Today, the Matron took Elie Wiesel's memoir about the Holocaust, Night, as reading material for her time on the treadmill at the gym. Yes, she's wacky that way.
This was a mistake, as it is difficult to weep, rail, and gasp while running. But she did.
And she finished the book in 45 minutes that refueled her desire to serve the greater good and set self aside, always. Sobering and astounding.
The impact of the book was so powerful, perhaps she'll take a volume of Freud, tomorrow, and eradicate her hypochondria.
13 comments:
That is a profoundly moving book. My kids' high school librarian and English teachers used to do a student and community book group at the end of each quarter, and I still remember the one where we all read Night.
I have not read that, but I love books that move me that way.
Oh I need to re-read that one too.
That one always managed to stun even my inner-city thugs, who thought they'd seen everything.
Aren't you brave to read that in public.
That's a wash my face, get in my pj's, grab a box of tissues, and read on a weekend night kind of book for me.
These days, I'm so afraid of Holocaust books. Maybe a treadmill under me would steel my nerves for it.
I'm afraid of them too. I'm still reeling from Sophie's Choice. Haunts me forever. And that was centuries ago. Just can't read any more.
I am afraid of any book that deals wit the holocaust. AS a Dutch person, I have been inundated with them. I can't take the horribleness of it anymore. It squeezes my heart to pieces.
One book that was oddly uplifting on this subject was The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Her family hid Jews in their house in Holland and was sent to concentration camps for it. I know, sounds like a real downer - but it isn't!
Also, for kids, 2 books: The Upstairs Room and A Bag of Marbles - both true stories...
Several years ago, I was a teaching assistant for a course on Holocaust literature. We read Night, of course, as well as Primo Levi, Nechama Tec, and Andre Schwarz-Bart's _The Last of the Just_. Definitely recommend that one. We also watched all five hours of Shoah.
All that is to say, that was a very difficult semester. My first child was about 2 then, and I grew depressed from holding all those books in my head all the time. It was hard. The readings were great, and it's a fascinating period, but I don't think I could go back there.
And somehow I've never read Sophie's Choice, but I might keep putting it off.
Let me know if the Freud thing works.
Running AND Night? I would be devastated for weeks...
This post made me burst out laughting... the hypochondria bit!!
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