaces alone are worth their weight in gold.
Night was dark, horrific, yet very moving. Dawn raised serious moral questions both on a personal level and a societal level. With Day we find that life continues, even if the survivors of the worst treatment imaginable don't necessarily want it to.
And one more thing about all three books, the Prefaces alone are worth their weight in gold.
November 27, 2021
Brief, but deep, this read has me pondering on how our lives can be lived in response to our previous experience - and causes a reader to consider whether allowing that to continue by taken no changing action, or whether it is mostly inevitable, or whether one really has the power to move the path directionally. Is awareness the key? Are determinative actions long-lasting, or temporary?
Why does this remind me a little of Lost Horizon?
Still pondering and thinking.
Why does this remind me a little of Lost Horizon?
Still pondering and thinking.
August 9, 2012
Years ago I read and taught Night and Dawn. I came to Day/The Accident only yesterday.
Published in 1961, this edition has a short preface by Wiesel who says it is his story - and not. "I speak through my protagonist, but he does not speak for me."
I think the book's core is captured in the Hamlet reference. The question is not "to be or not to be," but "to be and not to be."
I think of the Shoah series and interviews with survivors, their children, SS guards and their descendants. I think of the impossibility of living anyone else's suffering and of the meaning of suffering and of God's role in humans' lives.
Eliezer, a journalist survivor, finds himself in hospital, gravely wounded in a car accident He cannot love; he cannot lift the black veil of his grandmother that seems to turn the world on its head. He cannot let go of his memories; they will not allow him to forgive or live or shed that which impedes life.
In the last few pages his friend Gyula, an artist, paints his picture during the last days of hospitalization. When faced with the portrait, Eliezer may realize (he seems to) that Gyula may be right when he says," You should know that the dead, because they are no longer free, are no longer able to suffer. Only the living can...you must think of us. Not of them." And then Gyula burns the painting, but leaves the ashes.
Published in 1961, this edition has a short preface by Wiesel who says it is his story - and not. "I speak through my protagonist, but he does not speak for me."
I think the book's core is captured in the Hamlet reference. The question is not "to be or not to be," but "to be and not to be."
I think of the Shoah series and interviews with survivors, their children, SS guards and their descendants. I think of the impossibility of living anyone else's suffering and of the meaning of suffering and of God's role in humans' lives.
Eliezer, a journalist survivor, finds himself in hospital, gravely wounded in a car accident He cannot love; he cannot lift the black veil of his grandmother that seems to turn the world on its head. He cannot let go of his memories; they will not allow him to forgive or live or shed that which impedes life.
In the last few pages his friend Gyula, an artist, paints his picture during the last days of hospitalization. When faced with the portrait, Eliezer may realize (he seems to) that Gyula may be right when he says," You should know that the dead, because they are no longer free, are no longer able to suffer. Only the living can...you must think of us. Not of them." And then Gyula burns the painting, but leaves the ashes.
December 2, 2017
I didn't notice as I chose the version of the book that I did that it included only Night. The cover looks the same but my book includes the entire trilogy so I will write about all three.
If I could give ten stars, that would still seem inadequate for this book. It is beautifully written but more to the point it unveils the depth of despair that those who suffered through the holocaust experienced. But Weisel doesn't leave it there. In three very short volumes, he explains through the voices of his characters, how it was possible for him to go on living in the aftermath of such an unspeakable tragedy. The trilogy is a testament to the human spirit. It evokes very strong emotions. I usually write very short reviews that don't follow the usual, more academic model. In the case of this book, I feel like I could write a great deal more but it seems unnecessary. I give this book the highest recommendation. For me, it stands with All Quiet on the Western Front in the way it relates the human experience. I feel changed for having read it and thank Wiesel for having done it. For me, it is more than a contribution to history and literature, it is a contribution to humanity.
If I could give ten stars, that would still seem inadequate for this book. It is beautifully written but more to the point it unveils the depth of despair that those who suffered through the holocaust experienced. But Weisel doesn't leave it there. In three very short volumes, he explains through the voices of his characters, how it was possible for him to go on living in the aftermath of such an unspeakable tragedy. The trilogy is a testament to the human spirit. It evokes very strong emotions. I usually write very short reviews that don't follow the usual, more academic model. In the case of this book, I feel like I could write a great deal more but it seems unnecessary. I give this book the highest recommendation. For me, it stands with All Quiet on the Western Front in the way it relates the human experience. I feel changed for having read it and thank Wiesel for having done it. For me, it is more than a contribution to history and literature, it is a contribution to humanity.
Read
November 18, 2021Ели Визел - "Денят", изд. "My Book"2021, прев. Калоян Праматаров
Прочетох и нея.
И, честно казано, я затворих с много особени чувства. Сред тях преобладаваше облекчението.
Може би ще се запитате защо. Мога да отговоря веднага, макар че отговорът няма да е кратък.
Защото тази книга ми се стори твърде лична. Защото имах чувството, че героят в нея разголва душата си - при това по най-явен и болезнен и за него, и за читателя начин. Защото ако в нея има автобиографичен елемент, е нужна огромна сила на духа и отчаяна, безумна смелост да се разкриеш така. И това разкриване е толкова откровено, така пълно, та в един момент имах чувството, че нямам право да чета тази книга. Бях писала, че Нощта" е много лична и тежка книга - но тази е още по-лична.
Едно от най-тежките неща в тази книга беше осъзнаването на героя, че страданието, личното ни страдание, всъщност наранява и смщава най-близките ни хора. Те гледат на него като на лична пречка, като на нещо, което може да бъде премахнато, "излекувано", заличено... дори забравено. И смятат, че след като всичко това е "минало", то едва ли не не си струва - не заслужава - да бъде помнено. Без да си дават сметка, че това минало ни е оформило.
Романът - а, честно казано, трудно ми е да приема тази книга като роман - има особена времева рамка. Той започва с едно събитие, оказало се ключово, защото ще доведе до спомени, размисли, вътрешни борби, осъзнаване на много неща - а после се връща назад, за да проследи нещата, довели до това събитие. И това, което през цялото време усещах, беше неразбирането. Неразбирането на Катлийн, неразбирпането на всички, които не са минали през ада на войната и лагерите, които не познават и не разбират вината на оцелелия. Неразбирането, настояването за невъзможни обещания, невъзможността истински да се обясни преживяното - за мент това бяха нещата, които направиха тази книга в някои отношения по-въздействаща и силна от "Нощта".
Имаше една фраза, която се запечата в съзнанието ми: "Страданието отдалечава човешкото същество от себеподобните му". Едва сега си давам сметка колко безкрайно вярно е това. Защото макар да можеш да опишеш физическите усещания, причинени от страданието, няма начин да опишеш ясно и правдиво неговото отражение и последици. И понякога страданието обижда другите - защото когато страда, човек се променя и показва същност, различна от обичайната си. И пак някъде там - "Човекът, който е страдал повече и по различни начиви от другите, трябва да живее настрани от тях.Сам. Далеч от всяко оргазиринато съществуване. Той трови въздуха, прави го невъзможен за дишане..."
Толкова жестоко и въпреки това толкова болезнено вярно.
А човек иска, има нужда да бъде сред хора. Но когато е преживял огромно страдание, дрругите приемат това страдание като заразно. И се отдалечават. От страх. За да не бъдат заразени и те.
Преди да прочета резюмето на корицата, мислех, че "Денят" ще е оптимистичният завършек на една изпълнена с изпитания история. Сега, затваряйки книгата, не бих го нарекла точно така, но не бих я нарекла и "песимистична". Тя е по-скоро равносметката на един живот, в който е имало всичко, всякакви събития и чувства, а някои са били повече от другите. Равносметка и - поредно - осъзнаване, че някои мъртви не могат да бъдат погребани, а някои неща не бива да бъдат забравяни - дори това да наранява другите около нас. Изводите са направени, денят е настъпил. Понякога светъл и ясен, понякога бурен, но все пак, след тъмнатга нощ и тревожната зора - ден. Най-сетне ден.
Прочетох и нея.
И, честно казано, я затворих с много особени чувства. Сред тях преобладаваше облекчението.
Може би ще се запитате защо. Мога да отговоря веднага, макар че отговорът няма да е кратък.
Защото тази книга ми се стори твърде лична. Защото имах чувството, че героят в нея разголва душата си - при това по най-явен и болезнен и за него, и за читателя начин. Защото ако в нея има автобиографичен елемент, е нужна огромна сила на духа и отчаяна, безумна смелост да се разкриеш така. И това разкриване е толкова откровено, така пълно, та в един момент имах чувството, че нямам право да чета тази книга. Бях писала, че Нощта" е много лична и тежка книга - но тази е още по-лична.
Едно от най-тежките неща в тази книга беше осъзнаването на героя, че страданието, личното ни страдание, всъщност наранява и смщава най-близките ни хора. Те гледат на него като на лична пречка, като на нещо, което може да бъде премахнато, "излекувано", заличено... дори забравено. И смятат, че след като всичко това е "минало", то едва ли не не си струва - не заслужава - да бъде помнено. Без да си дават сметка, че това минало ни е оформило.
Романът - а, честно казано, трудно ми е да приема тази книга като роман - има особена времева рамка. Той започва с едно събитие, оказало се ключово, защото ще доведе до спомени, размисли, вътрешни борби, осъзнаване на много неща - а после се връща назад, за да проследи нещата, довели до това събитие. И това, което през цялото време усещах, беше неразбирането. Неразбирането на Катлийн, неразбирпането на всички, които не са минали през ада на войната и лагерите, които не познават и не разбират вината на оцелелия. Неразбирането, настояването за невъзможни обещания, невъзможността истински да се обясни преживяното - за мент това бяха нещата, които направиха тази книга в някои отношения по-въздействаща и силна от "Нощта".
Имаше една фраза, която се запечата в съзнанието ми: "Страданието отдалечава човешкото същество от себеподобните му". Едва сега си давам сметка колко безкрайно вярно е това. Защото макар да можеш да опишеш физическите усещания, причинени от страданието, няма начин да опишеш ясно и правдиво неговото отражение и последици. И понякога страданието обижда другите - защото когато страда, човек се променя и показва същност, различна от обичайната си. И пак някъде там - "Човекът, който е страдал повече и по различни начиви от другите, трябва да живее настрани от тях.Сам. Далеч от всяко оргазиринато съществуване. Той трови въздуха, прави го невъзможен за дишане..."
Толкова жестоко и въпреки това толкова болезнено вярно.
А човек иска, има нужда да бъде сред хора. Но когато е преживял огромно страдание, дрругите приемат това страдание като заразно. И се отдалечават. От страх. За да не бъдат заразени и те.
Преди да прочета резюмето на корицата, мислех, че "Денят" ще е оптимистичният завършек на една изпълнена с изпитания история. Сега, затваряйки книгата, не бих го нарекла точно така, но не бих я нарекла и "песимистична". Тя е по-скоро равносметката на един живот, в който е имало всичко, всякакви събития и чувства, а някои са били повече от другите. Равносметка и - поредно - осъзнаване, че някои мъртви не могат да бъдат погребани, а някои неща не бива да бъдат забравяни - дори това да наранява другите около нас. Изводите са направени, денят е настъпил. Понякога светъл и ясен, понякога бурен, но все пак, след тъмнатга нощ и тревожната зора - ден. Най-сетне ден.
December 15, 2019
I think Night is wonderful and Dawn has an interesting discussion on terrorism, but there wasn't a whole lot in Day that hit me hard. It seemed a lot more meandering and less focused than the previous two books.
It almost feels like a cross between a novel and nonfiction. It's very clearly not nonfiction, but Wiesel seems to be taking a lot from his life. Not only do they share a past, but Wiesel himself was in a car accident, the same as the narrator. He says the suicide aspect was fiction, but that's not really something I'd speculate about either way. In general, it came across as kind of fanfiction for real life, twisted just enough to turn it into a compelling story, but largely his own story. And it didn't really work for me.
There were moments in this that were incredibly worthwhile, but they did boil down to just moments, single lines that felt powerful, where Night and Dawn were both powerful as a whole. One line that stuck out to me (I can't quote because I didn't save the page) was when he said it's impossible to write a novel about Auschwitz- if it's about Auschwitz, then it's not fiction. If it's fiction, then it's not about Auschwitz. There were loads of moments like that throughout this book that hit me hard, but moments don't make a whole book for me.
The second page had a scene that made me super uncomfortable, when the girlfriend gets catcalled by sailors and is made uncomfortable by it. The main character says she should be flattered and that sailors see women with their mouths, not their eyes. Obviously not something that ruined the book, but that scene just seemed so gross and unnecessary. It was such a bad way to begin the book.
Just in general, I didn't love this one the way I did the first two. It took me five days to read and that's a lot for a book that's just barely over a hundred pages. I don't think this trilogy really needed to be marketed as such. They're tied together in that they're three characters who were in concentration camps during the Holocaust and have some similar themes, but nothing else. I would highly recommend reading the first two, and you might as well pick up this one if you enjoyed those. I still feel like it was worth a read, even if there wasn't a lot in it that I found particularly compelling.
It almost feels like a cross between a novel and nonfiction. It's very clearly not nonfiction, but Wiesel seems to be taking a lot from his life. Not only do they share a past, but Wiesel himself was in a car accident, the same as the narrator. He says the suicide aspect was fiction, but that's not really something I'd speculate about either way. In general, it came across as kind of fanfiction for real life, twisted just enough to turn it into a compelling story, but largely his own story. And it didn't really work for me.
There were moments in this that were incredibly worthwhile, but they did boil down to just moments, single lines that felt powerful, where Night and Dawn were both powerful as a whole. One line that stuck out to me (I can't quote because I didn't save the page) was when he said it's impossible to write a novel about Auschwitz- if it's about Auschwitz, then it's not fiction. If it's fiction, then it's not about Auschwitz. There were loads of moments like that throughout this book that hit me hard, but moments don't make a whole book for me.
The second page had a scene that made me super uncomfortable, when the girlfriend gets catcalled by sailors and is made uncomfortable by it. The main character says she should be flattered and that sailors see women with their mouths, not their eyes. Obviously not something that ruined the book, but that scene just seemed so gross and unnecessary. It was such a bad way to begin the book.
Just in general, I didn't love this one the way I did the first two. It took me five days to read and that's a lot for a book that's just barely over a hundred pages. I don't think this trilogy really needed to be marketed as such. They're tied together in that they're three characters who were in concentration camps during the Holocaust and have some similar themes, but nothing else. I would highly recommend reading the first two, and you might as well pick up this one if you enjoyed those. I still feel like it was worth a read, even if there wasn't a lot in it that I found particularly compelling.
May 22, 2022
This final book in the Night trilogy was one I liked the least. This is a raw look at the brokenness on every level that comes from the trauma of a concentration camp or something similar. I recommend this more for the reader who’s foundation is already strong in a healthy conception of God, healing, who they are, life, and a sense of self and direction.
“I love you and shall love you forever; may I die if I stop loving you. [W]ith us—those who have known the time of death—it’s different. There, we said we would never forget it still holds true we cannot forget. It still holds true. We cannot forget. The images are there in front of our eyes. Even if our eyes are no longer there, the images would remain.”
“You cannot hide suffering and remorse for long. They come out. It was true I was living in the past.”
“You claim you love me but you keep suffering. You say you love me in the present but you’re still living in the past. You tell me you love me but refuse to forget. […]The truth is that I’m nothing to you. I don’t count. What counts is the past. Not ours: yours.”
“‘Suffering is given to the living not to the dead,’ he said looking right through me. ‘It’s man’s duty to make it cease, not to increase it. One hour of suffering less is already a victory over fate.’”
“It is an act of freedom that carries within itself the negation of freedom. Man must keep moving, searching, weighing, holding out his hand, offering himself, inventing himself.”
*To the gentle reader: if you have made it this far in the series, bravo! I personally would never give this series to a child or youth. See my recommendation at the beginning of this review.
I also did not agree with nor appreciate such blasphemous blame of everything on God which removes the accountability of man and his poor and sometimes evil actions. Blaming God in this way is a man’s limited knowledge of God and not understanding Him nor His plan.
“I love you and shall love you forever; may I die if I stop loving you. [W]ith us—those who have known the time of death—it’s different. There, we said we would never forget it still holds true we cannot forget. It still holds true. We cannot forget. The images are there in front of our eyes. Even if our eyes are no longer there, the images would remain.”
“You cannot hide suffering and remorse for long. They come out. It was true I was living in the past.”
“You claim you love me but you keep suffering. You say you love me in the present but you’re still living in the past. You tell me you love me but refuse to forget. […]The truth is that I’m nothing to you. I don’t count. What counts is the past. Not ours: yours.”
“‘Suffering is given to the living not to the dead,’ he said looking right through me. ‘It’s man’s duty to make it cease, not to increase it. One hour of suffering less is already a victory over fate.’”
“It is an act of freedom that carries within itself the negation of freedom. Man must keep moving, searching, weighing, holding out his hand, offering himself, inventing himself.”
*To the gentle reader: if you have made it this far in the series, bravo! I personally would never give this series to a child or youth. See my recommendation at the beginning of this review.
I also did not agree with nor appreciate such blasphemous blame of everything on God which removes the accountability of man and his poor and sometimes evil actions. Blaming God in this way is a man’s limited knowledge of God and not understanding Him nor His plan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2021
“Where would you like to go?” Kathleen inquired.
She pretended not to have noticed how pale I was. Who knows, I thought. She too perhaps will learn how to lie.
“Far,” I answered. “Very far.”
“I’ll go with you,” she declared.
The sadness and bitterness of her voice filled me with pity. Kathleen has changed, I told myself. She, who believed in defiance, in fighting, in hatred, had now chosen to submit. She, who refused to follow any call that didn’t come from herself, now recognized defeat. I knew that our suffering changes us. But I didn’t know that it could also destroy others.
*****
“You can lean on Kathleen. She’ll be happy if you lean on her. Receiving is a superior form of generosity. Make her happy. A little happiness justifies the effort of a whole life.”
She pretended not to have noticed how pale I was. Who knows, I thought. She too perhaps will learn how to lie.
“Far,” I answered. “Very far.”
“I’ll go with you,” she declared.
The sadness and bitterness of her voice filled me with pity. Kathleen has changed, I told myself. She, who believed in defiance, in fighting, in hatred, had now chosen to submit. She, who refused to follow any call that didn’t come from herself, now recognized defeat. I knew that our suffering changes us. But I didn’t know that it could also destroy others.
*****
“You can lean on Kathleen. She’ll be happy if you lean on her. Receiving is a superior form of generosity. Make her happy. A little happiness justifies the effort of a whole life.”
December 18, 2017
Like Dawn, this book is short but contains depth that belies its length. I knew I would read it quickly because of my experience reading Dawn, yet I didn't want to read it without really absorbing the language and the ideas. However, it's nearly impossible not to read this book quickly. The writing is perfect, but the story is also engrossing. As much as I wanted to linger over the language, I also wanted to know what was going to happen.
The English title refers to the accident that happens to Eliezer, the first-person narrator, within the first chapter of the book. However, the original French title, Le Jour, is a much better title for several reasons. One, it connects it to Night and Dawn. Two, the title is thematic rather than plot-based. Three, the original title is subtle and, as Wiesel's Preface in my edition explains, ironic. Renaming it The Accident makes me think of an odd effort to connect Wiesel to Camus (The Plague, The Stranger, The Fall...The Accident). Yes, Wiesel does something similar to Camus (I've only read The Fall so far, but the parallels are evident), but his chosen title has its own meaning and purpose.
Eliezer gets hit by a taxi while crossing a busy intersection in Manhattan. The entire left side of his body is broken, and he spends ten weeks in the hospital. Even though the accident is the catalyst, it's not what the story is "about." The story is about a young survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, one who constantly remembers all those lost and feels as if he can't continue because they didn't. Every day, he feels like a tomb for those who died, a receptacle of memories, nothing more. How can life contain joy, hope, and possibilities when your life ended at the concentration camps? Eliezer died there and was reborn into death when he left. He is only nominally alive because the essential pieces of his existence were left behind and can never be gathered again.
Throughout the narrative, Eliezer tells the reader what is happening now, since the accident, but he also shows us events from the past that make the current thoughts make sense. He doesn't tell us what he suffered (given the original title, I assume that, even though Wiesel says he is not the narrator of Day, we are meant to project the sufferings described in Night onto this fictional narrator as well), but he tells us what happened afterwards. The flashbacks lead up to the event, coming back to the day before the accident just before the story ends.
How does the story end? Eliezer gives hints throughout his narrative, even before he tells us about the accident, that the cab driver didn't mean to hit him, but Eliezer may not have been trying to avoid the cab. His doctor tells him that, during surgery, Eliezer didn't offer any help. The doctor had to fight for Eliezer's life for him. It's not a surprise that someone who is already dead didn't jump to get out of the way of the oncoming cab. But he survives. Will he attempt suicide again? To me, the ending is ambiguous, but maybe other readers interpret it differently. I understand that Eliezer would rather be with those who are lost, those whom he cannot even begin to contemplate forgetting, than to continue living for other people. He has a girlfriend, but he can't love her. He can't let go of his past and be with her in the present. He can't live for her, and he doesn't want to live for himself. I think that Eliezer will attempt suicide again, as he promises his Grandmother, "Next time, I promise you, Grandmother, I'll be careful. I won't miss the train again." The narrative leaves Eliezer and the reader with ashes, a startling and disturbing image when we think about concentration camps but also a telling metaphor.
What's saddest to me about this book is that, according to the Preface, this happened to survivors all too often. They didn't know how to move forward, and the world forgot them even though they would never forget. They "slip[ped] quietly into death," unable or unwilling to "rage, rage, against the dying of the light" as Dylan Thomas urges in his famous poem, a poem that runs through Eliezer's mind as he's lying in the street right after impact. Wiesel does such an amazing job at conveying the loss, the loneliness, the sorrow, the suffering, the anguish, the despair. This book is intense but also beautiful in its unrestrained conveying of truth.
Orpheus "sang of the pity of life and the secret of how to bear it." I see this reflected in most of the books that I read. The pity and the secret change, but there's always an acknowledgment of the brutality of life and then an answer. In this book, the pity is life itself, and the bearing of that knowledge is the secret.
The English title refers to the accident that happens to Eliezer, the first-person narrator, within the first chapter of the book. However, the original French title, Le Jour, is a much better title for several reasons. One, it connects it to Night and Dawn. Two, the title is thematic rather than plot-based. Three, the original title is subtle and, as Wiesel's Preface in my edition explains, ironic. Renaming it The Accident makes me think of an odd effort to connect Wiesel to Camus (The Plague, The Stranger, The Fall...The Accident). Yes, Wiesel does something similar to Camus (I've only read The Fall so far, but the parallels are evident), but his chosen title has its own meaning and purpose.
Eliezer gets hit by a taxi while crossing a busy intersection in Manhattan. The entire left side of his body is broken, and he spends ten weeks in the hospital. Even though the accident is the catalyst, it's not what the story is "about." The story is about a young survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, one who constantly remembers all those lost and feels as if he can't continue because they didn't. Every day, he feels like a tomb for those who died, a receptacle of memories, nothing more. How can life contain joy, hope, and possibilities when your life ended at the concentration camps? Eliezer died there and was reborn into death when he left. He is only nominally alive because the essential pieces of his existence were left behind and can never be gathered again.
Throughout the narrative, Eliezer tells the reader what is happening now, since the accident, but he also shows us events from the past that make the current thoughts make sense. He doesn't tell us what he suffered (given the original title, I assume that, even though Wiesel says he is not the narrator of Day, we are meant to project the sufferings described in Night onto this fictional narrator as well), but he tells us what happened afterwards. The flashbacks lead up to the event, coming back to the day before the accident just before the story ends.
How does the story end? Eliezer gives hints throughout his narrative, even before he tells us about the accident, that the cab driver didn't mean to hit him, but Eliezer may not have been trying to avoid the cab. His doctor tells him that, during surgery, Eliezer didn't offer any help. The doctor had to fight for Eliezer's life for him. It's not a surprise that someone who is already dead didn't jump to get out of the way of the oncoming cab. But he survives. Will he attempt suicide again? To me, the ending is ambiguous, but maybe other readers interpret it differently. I understand that Eliezer would rather be with those who are lost, those whom he cannot even begin to contemplate forgetting, than to continue living for other people. He has a girlfriend, but he can't love her. He can't let go of his past and be with her in the present. He can't live for her, and he doesn't want to live for himself. I think that Eliezer will attempt suicide again, as he promises his Grandmother, "Next time, I promise you, Grandmother, I'll be careful. I won't miss the train again." The narrative leaves Eliezer and the reader with ashes, a startling and disturbing image when we think about concentration camps but also a telling metaphor.
What's saddest to me about this book is that, according to the Preface, this happened to survivors all too often. They didn't know how to move forward, and the world forgot them even though they would never forget. They "slip[ped] quietly into death," unable or unwilling to "rage, rage, against the dying of the light" as Dylan Thomas urges in his famous poem, a poem that runs through Eliezer's mind as he's lying in the street right after impact. Wiesel does such an amazing job at conveying the loss, the loneliness, the sorrow, the suffering, the anguish, the despair. This book is intense but also beautiful in its unrestrained conveying of truth.
Orpheus "sang of the pity of life and the secret of how to bear it." I see this reflected in most of the books that I read. The pity and the secret change, but there's always an acknowledgment of the brutality of life and then an answer. In this book, the pity is life itself, and the bearing of that knowledge is the secret.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2018
I liked that this final piece of the Night trilogy contained more autobiographical aspects than the previous work, Dawn. I also enjoyed the more philosophical themes touching on religion and God throughout this book but neither of the two compare to the first and most powerful installment, Night.
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