Once again, in The Town Beyond the Wall, Elie Wiesel has brought us a novel in which he infuses pieces of himself within the pages, through the narrator, named Michael.

Michael is a Jew, and he is a survivor of the Holocaust. He is haunted by the past, by memories that he tries to hold on to, holding on literally for survival. He is in constant search for validation and the meaning of life. He questions and questions, not always finding answers.

As Michael tries to come to terms with the events of his past, his present, and his possible future, his life takes on a different dimension within the confines of a prison in Szerencsevaros, Hungary. He was born in a concentration camp, before liberation, and returns to his birthplace years later. What he encounters isn’t friendly or welcoming.

Michael’s story is told through many flashbacks that he has while being tortured in jail, as he is forced to pray standing up and facing the wall. The desired result from his captors would be for him to feel such extreme physical pain, so much so, that it would cause him to speak. His flashbacks are his way of physically separating himself from the pain. It gives him something to focus on, in order not to confess about his friend Pedro. He wants to save Pedro, and will stay strong in order to do so.

Michael is disillusioned about G-d, about religion, about life in general. He is constantly disturbed and afflicted by memories of his childhood. He is a man in dire emotional straits. He regrets some of the choices he has taken, and regrets some of the actions he chose not to take.

Was Michael able to weather yet another ordeal of suffering, after the suffering he went through during the Holocaust? Read The Town Beyond the Wall and find out. Is self-inflicted suffering a form of survival for some? Do the questions we seek answers to always have answers? Are pain and suffering necessities in life? Could you endure these situations and retain your ability to be non-judgmental? These and more questions come to mind while reading The Town Beyond the Wall. Elie Wiesel is masterful in stimulating our emotions and thought processes. He always gives us much to ponder, and brings us sobering and serious issues to reflect upon.

Wiesel is ever searching inward, outward, ever filled with the silence of those who stood and watched while Jews were deported, and/or went to their deaths. The suffering is endless, and imprints of lives are left on the soul of the protagonist, as he reflects back in time in order to save a friend in the present.

Michael’s pain is consuming, hard to let go of, harsh and intense. Yet it is not the pain of a martyr, but of an individual who is trying to focus on the past in order to get through the adverse situation he finds himself in. In order for Michael’s friend to survive, Michael had to suffer. And, suffer he did, giving him a reason to survive, to weather the horrendous storm.

The Town Beyond the Wall is a study in suffering, and returning to the place where the suffering began. It is where it continues to keep its hold on you, due to many factors, both real and imagined. The novel questions whether you can return to where your life began, to where you spent the first youthful formative years of your life, to where your life as you knew it ended, and not feel some form of pain or suffering. To do so would be to blot out those who came before you.

Wiesel implies that suffering is man’s worst nightmare, where cowardice and courage can’t blend together with a firm, peaceful or true resolution. It is either one or the other, but not both. He is masterful in his writing, and leaves us to ponder much. I have never read a book by Elie Wiesel that I didn’t like, and The Town Beyond the Wall is no different.

Excuse the update…I forgot to add the image of the book cover.
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Wednesday July 8, 2009 – 16th of Tamuz, 5769