She has dark eyes and the smile of a frightened child. I searched for her all my life. Was it she who saved me from the silent death that characterizes resignation to solitude? And from madness in its terminal phase, terminal as we refer to cancer when incurable? Yes, the kind of madness in which one can find refuge, if not salvation? Madness is what I'll talk to you about--madness burdened with memories and with eyes like everyone else's, though in my story the eyes are like those of a smiling child trembling with fear.
The Nobel winner has created a great book which tackles many challenging dilemmas. It is told from the perspective of a person struggling with madness while working with a psychoanalyst. The lives are intriguing as mysteries and insights are revealed as the book progresses. It is not surprising that Wiesel has focused on the effects of Nazis on Jewish people. Reading the book will challenge one's views on madness and sanity as the psychoanalyst works with her most unusual and difficult patient.
Weisel's prose is easy to read, but the story is complex in its structure. The book is rich with thoughts on good and evil, madness and sanity, god and the purpose of life. The title is apropos commenting on something uniquely human and yet not really supported by the world around us--a desire to dance.
