Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Rating:
Summary: Well-written and deeply moving
Review: Before I read Anne Frank's famous diary of her experiences in 1942-1944 as a Jewish teenager hiding in Amsterdam, I wondered if it was so well-known because it was well-written, or because it served as a compelling historical document of a difficult time and place. After reading it I can say that, for me at least, it is both.

Anne's story has so many elements. It is largely the story of herself, a developing, maturing teenager, and the people she interacts with on a daily basis. But as the Nazis take over and she is forced to go into hiding with her family, there is a sharp feeling of change. It is still her story, a very personal story. And yet, permeating her story at every point is this sense of something very dangerous all around, constantly threatening to encroach. We already know most or all of what the Nazis did as they occupied much of Europe, but Anne's diary is a historical document in the sense that it provides a unique, deeply personal perspective on how that time effected a very few people. Some people wil say that history is mainly told in the big events, but I disagree. History means little if we can't see how it effects even the most unlikely, otherwise unknown people. In reading Anne's diary, I could see history's effect on the individual more clearly than ever before.

And yet her writing itself is quite good as well. It's fairly good when the diary begins, with her at age 13. It is even better when it ends, shortly after she turns 15. She had a talent for description and an eye for detail that is rare in any writer, and she was very honest in her feelings, opinions, and experiences. We get her impressions of the Germans and the occupation, of course, but we also get the stories of her squabbles with her family and with the other members of the "Secret Annex." We get the stories of arrests and raids, but also the story of Anne's impending menstruation and developing sense of sexuality. We hear about food shortages, but also about what she learned during her stay in the Annex, academically and otherwise.

In the end, reading Anne's diary feels wrong in a way, because it is the very personal thoughts of a young girl who is struggling to express herself, and confiding in a receiver who was never meant to be a real person. And yet, now millions have read her thoughts. It is -- I can't stress this enough -- a story of a maturing teenager. In a sense, it could be the story of my babysitter, or even eventually of my own daughters a few years down the road. However, it is also a story told under circumstances that would make most teenagers (and adults) cower in fear. The fact that Anne had the presence of mind and the strength and the courage to write down this document makes this one of the most important diaries ever written.

I won't soon forget it.

Rating:
Summary: The holocaust means more than what is learned in school
Review: I don't want to make this review purely academic, as the book has had a very stong emotional impact on my life... On June 12, 1942, Anne M. Frank received a diary in which she would record her innermost feelings and opinions concerning the everyday struggles that plagued the eight inhabitants of what she referred to as, "the Secret Annex." Throughout the twenty-five month period in which she lived above her Father's former office in seclusion, the evolution of her character, in both emotional and physical respects, is rather evident. The diary begins with an entry that illustrates a young girl's desire to form an intimate relationship in which she could freely confide in her partner. Thus in the absence of such a partner she entrusted her confidence to "Kitty," to whom most entries in the diary are addressed. Throughout the first year of life in the annex, this quest is to no avail as she is extremely critical of all people around her, including her own family members and, on many occasions, herself. Living in such close proximity, the residents of the Secret Annex frequently disagree over trivial matters. Although petty quarrels were commonplace among the residents, the remarkable fact that emerged from Anne's diary is not that conflict arises, but that eight individuals can endure constant fear and total confinement with grace and dignity. Finding little solace in her relationships with family members, her prayers to take part in a relationship in which confidence could be equally shared were answered when a strong bond with seventeen-year old Peter Van Pels is formed. It is this relationship that brings her into a world in which, for the first time, she could entrust her most intimate feelings to someone other than "Kitty." I was rather surprised to see another reviewer comment that the "diary ends rather abruptly on August first." As an adolescent myself, it was this entry that had the greatest impact on my life, as its contents accurately describe how I, and many others my age deal with our most intimate feelings. Anne once wrote, "At the age of fourteen and with so little experience, you can't write about philosophy." Ironically, over the course of two years a diary was written that is regarded by millions of people around the as their personal guide to life.

Rating:
Summary: Importance of "mundane" things.
Review: I was struck by the many remarks that this book was not a good "holocaust book". I think that depends on what you characterise as a "holocaust book".

If you are looking for stories of concentration camps, and people dying etc., then the Diary of Anne Frank is not the book you should read.

It is however one of the very few original accounts of life in an occupied country for a child of a minority that was hunted down. Nowadays hardly anyone will be able to understand what that was like. What this diary shows so perfectly is that life indeed does go on, also in occupied territory and even in hiding. But it also shows the ghost of fear that is present in every aspect of that life and not knowing when it might end.

Because the diary from which springs this definitive edition was not written with the intention to be read, it may be less 'readable' than other books on the war, or the holocaust. It is therefore all the more important to appreciate it for what it is: true life through the eye of the author.

I sincerely hope that young people reading this book do not underestimate the hardships in the annex, as not "being really holocaust". Until you have read this book and/or have visited the annex, imagining yourself sitting there for two years with people you love and hate, you cannot possibly imagine what life for jews in the occupied countries was really like.

Rating:
Summary: It's great, but not for English class
Review: Not by the book, but by some of the reviews. Apparantly "this book blows," as one reviewer tactfully put it. If you take time out to insult a girl who died in such tragic circumstances then you have serious issues. You wouldn't be particularly happy if you were the one locked up for two years, starving and crying in a concentration camp and then having people talk smack about you and your diary. If the book was seriously rubbish, thousands of people today would not be so moved and inspired by it. I'd like to make the assumption that you are too immature to understand the significance of it. Take a step back and don't accuse me of being Anne Frank's obsessed fan with no life when it is in fact you who need to get lives. And as for the book being boring, remember that most of what is written in it was intended for Anne's eyes only. She didn't open her diary and write the first entry thinking, "Hmmm, I'll bore my future readers to tears by writing the dullest diary I can!" Please, don't dishonor Anne Frank.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: The hype for this book was really overwhelming. Whenever talking about the holocaust, this book comes up. Though a good book about growing up, it really has no insight into the holocaust. It's mostly just Anne writing about things most girls growing up write about. You know, liking boys, getting boobs, etc. But really, there's nothing to really make you sad about the holocaust. A much much better book is Night by Elie Wiesel. Yeah. Now that's a really powerful book. And I guess this is too, just not in the same way.

Rating:
Summary: A warning against the evil of Anti- Semitism
Review: This diary has done great good. The story of one young Jewish girl's living in hiding, and surviving with her family during the Holocaust has perhaps been read more than any other diary in history. The story is not only of survival in everyday life, but of the growing pains of one young adolescent girl. This girl is however a person of remarkable, insight, intelligence and spirit. That she was among one of the more than million Jewish children whose lives were taken from them before they had a chance to live suggests how incomparably great this loss was and is. Anne Frank has become a symbol of humanity's contending with evil, and at the same time retaining its humanity. Her faith that in the end ' people are good at heart' in the face of the experience she knew can be an inspiration to all of us who looking at the evils of the world today , need to hope that a better world and a kinder humanity will be our future.
It is horrible to know that the monstrous Nazi European anti- Semitism which took the life of Anne Frank has now become a major element in the anti- Western Jihad which a part of the Islamic world is now engaged in.
Would that the lesson of Anne Frank's life and loss be that instead of hating each other we all learn to be kinder and more considerate towards our fellow human beings.


Rating:
Summary: moving first-person account of Jews in hiding
Review: Unlike many others, I somehow never had to read this book in school. So I read it as an adult. This powerful book is the personal diary of a 13 year old girl who was in hiding in an attic (for 2 years) during the Holocaust.

If you are in Amsterdam you can visit the attic that they hid in - it is now a museum. I toured it, and what shocked me was how very small the area was that they all lived in...(The diary described their small living quarters, but it didn't seem real to me until I saw it for myself.) As per Anne's diary, it was very challenging and frustrating for a group of people to live in such close quarters. They had to be quiet and still during the day (when other people were in the building), but at night they could move around a little more freely.

I also visited Bergen Belsen in Germany - the concentration camp where Anne and her sister died. There is a special memorial to them there.

Anne was just a young girl and parts of her diary are about silly "young girl stuff"...And parts are a little dull because it is just about the everyday routine of life in the attic. But, overall it is an exceptional first-person account of what it was like to be Jews in hiding during WWII. As you read, you can relate to Anne's fears, struggles, hopes and dreams...dreams that were never fulfilled because of the horror of the Holocaust. I recommend this book to students and adults alike.

Rating:
Summary: Other "Young Girls" Can Relate!
Review: When I was in 8th grade, this book was required reading. I remember quite clearly all the moaning and groaning about "another stupid book" that "no one wants to read," and I just knew it was going to be boring. For one thing, there was NO way any of US would be able to relate to someone like Anne Frank, who lived way back in the 1940's (and in an attic, no less). And anyway, didn't we already have Social Studies class? We knew about the Holocaust! Nazis, bad. Jews, persecuted. Etc., etc. Just more history.

We were in for a serious surprise.

There were many things in Anne Frank's diary that might as well have been (and, in some cases, surely were) in OUR diaries. Her writing style is a bit different, but her thoughts come through loud and clear, and I would be surprised if any girl (and perhaps any boy?) can read the book and not find something that "speaks" to her, personally. Anne worries about her appearance and wonders whether she'll fall in love; she both loves and fights with her parents; and she wouldn't mind in the least if her Algebra book happened to somehow disappear.

We did read a number of books about the Holocaust and its effects while I was in grade school and high school, but Anne Frank's diary stands out in my mind because it helped me to understand what was going on from the point of view of a person I could understand. I couldn't really see myself in the positions of many of the people about whom (or by whom) so many Holocaust-related books are written, but I could see myself in Anne Frank. Of interest to me (and hopefully to others!) is the fact that after reading this book, my view of the Holocaust (and, for that matter, other historical and contemporary events from which I had thought myself "removed" and toward which I was consequently rather indifferent) changed drastically; all those people were REAL people, and their suffering was REAL suffering. They could have been me, my family, my friends, but for a few random details like age or national origin.

I recommend this book for EVERYONE; however, I especially recommend it to young girls, who just might be surprised to find how easy it is to relate to Anne, and how impossible it will be NOT to see the world with new (and, to my mind, improved) vision.

Rating:
Summary: Anne Frank
Review: While reading over these reviews, I'm surprised no one mentioned the fact that this was the "Definitive" edition. And make no mistake, that's not just another fluffy adjective affixed on the end to sell more books - it serves a purpose! This is not the original Anne Frank that sold so many books over the past decades. The "Definitive Edition" includes entries originally omitted in the original book - passages on sex, hatred for other family member, her side comments on entries, etc. Apparently it constitutes 30% more material, so even if you've read the original book before, you'll find new stuff here.

As for the book - what can you say? It's a girl's diary, so how can you criticize? You can't call it too "boring" because it was her life. And you can't really call it excessive because it's the "Definitive Edition".. so it's SUPPOSED to include everything.

I did find myself frequently getting bored with the book, though. What can you expect? She spends 2+ years of her life in an attic. The true interest of the Holocaust happened in the concentration camps, not while in hiding. Yes, it's a tragedy that she died - but that shouldn't automatically assume 5 stars. In fact, I think had she lived, this book would not be regarded as highly as it is.

Even as a "holocaust" book, it's fairly weak. There's not as much historical influence as we'd like. The book doesn't have much of a logical flow, either. It starts off very slow (and very dull), but all of the sudden jumps into the topic of Peter out of nowhere. Not to mention, there are two Peters in her life, which she doesn't separate until later in the book. Quite ridiculous (and quite confusing)!

I appreciate the fact that they released these withheld passages, as they do help to shape Anne as more of an "imperfect" person. I think, though, given the audience they're trying to reach, they could have cut a lot of unnecessary stuff out. For the die hard fans, there will always be the "Critical" Edition.. and I think this one tried too hard to be a companion.

Nevertheless, at the very core, this book represents the optimistic attitude of so many people during the war. It's worth a read, at least once, even to realize you don't like it. Historically, it makes us realize just how similar we truly are, despite nationality and time periods.