I was a child born in the 30's, my Dad served in WWII and all my life I have been proud of what this nation did to bring that war to an end. I have always known the story of the persecution of the Jews and the Holocust but it was not until I listened to this book that I truly experienced the horror and I can only imagine. To have lived through it seems almost impossible to me. Great book, great author and great narrator. This book should be required reading for every high school student in this country. This story and sad moment in history must never be forgotten.

I read this in paperback format and decided to get it on Audible.com to listen to. Powerful and moving, one of the best books I have ever read, and now listened to.

I got this book because my oldest son was reading it in his high school class. They later took a trip to the Museum of Tolerance. He was so impressed by the book that he asked me to read it too. This is my sons heritage: Their grandfather came to America right before Elie went to a concentration camp and was about the same age. Even though he didn't have to live through what the book described the experience had a profound effect on him, he has never recovered his faith and hated it when I tried to teach this to my boys. He now thinks your faith and/or heritage is something to hide because you never know when this could happen again. Even though my boys are only half Jewish and only by birth I'm glad there are writings like these to show them why it is important to remember the past.

This was a very graphic and sad book about what happened during the hollocaust. It is one of those books you can't get out of your head for a very long time.

I was hesitant to purchase this book at first because I wasn't sure if it would be entertaining or depressing, but it was both. There is a good story here. But it is set aside a backdrop too terrible to believe. Of course the Holocaust happened, we have so much evidence of it... but the extent of this insanity is just so hard to imagine for those of us who grew up in a rational world. This story is not played for melodrama, just stated as fact, which helps with the belief.

However, I was left wanting more of a conclusion. In this latest translation the publisher could have embellished and expanded. In fact, in the afterword the author mentions in the original Hebrew text he had written more. I wish they had included all of it.

The narration was very good, it suited the material.

A must for everyone.

This is a difficult story and hard to hear. There were times I wanted to know more, but also had to turn it off as I was in over-load.
I know it is supposed to be a brilliant book. The ending was lacking and it left me just empty. I guess that was the point.

This was one of those life changing stories with masterful narration of George Guidall. *** Read Unabridged and capture all the authors thoughtful insights ***

I bought this more because of it being an Oprah's choice than really "wanting" to read about this topic. Her suggestions are excellent, and this one was no different. This is an important subject and it is good to be reminded of past atrocities, so they hopefully will not be repeated in the future.

Certainly the author did an excellent job of conveying his experiences. Some of the content is so subtle, I had to "rewind" to hear it again to make sure I heard it correctly. The narrator did a wonderful job. His inflections fit the emotion of the scenes perfectly.

The material is not new, nor does it bring about any different perspective. But it is significant. This should be on a required reading list in everyone's life.

It was written so well and probably deserves a 5, but it was very very sad and made me cry.