As I sit monitoring my students as they take their first exam of the year, I find myself rather bored and longing for something to occupy my ever lengthening time. As I was sitting here, I starting reflecting on the "reading" I've been doing on my drives to and from work. I finished Julie Andrews, listened patiently through Ellen Degeneres (don't go there—I think she's really only funny as Dory) and then moved into something a little more serious—Elie Wiesel.
For those who are unfamiliar, Wiesel, who is still alive, survived the concentration camps at Auschwitz, Buna, and Birkenau, was liberated by the American Army in 1945, and wrote about his experiences in a 900 page volume that was published only in abridgment in Buenos Aires. He later revised it into just under 130 pages, translated it into French and it was published as La Nuit. The English version, Night, is one of the most telling, honest, painful reads I have ever experienced. In the many days it took to finish the book, not once did I listen and not shed tears for terror men inflicted upon other men. Sometimes the tears were silent and steady, and at other times the consumed my being as I sobbed for the pain of a nation.
I would continue my description, but my words are nothing compared to his, and I would feel inadequate in attempting to recreate them. Go read the book. It's not long, but it may just change your life.
