This is my second read for the November Novella challenge.

Night is a book that seems to defy labels. There's apparently been much debate on whether this work is a novel or memoir or some combination of the two. We'll just call it a memoir. At age 16, Orthodox Jew Eliezer is forced from his home and sent first to Auschwitz then death marched to Buchenwald. We see the Hungarian government takeover and the initial disillusionment of the Jewish people as to what is happening to them. Then Wiesel takes us through his stint with his father at an Auschwitz concentration camp and the fate of his mother and youngest sister. Although not overtly descriptive, I was able to hear and see and smell everything which is a testament to his writing and his wife's translation. The most important element is the demise of this young man's faith in God. To "see" this once devout teenager, and even a rabbi, just give up on their spiritual beliefs is heartbreaking. But even in the midst of Eliezer questioning his faith, he has this fire burning in him to survive.  More than just a holocaust story, Night makes the reader ponder their own strength of will and faith.