Customer Reviews

Legends of Our Time

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Elie Wiesel has always been one of my favorite authors. In this book he takes you from the joy of a Russian Jewish holiday, to his own return to Sighet, as well as to a man whose ancestors gave up their religion in Spain, but left a reminder to the family about their history. One cannot but be moved as Wiesel recounts these and other tales. Either with the shock of running into a Capo in Israel, or the dispair of how to properly mourn a father lost in darkness of the Holocaust, Wiesel sends the reader from one emotion to another. A great read from a great author.

I had to order this for a class and found myself really enjoying the book. The class was focused on death so we only browsed a small portion of the book, but it is, on the whole very interesting. The least expensive copy I could find new and shipped in perfect condition.

I loved this book. As much as I would like to understand how the Shoah happened, as a Christian, after reading Wiesel, I have to respond to the psalmist's command "and all wickedness shuts its mouth. Psalm 107:42."

Most of Wiesel's books are fiction, but in this one, he is the main character. The book is thoughtful and thought provoking. My copy was given me by a jewish friend whom I had to convince I wanted to keep it; she wanted to keep it too! (I normally return borrowed books).

Haunting when Wiesel returns to Sighet in Romania to walk the streets of his hometown. He reflected "Nothing had changed. The house was the same, the street was the same, the world was the same, God was the same. Only the jews had disappeared." Can you imagine anything like that?

If it is any consolation, and I hope Mr. Wiesel is not offended, "behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold your salvation comes, and his recompense with Him. Isaiah 62:11" And, from Isaiah 61:8 "the Lord loves justice, He hates robbery and wrong." And from Isaiah 25:8 "and the Lord God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and will swallow up death in victory."

And if Christians do not see the writing on the wall and see our own guilt in what transpired in this last century, and at least respond with knocking knees, as Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, did, then Christianity is in deep trouble. But those are my own reflections not Wiesel's. He states in this book "That is what I reproach us for: our boundless arrogance in thinking we know everything." And "I repeat: hatred is no solution."

Eli Wiesel returns to Sighet in Romania where he was born to walk the streets of his hometown. He notes that "Nothing had changed. The house was the same, the street was the same, the only thing missing were the Jews!" Truly one of his great works as a writer and story teller. This book is a must to read. I could not put it down and read it all night.