Week 5: Memoir Review

Memoirs have a history of ebbing and flowing between many different periods of thinking in the authors lifetime.  While come consider this to be a confusing quality to this style of writing, there is actually a certain kind of fluidity that can be found in the flow of memoir writing.  As Crum points out in "Nothing But the Truth?: On Lying and Memoir Writing", "There is, after all, a fluidity between who we were to other people, who we thought we were, who we think we were, and who we think we are now.", therefore, there has to be the same kind of fluidity in how the author depicts their life. Since peoples lives are fluid so must the writing of a life be fluid to accurately illustrate the journey through a life.

Finding a balance of fluidness through the many different facets of someones personal thoughts can be very challenging. Having the ability to link all of those points of view together to form one cohesive depiction of the author is a remarkable feet. This, in truth, is what creates an interesting and dynamic memoir writing.

Surprising to many, my favorite memoir writing is Night by Elie Wiesel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_(book)), were the author actually writes about his experience in the concentration camps during World War ll. One of the differences between Night and other memoirs I have read is the raw vulnerability and truth behind the piece as a whole. It combines Wiesel's unimaginable experience with his mastery of fluidity through this memoir writing.

One of Wiesel's most memorable quotes is, "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.", which function as a true model of emotion as well as a marked truth of his personal experience.  In this stand out case of memoir writing there can be no doubt of lying because of the brutality of the situation.  

This memoir, though written long ago, still stands as an example of fluidity through writing and conscience.  Therefore, Night can transfer to many different platforms even in modern culture because of the timeless skill in which it is written.  In a blog setting, it could be a reflection of experiences and a strong platform to campaign the importance of reflection through memory.