Dawn [Mass Market Paperback]

Elie Wiesel (Author), Frances Frenaye (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1982

Two men wait through the night in British-controlled Palestine for dawn--and for death.  One is a captured English officer.  The other is Elisha, a young Israeli freedom fighter whose assignment is to kill the officer in reprisal for Britain's execution of a Jewish prisoner.  Elisha's past is the nightmare memory of Nazi death camps.  He is the only surviving member of his family.  His future is a cherished dream of life in the promised homeland.  But at daybreak his present will become the tortured reality of a principled man ordered to commit cold-blooded murder.  Resonant with feeling, Dawn is an unforgettable journey into the human heart--and an eloquent statement about the moral basis of the new Israel."

Editorial Reviews

Review

An illuminating document . . . the plight of traditional Jewish morality confronted with the modern world of power politics and of murder."--Maxwell Geismar

From the Publisher

"Two men wait through the night in British-controlled Palestine for dawn--and for death. One is a captured English officer. The other is Elisha, a young Israeli freedom fighter whose assignment is to kill the officer in reprisal for Britain's execution of a Jewish prisoner. Elisha's past is the nightmare memory of Nazi death camps. He is the only surviving member of his family. His future is a cherished dream of life in the promised homeland. But at daybreak his present will become the tortured reality of a principled man ordered to commit cold-blooded murder. Resonant with feeling, Dawn is an unforgettable journey into the human heart--and an eloquent statement about the moral basis of the new Israel.

"An illuminating document . . . the plight of traditional Jewish morality confronted with the modern world of power politics and of murder."--Maxwell Geismar

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 102 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (August 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553225367
• ISBN-13: 978-0553225365
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Night, But Excellent In Its Own Right, July 19, 2005

By 

Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

Elie Wiesel's Night is one of the most horrifying, moving accounts of the Holocaust experience that I have read. This book, Dawn, is sometimes referred to as a sequel to Night; however, I think that is misleading. Though readers of Night will see the influence of the author's concentration camp experience reflected in this book, Dawn is something very different.

The most obvious difference, of course, is that Night is nonfiction whereas Dawn is a novel. Dawn tells the story of Elisha, a Holocaust survivor, who is recruited to a terrorist group in Palestine that is trying to drive out the British in the years after World War II. After participating in a number of terrorist activities without remorse, Elisha is assigned to execute a prisoner in retaliation for the execution of one of his comrades. As he waits through the night for his task at dawn, Elisha struggle (literally) with his ghosts.

When faced with an author like Wiesel who has written a classic piece of nonfiction like Night, it is often difficult to judge his fiction fairly. The fiction doesn't seem to have the same impact. And though I, too, prefer Night, I found this book to be powerful in its own right. Dawn gives real insight into how people can be haunted and changed by an unfathomable trauma. In addition, it addresses real philosophical issues such as when does killing become murder and how does becoming a murderer change a person? Does suffering unto death justify a (some might say) disproportionate response?

In these post 9/11 days, I also found the insight into the terrorist mindset very interesting. The American revolutionaries and the Zionists were considered terrorists in their day much as the Palestinians and al Queda are today and, though there are obviously differences between all these groups, there are some attitudes that run through all who can find it in themselves to use terror tactics. It is fascinating to see words come from the mouths of these young Jewish partisans that would fit equally well in the mouths of Palestinians today.

All in all, Dawn is an excellent work: brief but powerful.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars disturbing, January 30, 2004

By 

Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, powerful story, August 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

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.