jbmorgan86's review against another edition
3.0
Two prisoners. John Dawnson, a Brit, is to be executed by Zionist terrorists in Palestine. Simultaneously, David ben Moshe, a Zionist, is to be executed by the British. 18 year old Elisha, a fictionalized version of the author, is chosen to be Dawson's executioner. Will he go through with the plan? Can he muster enough hate to take a man's life? This novella is a philosophical book filled with magical realism that attempts to answer this question.
This is perhaps the strangest original story-sequel relationship I have ever seen in literature. In the classic Night, Elie Wiesel recounts his terrifying experiences in Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Dawn, however, is a fictional novella in which Elie Wiesel imagines if his life had taken a different turn: "What would have become of me if I had spent not just one year in camps, but two or four? If I had been appointed kapo? Could have struck a friend? Humiliated an old man?"
The book is filled with magical realism: Elijah, the Angel of Death, ghosts from the pasts, etc. Much of the novella has a dream-like quality (particularly near the end).
While I appreciate Wiesel's struggle with the problem of evil, I'm not sure that I can come to agree with him. He seems to justify the state of Israel's violence by stating that they are simply a monster created by monsters:
"John Dawson has made me a murderer, I said to myself. He has made me the murderer of John Dawson. He deserves my hate. Were it not for him, I might still be a murderer, but I wouldn't be the murderer of John Dawson."
This is perhaps the strangest original story-sequel relationship I have ever seen in literature. In the classic Night, Elie Wiesel recounts his terrifying experiences in Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Dawn, however, is a fictional novella in which Elie Wiesel imagines if his life had taken a different turn: "What would have become of me if I had spent not just one year in camps, but two or four? If I had been appointed kapo? Could have struck a friend? Humiliated an old man?"
The book is filled with magical realism: Elijah, the Angel of Death, ghosts from the pasts, etc. Much of the novella has a dream-like quality (particularly near the end).
While I appreciate Wiesel's struggle with the problem of evil, I'm not sure that I can come to agree with him. He seems to justify the state of Israel's violence by stating that they are simply a monster created by monsters:
"John Dawson has made me a murderer, I said to myself. He has made me the murderer of John Dawson. He deserves my hate. Were it not for him, I might still be a murderer, but I wouldn't be the murderer of John Dawson."
reuterre's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
cdlindwall's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy Wiesel's style. I liked Dawn even more than Night, actually, and I think Wiesel has a way of really letting the reader connect with the characters. Startling Message.
travelinglibrary's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
kes813's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Eli Wiesel is such a gentle soul, and it comes through in his narration voice in this story. There is such a tone of patience in this story despite Elisha having to make a traumatizing decision, one that he’s not really all in it for. I just found the preface to be beautiful too. “'How are we ever to disarm evil and abolish death as a means to an end? How are we ever to break the cycle of violence and rage? Can terror coexist with justice? Does murder call for murder, despair for revenge? Can hate engender anything but hate?” The little boy at the end who is his younger self who would have liked to hear the man’s story… it broke me.
cs_the_librarian's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
thebookofdanny's review against another edition
3.0
The whole cyclical nature of violence stuff is well good but I just kinda wanted this book to be a bit longer.