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Summary: An emotional journey
Review: I could not put this book down. I read all night. I cried for much of the next day. This is one of those books which examines the most profound aspects of the human condition. Anne Frank was a real person, whom many people have come to know a little about through her famous diary. What this book did was enable us to see her as part of a family - a genetic family and a family of humanity. This is the sort of book which it is important to guide younger people to. As we leave behind the century which saw the enormous destruction of world wars, but where genocide is all too constant still, this is the sort of book which is necessary so that we don't forget. I cannot speak highly enough of this book.
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Summary: One of the best books I read!
Review: I first read Anne Frank in high-school, i had heard the title and knew it was about a Jewish girl and her diary. My best and only friend at this time and now and forever is also Jewish. I did not know Anne Frank did not make it. I was shocked to read because she was Jewish. But her diary was her life during the time of hiding. This book had her whole life up until the end. I cried all night as I read the whole book.
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Summary: A tradgic story turned into a fabulous read!
Review: I first read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was in tenth grade. I enjoyed reading it, and found it hard that something this terrible actually happened. When I read this book, however, the situation seemed a lot more real. Muller used very vivid detail in portraying this terrible event. This book not only shows fine writing quality, but excellant journalism skills as well. It was evident that Muller did very extensive research before she began to write. It was just amazing to read all of this deep, deep detail. She made you feel as if you were right there next to Anne; going through the same things she was. I think that Muller did an excellant job on her book!
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Summary: Tragic story made boring
Review: I had high expectations for this book. I agree with other readers that some of my unanswered questions were answered. I also agree that Anne Frank was a very interesting person...too bad this author didn't think so too. This was a very dry, boring read.
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Summary: outstanding!!! How else could i describe it!!!
Review: i loved this book it was outstanding!!! anyone can read it. it has such good text and structure!!! once you pick that book up it becomes automatically addicting! i know anyone would want to read this i mean how could they not!!!!
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Summary: A very emotional journey through Anne's life
Review: I read about Anne Frank when I was around 8 years old. I was very touched by her story, and begged my aunt - who lives in Amsterdam - to take me to the Anne Frank House to visit the Secret Annex. Ever since, Anne's tragic story has been with me. I read her diary, as well as other books written with her. Now I read this book - Anne's biography. I just finished it - and I sit here with a pale face and tears in my eyes. It's a very touching story with happy times and dark times, and a very tragic end. The author describes this end in every detail you could possibly think of... the arrestation of the eight people in the Annex, Mieps attempts to free the family by offering money to Gestapo police offers, the family's deportation to the camps... how Anne lived in happiness in Westerbork after having been locked in the Annex for two years. How she was deported to Auschwitz - where she was separated from her father and, later on, from her mother. How she and Margot were deported to Bergen-Belsen, where she died so tragically. If this part of the book doesn't move you to burst out in tears, the part when Otto finds out his daughters won't come back, will. This book is a journey through Anne's life and after the last page the terrible truth gets you by the throat: this young girl, who described this terrible period in her life so lively, will never ever come back. Anne's spirit is with us forever. Whenever I'm in Amsterdam, I always stop by Prinsengracht 263 to visit the Annex. And when I'm standing in Anne's room I still feel the same as when I was 8 years old, and visited her room for the first time.
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Summary: It answers my long-standing questions
Review: I read Anne's diary in my long-ago girlhood, and it's haunted me. I knew the Nazis found them in hiding, and that Anne's dad was the only one to survive, but where the diary left me simply didn't tell me enough. Who turned them in? Did Anne ever reconcile with her mother? What did she die of? This book helped me find the answers to those questions, and I'm grateful
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Summary: DESPITE PROBLEMS THIS BOOK IS STILL VERY MUCH WORTH READING
Review: It is difficult to criticize anyone who has devoted so much of her mind and heart to writing a 300+ page birth-to-death camp account of Anne Frank.However, the book's jacket incorrectly claims "Here, after five decades is the first biography of this remarkable figure." Having been moved many years ago by Ernst Schnabel's book ANNE FRANK: A PORTRAIT IN COURAGE (1958) I was put off by this inaccurate statement. That Schnabel's biography is not even acknowledged by author Melissa Muller is also troubling. How could a journalist who has done such detailed historical research fail to even mention a previous author's detailed biography? Hopefully, this will be corrected in future editions. Like Schnabel, Muller interviewed many people who knew Anne frank. Schnabel was able to speak with people not available to Muller because they had died before she started her research--such as Anne's father Otto Frank. To Muller's credit, her interviews include Frank family relatives, one of the Franks' protectors in hiding--Miep Gies--co-author of ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED as well as Jacqueling Van Maarsen ("Jopie" in the Diary)--author of MY FRIEND ANNE FRANK and Willy Lindmer--author of THE LAST SEVEN MONTHS OF ANNE FRANK. Another nice touch is the Epilogue which sums up what happened to many of the people described in the book. For example, it is deeply sad and chilling to read about one of Anne's sweet friends, Sanne Ledermann, then turn to the Epilogue and find that she and her parents were gassed in Auschwitz. Muller's writing varies from fascinating to overly detailed. For example, do we really need to know that one of Edith Frank's cousins divorced her husband because he was having an affair with his secretary? On the other hand, she offers new insights into who may have been the betrayer(s) of the Franks and others in hiding with them. She also sensitively describes "new" pages of the Diary that Otto Frank had deleted from the original version because he found Anne's perceptions of his marriage too embarrassing. Like other books about Anne frank, she quotes extensively from the Diary, citing many of its most moving passages. So despite the criticisms, I still believe this book is very much worth reading. While Muller's choice of style and content may be too academic for the average reader, there are also flashes of inspiration and insight regarding Anne's deepest feelings. Schnabel's book is more consistently inspired, often expressing the heart of a spiritual poet. An example is found in his final words: "Thus her voice was preserved out of the millions that were silenced, this voice no louder than a child's whisper. It tells how those millions lived, spoke, ate, and slept and it has outlasted the shouts of the murderers and soared above the voices of time." Muller concludes: "In the end, the Nazi terror oculd not silence Anne's voice, which still rings out for all of us, whom she had hoped so ardently to serve."
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Summary: Incredible
Review: Just when I had thought I had read all there was to read about Anne Frank, this book popped on the scene. I read it some time ago but have to say that it gives incredible insight to not only what Anne experienced, but also what her cohabitants did as well. The book gives a deeper look into life in the annex and gives you a better understanding of the psychology of the people who had to share such cramped and fearful quarters. As someone who is studying the Holocaust at a university level, I found this book an invaluable addition to my library.
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Summary: A perfect companion for The Diary of a Young Girl
Review: Many young women still remember the first time they -- we -- read The Diary of A Young Girl, even decades later. Anne Frank's diary is an honest look at a growing teen and her views of W.W.II as it affected her and her family. The Biography is the perfect companion to The Diary Of A Young Girl because it shows more trauma history than a teenaged girl would have noticed. It deeply delves into Anne's past -- the family tree alone is priceless. There is new insight on Edith. Of equal importance is the look at Anne and Margot's surviving friends. When a child dies, it doesn't matter if he or she is rich or poor, plain or a princess. What matters is that history has been altered because the child won't get a chance to make a difference. Millions of people -- six million Jews, Gypsies, gays, people of all religions, and soldiers and other innocent victims -- died in World War II. In the grand scheme of things, none is more or less important than another. Anne Frank, unlike most murdered children, has been immortalized by her writing. The world made her into a heroine for surviving two years more than many others. The reason that she should be considered a heroine is that she brought forth a truth that might otherwise have been hidden. This truth is more evident when partnered with Anne Frank: The Biography by Melissa Mueller.
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