What do You think about All Rivers Run To The Sea (1996)?
I disliked this book. There was too much self-absorbed, stream of consciousness, diary-quality prose...detailing apparently everything he ever read, everyone he ever spoke to, every trip he ever took, thought he thought and word he spoke. His telling shifts back and forth in time making it impossible to track events chronologically (or even his age at the time of events). To me, this book lacked literary quality, although my opinion may be colored somewhat by the fact I read this after I read "My Promised Land," by Ari Shavit, which I thought was beautifully written.If you are fascinated by Elie Wiesel already, you may like this book. Otherwise, it's doubtful.
—Michelle Hopkins
If Wiesel's books were not already on my to-read list, I would not continue to read them. (I have a thing about wanting to move books from the to-read list by reading them rather than just removing them because I no longer want to read them.)For Wiesel, this memoir employs his typical non-linear chronological bent. While I am still not a fan, this approach works much better for the memoir format than for the novel format. I continue to find Wiesel's overwhelming pessimism oppressive. in this book, he even indulges in pessimistic foreshadowing. This often took the form of such self-deprecating comments it comes off almost as bragging. For such a long memoir, Wiesel spends too much time on historical and political events only tangentially related to his life which aids him in avoiding too much in-depth introspection. This also seems to be typical for Wiesel. Lastly, the shift in person (first to third) in the very last few pages I found to be off-putting. The book felt like it ended on the wrong foot, slightly off.
—Jeni Enjaian
This is the first volume (of two) of Elie Wiesel's memoirs (author of Night and roughly 39 other books). Wiesel's time at Auschwitz is covered in the first 100 pages. What follows is a beautifully written account of his life following - how he became a journalist, his encounters with world leaders, his various romances- and his never-ending struggle to be a voice for those who died in the Holocaust, as well as to help find the voices of his fellow survivors. The book is filled with philosophical questions about religion, love, and survival. Wiesel is a wonderful story-teller - filled with humor, sadness, and of course - hope.
—Anne
