Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing, powerful story
Review: This book was recommended to me as a sequel to Night. If you're looking for a traditional sequel in Dawn, you'll probably be disappointed. Dawn is a sequel to Night in that it reveals another chapter in the life of the Jewish community that survived the Holocaust. Weisel raises serious questions of right and wrong by placing a Holocaust survivor "on the other side of the gun." If you like struggling with difficult moral/ethical issues, this book would be a great choice. If you like the different aspects of the Jewish experience of the Holocaust, you'll also want to read The Accident, the third book in the Night Trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: From being killed to a killer
Review: This is an amazing story. This book is billed as the second of a trilogy. Yet, this book is not tied to the first book at all except as the holocaust as the backdrop. this time it is a young Zionist that has been given the duty of executing a British soldier being held captive in retaliation against the British for sentencing one of their leaders to death. Dawn explains the other side of the story of the one holding the gun upon somebody instead of having it held upon them. Instead of surviving as in "Night", "Dawn" is about duty. The young man struggles with his conscience over his duty and his feeling of empathy for his hostage. This is an excellent read and stands apart and alone from the first book "Night".
Rating:
Summary: From being killed to a killer
Review: This is an amazing story. This book is billed as the second of a trilogy. Yet, this book is not tied to the first book at all except as the holocaust as the backdrop. this time it is a young Zionist that has been given the duty of executing a British soldier being held captive in retaliation against the British for sentencing one of their leaders to death. Dawn explains the other side of the story of the one holding the gun upon somebody instead of having it held upon them. Instead of surviving as in "Night", "Dawn" is about duty. The young man struggles with his conscience over his duty and his feeling of empathy for his hostage. This is an excellent read and stands apart and alone from the first book "Night".
Rating:
Summary: disturbing
Review: This short novel was a bit difficult to take but, then, I believe that this was how the author meant it to be. It is the story of a Holocaust survivor who is now in Palestine involved in the underground efforts to wrest control of the area from the British. The man must execute a British officer and his struggles with this is the crux of the story. I was not ever quite sure how Wiesel intended us to view the "hero". At times I thought that the author wrote as though we would understand the actions of the Jewish militants. At other times, I felt he was trying to show us that violence only creates more victims. Certainly, the ending of "Dawn" was a powerful statement of the evil that can emerge from any man no matter how just the cause. I think that the author adds to his purpose by keeping us a bit off balance throughout the story. He reminds us that there are no easy answers nor easy perspectives. Most of us are aqcuainted with the story of the creation of the Israeli nation including the non-diplomatic efforts by the militant groups. This book was copyrighted in 1961 at a time when the events could be viewed with a somewhat different perspective. I say this because I found myself drawn to wonder how Wiesel would view a Palastinian suicide bomber. I guess it was his analytical analysis of the conflicting sides that made me wonder about this. I realize that it was not the author's point to excuse or justify the violence. However, there was a certain antiseptic approach to the subject that caused me to wonder about the modern day terrorist. This is a story that will challenge the reader to ask themselves a question or two. It only takes a short while to read but it has a message that should last quite a while.
Rating:
Summary: disturbing
Review: This short novel was a bit difficult to take but, then, I believe that this was how the author meant it to be. It is the story of a Holocaust survivor who is now in Palestine involved in the underground efforts to wrest control of the area from the British. The man must execute a British officer and his struggles with this is the crux of the story. I was not ever quite sure how Wiesel intended us to view the "hero". At times I thought that the author wrote as though we would understand the actions of the Jewish militants. At other times, I felt he was trying to show us that violence only creates more victims. Certainly, the ending of "Dawn" was a powerful statement of the evil that can emerge from any man no matter how just the cause. I think that the author adds to his purpose by keeping us a bit off balance throughout the story. He reminds us that there are no easy answers nor easy perspectives. Most of us are aqcuainted with the story of the creation of the Israeli nation including the non-diplomatic efforts by the militant groups. This book was copyrighted in 1961 at a time when the events could be viewed with a somewhat different perspective. I say this because I found myself drawn to wonder how Wiesel would view a Palastinian suicide bomber. I guess it was his analytical analysis of the conflicting sides that made me wonder about this. I realize that it was not the author's point to excuse or justify the violence. However, there was a certain antiseptic approach to the subject that caused me to wonder about the modern day terrorist. This is a story that will challenge the reader to ask themselves a question or two. It only takes a short while to read but it has a message that should last quite a while.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtfull
Review: This was one of the best books I ever read. This might be a very short book, but don't be fulled. After you read this book you will have to stand still for a while and take in everything that the author has written. The images that are painted in this book are powerful and the story itself is intense. Enybody who want's to read a good book, this is it.
Rating:
Summary: An unrecognized masterpiece
Review: While touted by the publisher as a sequel to his haunting memoir, *Night*, *Dawn* really povides us with a story that is powerful in its own right. *Dawn* deserves pride of place next to Simon Weisenthal's *The Sunflower* and Albert Camus' *The Plague* as one of the seminal masterpieces that deal with what may be the most pressing moral issue after the Holocaust--how are we to respond to the violence enacted by others?
While Camus addresses the question of response, and Weisenthal the possibility of forgiveness, Wiesel takes as his guiding question the behavior of the victim who becomes empowered. The main character is a Holocaust survivor that in the struggle for Isreali independence finds himelf in the position of no longer being the victim, but rather having the power to victimize. *Dawn*, brief as it is, serves as a powerful psychological exploration of this drastic change of roles. The goal of the work is straightforward--to raise in the mind of the readers the question of what *they* would do in the protagonist's position. Weisel's quasi-mystical elements add to this by invoking the significance of our connections to the past. A key concern on the protagonist's mind is how his decision to execute, or refrain from executing, a British soldier, is what this makes not only of himself, but of all those who in some way made him what he is. If he chooses to kill, does he make all of them killers as well?
Though fellow survivor Primo Levi claims not to care whether he is a potential killer, given that he was in fact not a killer but a victim, Wiesel is immensely interested in this question. It is a haunting question posed exceedingly well in this short, but surprisingly rich book. The questions this novel poses are ones that will not soon leave the reader's mind.
Rating:
Summary: An unrecognized masterpiece
Review: While touted by the publisher as a sequel to his haunting memoir, *Night*, *Dawn* really povides us with a story that is powerful in its own right. *Dawn* deserves pride of place next to Simon Weisenthal's *The Sunflower* and Albert Camus' *The Plague* as one of the seminal masterpieces that deal with what may be the most pressing moral issue after the Holocaust--how are we to respond to the violence enacted by others?
While Camus addresses the question of response, and Weisenthal the possibility of forgiveness, Wiesel takes as his guiding question the behavior of the victim who becomes empowered. The main character is a Holocaust survivor that in the struggle for Isreali independence finds himelf in the position of no longer being the victim, but rather having the power to victimize. *Dawn*, brief as it is, serves as a powerful psychological exploration of this drastic change of roles. The goal of the work is straightforward--to raise in the mind of the readers the question of what *they* would do in the protagonist's position. Weisel's quasi-mystical elements add to this by invoking the significance of our connections to the past. A key concern on the protagonist's mind is how his decision to execute, or refrain from executing, a British soldier, is what this makes not only of himself, but of all those who in some way made him what he is. If he chooses to kill, does he make all of them killers as well?
Though fellow survivor Primo Levi claims not to care whether he is a potential killer, given that he was in fact not a killer but a victim, Wiesel is immensely interested in this question. It is a haunting question posed exceedingly well in this short, but surprisingly rich book. The questions this novel poses are ones that will not soon leave the reader's mind.
Rating:
Summary: a masterpiece
Review: Wiesel's "Dawn" is one of the greatest books you will ever read. DON'T JUST SIT THERE READING THE REVIEWS!! BUY IT NOW!!
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