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The Night Trilogy #3

Day

elie wiesel anne borchardt

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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.

109 pages, Paperback

First published March 1,1961
Series
The Night Trilogy

This edition

Format
109 pages, Paperback
Published
March 21, 2006 by Hill and Wang
ISBN
9780809023097
ASIN
0809023091
Language
English
Characters More characters

More editions

About the author

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elie wiesel

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Eliezer "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.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
34(34%)
4 stars
33(33%)
3 stars
33(33%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
OngPQ
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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This book truly tore my heart out.

At this moment, I'm lying on my bed, and the urge to cry is overwhelming. The author endured an unfathomable amount of pain and witnessed countless sufferings.

Can one really recover from such atrocities? Can one ever manage to lead a normal life again? This book initially seems to provide a resounding "no" as the answer.

However, towards the end, that "no" becomes rather ambiguous. I earnestly hope it's not a definitive "no". Instead, I wish the true answer is a resounding "yes".

Regrettably, I don't know enough about Elie Wiesel to determine if he ultimately found that "yes" or not. But I sincerely hope he did.

I hope that, as individuals, as nations, and as the entire human race, we can find the strength to put our collective sufferings behind us.

May we have the courage to move forward, towards freedom and a life filled with goodness once more.

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yellowman0092
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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I wasn't prepared for how hard this book would hit me in certain places.

Day is the third and final book in the Night trilogy that accompanies Elie Wiesel's world-renowned memoir of surviving the Holocaust. In this novella, a Holocaust survivor is unfortunately hit by a taxi. He then spends most of the pages of the book recovering from the near-fatal accident in the hospital. There, he can't help but face what he doesn't want to admit to everyone around him: That he desires to die.

This is indeed a dark story, yet it reaches a level of honesty that many books about trauma never attain. Here, the narrator is grappling with the echoes of the past and what he witnessed in the death camps in a manner that he simply cannot move on from. What so many people fail to realize about traumatic events is that it's not as straightforward as looking ahead or forgetting what occurred. Those experiences stay with you every single day of your life. And in a case such as Holocaust-related trauma, it makes attempting to live in a world that is so completely separate from the horrors unbearable.

Anyone who has ever been suicidal, or has thought a great deal about dying, will recognize a lot of themselves here in a way that might not be comfortable.
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ForTheCuteThings
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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Jan 26, 1130am

~~ The final book in the Night trilogy.

This 1961 novel is deeply moving, yet often traumatic and painful to read. It is best encapsulated by the author himself in the preface he penned 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 grapple with the fact of having survived? Can they simply ignore the memories, cease to see the horrors they witnessed in the death camps? Can they turn off the pain, the smell?

In this book, Wiesel envisions one man's way of dealing with this dilemma. As heartbreaking as the other two titles in the trilogy were, this one had an even more profound impact on me.

I am currently unable to say more. I am overcome with tears.

The story delves deep into the human psyche, exploring the profound emotional and psychological scars left by war and survival. It forces us to confront the harsh realities of the past and question how we would respond in similar circumstances.

Wiesel's writing is powerful and poignant, painting a vivid picture of the atrocities committed during the war. His words linger in the mind long after the book is closed, leaving us with a sense of both sadness and hope.

This final installment of the Night trilogy is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the human experience during times of war and persecution. It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and a reminder of the importance of never forgetting.

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Animusswtor
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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“Having survived the cruelest of wars, how does one go on in a hostile or indifferent world?”

This question lies at the heart of a deeply moving and thought-provoking story.

Eliezer, a character who has endured unspeakable horrors, attempts to take his own life by throwing himself in front of a speeding taxi.

It is strongly suggested that he survived the Holocaust as a child, but the specific details remain shrouded in mystery.

The story unfolds in the present, as Eliezer lies recuperating in the hospital.

Interspersed with his present circumstances are flashbacks of his relationship with his girlfriend, Kathleen.

These flashbacks offer a glimpse into the complex web of emotions that Eliezer experiences.

The progression of Eliezer's story serves as a powerful commentary on grief and the lasting impact of trauma.

It forces us to confront the harsh reality that not all stories have a happy ending.

Sometimes, the scars of the past are too deep to heal completely.

Yet, through Eliezer's struggle, we also see a glimmer of hope and the potential for human resilience.

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Nargaphyrias
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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Possibly one of the saddest books I’ve ever read. It truly tugs at the heartstrings. Reading about someone who has completely given up all hope in life and God is a deeply poignant experience. It makes you wonder how such a state could have come to be.


Especially when you think of the joy they could have in Christ if they would only turn to Him. The thought of that potential joy, which is within their reach, yet they are oblivious or have chosen to reject it, is almost too much to bear. It makes you realize the importance of faith and the power it has to transform lives.


As you read through the pages, you can't help but feel a sense of sadness and longing for the character to find that hope and joy again. It serves as a reminder to us all of the precious gift of faith and the need to hold onto it, no matter what life throws our way.

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JohnnyNoLegs
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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I truly enjoyed "Day" to a greater extent than "Dawn", although both books are definitely worthy of being read. "Day" is set in New York, and the protagonist, a Holocaust survivor, is striving to rebuild his life after having endured absolute hell. He is involved in a complex and conflicting relationship with a woman who appears overly committed to pleasing him, despite exhibiting profound symptoms of severe depression and projecting herself. One night, while out for dinner, he is struck by a taxi, and the story predominantly unfolds from his hospital bed. Wiesel crafts characters who are inspired by real people he encountered throughout his life, and the all-encompassing theme of death pervades the entire narrative.

An optimistic doctor, a charming girlfriend, and the memory of a lost grandmother serve as complements to the character's race towards death and liberation. Love and life, two elements that a survivor could scarcely believe to be real, engage in a battle against morbid motifs and psychological torment for a man who had once lived a life that he would never have imagined possible while confined to the bunks of Buchenwald. Over the course of his recovery, he hears stories from new friends and recalls memories of a time that he feels completely disconnected from, as he pleads with everyone around him to simply let him die.

Wiesel lived his entire life regretting the death of his father. While it was clearly not his fault, those closing paragraphs of "Night" vividly illustrate that a significant part of his spirit perished on that day, even if his body managed to escape. He refrained from writing anything for 10 years following his own liberation, and when I read this book, I couldn't help but sense that the underlying theme was guilt. Similar to his father's death, it was not a guilt of sin but rather the guilt of being fortunate enough to survive when the rest of his family and the majority of his hometown were brutally butchered. Elie (the character, although not necessarily the real man - after all, this is a work of fiction) was unable to find love in a loving woman, he couldn't heal under the care of a talented doctor, and he couldn't perceive God in the eyes of a religious friend. He suppressed his memories beneath numerous layers of grief and was unable to discover a path forward to a life of his own without constantly confronting memories of the past in the forms of his deceased relatives. Just as the main character in "Dawn" does, he feels ashamed for the lack of respect for himself, and his unwillingness to fight to recover is strongly influenced by the echo of his real-life struggle to survive persecution.
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Jyiber
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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The writing was indeed nice and flowery, which initially caught my attention.

However, as I delved deeper into it, I found that I couldn't truly get into the story.

The themes of guilt and death were undeniably powerful, capable of evoking strong emotions.

Nevertheless, the plot was a significant letdown.

Virtually nothing happened throughout the narrative, and much of it seemed to be the same thing rephrased in different ways.

Despite its brevity, it failed to engage me in a meaningful way.

Yet, I still derived some enjoyment from reading the pretty words that were used.

It was as if the author had focused more on the aesthetics of the language rather than on constructing a compelling storyline.

In the end, while the writing had its charms, it ultimately fell short in terms of plot and overall impact.
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mahdipranjol86
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 14,2025
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I didn't "really liked it" as 4 stars by GR is identified. However, the sublime writing that can be found throughout this short novel truly deserves such a rating. This small book could probably be read in a day by most in this community. But for me, I needed to read slowly and reflect on what I was reading, allowing some of the words to burn themselves into my brain. Just as I have to think more about how best to review this book. So, a full review is to come (I hope!).


This novel, originally titled The Accident, was written in 1962. The 2006 edition I read had a new introduction by the author, which 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, it states "A profound confrontation with the burden of memory."


Let's see. It's 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 and 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 an 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."

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