Two Paperbacks by Frank McCourt and Elie Wiesel

Readers who frequent my blog may recognize many things about me. One thing is that I seldom purchase paperback books. I am gifted many as that is how publishers and authors often send their books when they are not sending out ebooks. However, this past week I purchased two used paperbacks. 

My first selection: Teacher Man: A Memoir by Frank McCourt

In all honesty, I'd not read anything by Frank McCourt. I did see on the cover that he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author for Angela's Ashes (1996). 

While still in the store, I read the Prologue and was hooked. Turning to the back to see how many pages of text it contains I found that above the last paragraph, someone had penciled in amazing, and under the last sentence in the book was penciled in Great.  I leafed through the book quickly to see if there were any other marks that I could decipher and none were found. My plan is to finish this book and post the review here when completed. 

My second selection: Night by Elie Wiesel translation by Marion Wiesel

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, occurs on January 27.

Is it important to learn about concentration camps, POW camps, and the like?

My opinion is - it is. Empires are created by ambitious people and somewhere in the quest one often finds exploitation rears its ugly head and we see people are treated unfairly whether it be by force, manipulation, or threat. 

I've posted on this blog that as a youth I read The Diary of Anne Frank and more recently Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz. Since then, I have watched shows depicting life in concentration camps. 

Reading accounts such as these teaches us about important things like our susceptibility, or resilience, and perseverance. It also conveys the anguish, confusion, and uncertainty that can occur during times when we are feeling vulnerable. 

I purchased Night which states on the front cover that it has a new preface by the author. Author Elie Wiesel was a Professor in Humanities at Boston University. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America Congressional Gold Medal, the French Legion of Honor, and, the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize for his work bearing witness to the Holocaust and for his efforts to combat indifference.

The book is a ghastly autobiographical account of a teenager's survival in the Nazi death camp and Wiesel prefaces it by telling readers if he had only one book to write in his lifetime this would be it.

 

Before starting the book, I turned to the last page. The book is a mere 115 pages 120 pages including the afterword. I look at it and there are no pencil marks or penmanship from those who have read it before me. I'm left with the thought that there are no words that communicate the totality of affliction. 

You can find my review of Night here