Anne Frank (1) (1929–1945)

This was a hard book to read. It started out light and easy, as you'd expect from a 13-year-old's diary. As the situation gets harder, so do the topics in the diary, though it's not until the end when it gets really hard to read. This is history; the ending is not a surprise. What did surprise me was how much I dreaded reading the final 50 or so pages of the book, because the war starts going well and hopes in the Secret Annex start rising... and yet I know how the story ends for them.

I do show more not know why I didn't read this in school. In some ways, I wish I had because it is an important book and I would have liked to have read it when I was closer to Anne's age. On the other hand, I'm glad I didn't read it until I was an adult and could better connect with the entire situation, and not just Anne's. This is an important book, and one everyone needs to read. It's heartbreaking and uplifting all at once, and it's themes are as relevant now as they were when it was written. show less

What's there to say that hasn’t been said already?

Written by a young Jewish girl in hiding with her family and four other people this is, obviously, first and foremost, the harrowing story of a persecuted family and their life under the duress of a raging war. The rationing, the fear-terror of being discovered and arrested, the small daily gestures that could have terrible consequences in here if ever found out or not performed (e.g. listening to foreign radio broadcast, not bolting a door show more or turning a light off…)… Such daily life was more than suffocating; it was also dull, and it’s a dullness which at times translates into the narrative -many entries, in fact, are quite mundane, about silly details reflecting a boring life in close quarters. (It’s not Anne’s fault; nevertheless, it affects how as a reader we have to sail through, and so it has to be pointed out...).

Being the story of eight people kept crammed for years in a small space, we also witness a glimpse at human nature in all its various shades -disputes arise and silly differences bring tempers to the fore, as much as love and gratitude are expressed. It ends terribly for all involved, but I personally was struck by the background story of these amazing individuals who, despite facing sure deportation and probably death if arrested (many will, in the end) will nevertheless take enormous risk to hide them. Indeed, it’s not only the people in ‘the Secret Annexe’ that matter in here, but, also, the whole network of brave souls still having a moral compass and surrounding them in the outside. When thinking of Anne Frank’s diary, we tend to forget them all too easily. In fact, let’s celebrate their courage and ethics by at least naming them again: Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, Miep Gies, Elisabeth Voskuijl.

Now, given the circumstances, it could have been a dark, suffocating, and claustrophobic narrative of a sadness which could have choked you. It’s not. Anne Frank’s account is indeed more than about the war and the deprivation and the persecutions, it’s also ‘the diary of a young girl’, and so what we also see here is a child coming out of age -discovering and questioning her sexuality, having her first kiss, talking about her faith in God… As such, and it has to be pointed out too for it affects how it all reads too, it can be quite clichés, if not annoying at times (she was a teenager, so be prepared for the usual bickering with her older sister, her frustration and anger at her parents, and the whole ‘I’m rebel and misunderstood’ whinge so typical of a teen!). This, after all, is a personal diary, of which not everything was intended to be published (it went through two editing processes, one by Anne herself). Beyond a child in hiding, then, there are many layers to this book. Anne wasn’t solely a Jew living in fear, she was a whole person with an emotional and inner life going way beyond ‘the Secret Annexe’. Here too, we tend to forget this when thinking about her, too often reduced to a personal witness about war and that only.

All in all, this book surely has its flaws; both because of the extreme situation in which it was written and the young age of its author. Yet, its flaws are precisely what, also, makes it so compelling. It’s about war and how war impacts childhood, of course, but it’s also about a child coming to term with herself. Her inner thoughts and growing up will therefore echo with many an adolescence; and that’s probably why this diary has been resonating and keep resonating so loud with people from across the world, creeds, and races and generations. Most people reading this indeed will probably be children living safe lives in peaceful countries, like most adults reading this would have, well, made it into adulthood! Anne Frank, sadly, as we all know, didn’t. Her fate, then, takes a tragic and poignant turn; and, in the end, we therefore have to reckon that it’s not merely about a diary and all its childish flaws, but a whole symbol. In fact, Anne’s short life might have been unique to Anne and her family and the people hiding in that Annexe, but, somehow, by her words she transcended that to become the face of evil’s innocent victims -the victims of racism, of antisemitism, of violent and murderous intolerance and of the evil of fascism.

At this point, in conclusion, I would love to say ‘no more’, and that lightning candles, and setting up memorials, and celebrating days of remembrance, and being clued on enough to have a sense of history (or so we should) taught us better. But that would be nailing a false clichés. Wars and persecutions and hatred and prejudice are still going on. As such, we, as human beings, may have learnt absolutely nothing from the horror of Nazism, let alone war. It’s a bleak statement to make, but, optimistically, we still have our own choices to face, our own personal responsibilities to take, and, if there’s one thing we can all do on an individual level is to remember the people involved in this book and what they all came to represent -Anne and her family and companions in hiding, of course, but also the heroes who hide them at the peril of their lives. What we can do, in other words, is, whatever our creed or ethnic background, holding on to a moral compass which doesn’t see in the ‘other’ an enemy to be despised. Here’s an ethos which must hold as true today as it was back in the 1930s and 1940s. After all, Anne Frank and several millions of others have been murdered, but racism is still alive. show less

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl's greatest strength is unsurprisingly how intimate and personal it is. It is incredibly challenging to find another book that so beautifully and thoroughly represents the experiences of a teenager who struggles with ordinary issues, like love and finding their place in the world, and is also subjected to something as terrifying as the Holocaust. The bravery and resilience that Anne exhibits through her diary is equally inspiring and heartbreaking when show more one considers that she was just one of millions of innocent people to be murdered despite her efforts. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is poignant, inspiring, and a must-read autobiography for all interested in World War II. show less

I had no idea of what to expect when I bought this book on Kindle. I was expecting something childish, and lots of cribbing and crying. What I got instead, is the writings of a young girl who seemed to be intelligent and mature beyond her years. There were times, I must confess, when I found the book a little trying, but on the whole, what a rush. This book is full of LIFE. Anne Frank certainly seemed to be so aware not only of external events, but even of herself. The writing style is so show more clear and uninhibited, and the words just seem to flow from her pen. She had a great eye, great clarity of thought, and managed to keep up her optimism despite being holed up in the Secret Annexe for so many years. It is a tragedy that her life was cut off, and that her body was dumped in a mass grave. Who betrayed them? He killed her body yes, but the girl lives on.

What she teaches us really, is to value LIFE, and to take joy in it. I live in a country where there is much strife. I hope my country men can read this book and learn from it. show less