This week we are talking about Dawn by Elie Wiesel. A few weeks ago I read Night and LOVED it. I have to say, I did not feel the same passion with this book as I did Night.
While Night was narrative non-fiction, Dawn was complete fiction. The main character, Elisha, is a Holocaust survivor tasked with killing a British officer at Dawn. While in the book Night, the main character was faced with the possibility of being killed, the follow up story takes the opposite side. Throughout the novel (which is rather short and probably has the word count of a novella) the main character is struggling with the task of having to be the executor.
The story is well told and the conflict is clear, I just did not enjoy this work as much as I did his original. Because it is well written and his author voice clearly defined, I would still give this book 4/5 stars. I had rated Night as 5/5 because I could not put it down. Maybe it speaks to writing about things we live through, versus the mind of a creative person. I’m not sure. I still would recommend reading this after you read Night.
I wanted to write a note about Book Club. As I enter my third trimester of pregnancy, please do not hold it against me if I do not post a book review each week. I would love to continue finishing a book a week, but sometimes it is just not possible! I do want to encourage you to keep reading and share with us in the comments about the book(s) you are working on! I will continue to post regularly on the blog (as well as my Children’s Blog: Little BookWorm Blog. I am balancing pregnancy (which makes me incredibly tired) and my own writing, which has made me push reading to the side a bit….just for now!
Based On My True Story 