Notable author Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1986. As a survivor of the Holocaust, Wiesel used his experiences in a German concentration camps to call attention to the plight of millions of prisoners who lived and died under unimaginably horrendous conditions.
Wiesel's most famous work is "Night," which is a grim depiction of his time spent in such camps and the horrors that he experienced firsthand. The story is told via the autobiographical main character, a young boy named Eliezer.
This powerful and haunting book has sold millions of copies worldwide and remains one of the most often assigned novels of contemporary times.
Wiesel was born in 1928 in Romania. His father was an Orthodox Jew, and his mother was an Hasidic Jew. Wiesel's family was placed into a ghetto in Sighet, Hungary. They were eventually sent, along with many other Jews from their small town, to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, where the men and women were separated.
Wiesel ended up surviving largely because his father served as his protector in the camps, giving of his own meager food rations so that his son might survive. Extreme living conditions in the camp led to the death of his father. His mother and sister died in the gas chambers.
Wiesel eventually moved to the United States and dedicated his life to educating world audiences so that the truths and lessons of the Holocaust would not be forgotten and to help ensure that such atrocities never be repeated.
He became an Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University and authored more than 40 books. He was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States Congressional Gold Medal, the French Legion of Honor and many other honors and accolades.
Other books by Elie Wiesel, also available in audiobook format include "Dawn," and "Day," both part of the "Night" Trilogy.
"The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I thought it would have been more effective if a younger narrator had been used. Since the story is told from the point of view of a 14-year-old boy, I think it would have been better if it wasn't read by an old man with a raspy voice. Except for that, though, a wonderfully written story (and personal reflection) of a horrific chapter in human history."
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Mama (4 out of 5 stars)