Literature
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: A Psychological Thriller With a Shocking Twist
By Giselle Rodriguez
Editor’s Note: Views expressed in this article are
solely the author's opinions and beliefs
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is a psychological thriller novel that takes place in North London. Centered around a psychotherapist named Theo Faber, he takes it upon himself to unravel the mystery of Alicia Berenson.
At the age of 33, Alicia killed her husband, Gabriel of seven years. She is nicknamed “the silent patient” who resides at the Grove, a mental institution, in a secure psychiatric unit. Theo is captivated by Alicia's story and is later allowed to work alongside her. He is determined to get her to talk and discover her past.
The Silent Patient is an engaging book that will keep readers wanting to know more as they follow along with Theo’s perspective. Readers first see Alicia's reaction to receiving physiological help as she jumps forward and attacks her therapist.
Readers are also given sections of Alicias' journal to read in between chapters. It starts with the bittersweet romance between her and Gabriel. Later on, it is revealed that her husband had an affair with Theo’s wife. My favorite aspect of the book was the plot twist at the end in which Theo follows his wife around town to see where she sneaks off to. Once he finds out about her unfaithfulness, he takes it into his own hands to track down the man his wife has been seeing.
This was the first time Theo came into contact with Alicia Berenson. Theo is in Alicia's house and confronts both Alicia and her husband about the affair. He straps both Alicia and Gabriel into chairs and threatens to shoot them both. As Theo gives Gabriel an ultimatum saying he will either kill him or Alicia, Gabriel's states, “ I don't wanna die.” Theo watches the life slip out of Alicia's eyes and releases her from the chair. He exits the house and leaves behind the gun on the floor for Alicia to use. Alicia thinks to herself, “That's the truth. I didn't kill Gabriel. He killed me. All I did was pull the trigger.” There is a lot of foreshadowing within the plot and the author does a wonderful job connecting all the dots.
The only aspect of the book that I did not enjoy was the progression. It was frankly slow as the main character Theo was explaining his life in the context of seeing Alicia at the Grove, while also discovering his wife’s secret. It could be confusing to new readers as it is revealed that both of these incidents are from different timelines in Theo’s life. The author frankly added them together in a sequence to drop a twist at the end of the book, where some scenes actually happened in the past.
The Silent Patient introduced an interesting concept that lured me into reading it. In my opinion, the only part of the book that I really enjoyed was the plot twist. It seems as though the author created a simple story and quickly finished it with a surprise ending. I believe it is a fulfilling book for new readers but, it should not be hyped up to be a 5-star read since most books I have read have kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
Night: A Memoir of the Holocaust by Elie Wiesel - A Harrowing Account of Survival and Loss
By Makala Sanichar
Editor’s Note: Views expressed in this article are
solely the author's opinions and beliefs
With his father in the Nazi German death camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944-1945, Elie Wiesel wrote Night, a memoir published in 1960. In just over 100 pages of sparse and fragmentary prose, Wiesel writes of his loss of faith and growing contempt for humanity. He describes his experiences from the Nazi-established ghettos in his hometown of Sighet, Romania, to his journey through various concentration camps. When Wiesel, his three sisters, and his parents were deported to Auschwitz, he was 15 years old. Wiesel describes the unspeakable horrors of life in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, as well as the destruction of his strong religious beliefs in simple prose. "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."
Although Night is standard reading in middle and high schools all around the world, the book contains horrific and frequently unrelenting acts of savagery. Wiesel received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for speaking out against injustice, brutality, and tyranny. The work is regarded as one of the cornerstones of Holocaust literature and has been translated into 30 languages.
The first book of his trilogy, Night, Dawn, and Day marks Elie Wiesel's passage from the shadows of the Holocaust to the light, in keeping with Jewish tradition that a new day begins at dusk. "In Night," Wiesel said, "I wanted to show the end, the finality of the event. Everything came to an end—man, history, literature, religion, God. There was nothing left. And yet we begin again with night."
This amazing account from a young survivor of Auschwitz and Buchenwald is required reading for anybody researching the Holocaust. It is harrowing, devastating, and violent. Elie Wiesel uses a quiet, understated voice to tell his tale. According to Wiesel, Night picks up where Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl leaves off. Teenagers who only know of the Holocaust through the words of the little Dutch girl who said, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart," may find Night emotionally distressing. It might make challenging conversations on the nature of good and evil in the world more relevant to all readers.
My mind feels numb after finishing this book and it is as if I had personally gone through this torture. One cannot put all of the anguish and pain one encounters in the pages of this book into proper perspective. One can only proceed in the same manner as the victims in this book, page by page, step by step. At first, the only response to severe pain is numbness. Read it as a homage and a memorial. Read it to serve as a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in a free society and how we must do everything in our power to protect this freedom, always knowing that there are those who seek to destroy it.
