Book Review: The Judges by Elie Wiesel

Author: Elie Wiesel
Title: The Judges
Genre: Historical Fiction & Religion and Spirituality
Pages: 224
First Published: 1999
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

A plane en route from New York to Tel Aviv is forced down by bad weather. A nearby house provides refuge for five of its passengers: Claudia, who has left her husband and found new love; Razziel, a religious teacher who was once a political prisoner; Yoav, a terminally ill Israeli commando; George, an archivist who is hiding a Holocaust secret that could bring down a certain politician; and Bruce, a would-be priest turned philanderer. 
Their host—an enigmatic and disquieting man who calls himself simply the Judge—begins to interrogate them, forcing them to face the truth and meaning of their lives. Soon he announces that one of them—the least worthy—will die.

I do adore Elie Wiesel's writing style. It flows well and he doesn't need a lot of words to really make you feel, think, and see. This is my third book by him. And its still as good as the other two. However, not my favorite. 

Yes, this was okay. Interesting plot, a people story, thriller-ish (even though the ending was totally predictable), and though-provoking. The characters' stories were too long and boring. Each character got a huge chunk of the book dedicated to their past life/who they are on the inside. It was too long and I would skim. Honestly, it really did take away from the plot. The author did try and split up each character's story throughout the book, but each section was too big and I found myself not caring about the character. If it was shorter I would have not skimmed.

Speaking of the characters....the vast majority I didn't like/care about. I wasn't worried about them being picked by the Judge. Is that bad too say?

Ugh...the Judge...self-righteous bastard....BUT he was certainly entertaining to read about.

Poor Hunchback guy. :/ 

The ending as I had mentioned was predictable, but I liked it. It fit and made me happy. Okay...maybe happy is not the right word....but I approved and that is how I would've ended it myself. 


So yes, this was an interesting book, not the authors best sadly. I didn't care about the majority of the characters for many reasons, but their backstories dragged on for far too long. I liked the ending a lot and I approve. This book would be a good one for High School or college students to read. Lots of thought-provoking questions and it shows that people can be both good and bad. In the end, I shall stamp this with 3 stars.