by Anne Frank
There is something not quite right with reviewing a teenagers diary. It wasn’t originally written to be a story to enjoy or as lessons to learn. As an aspiring writer and knowing they wanted to collect diaries after the war, Anne did begin to edit her diary. Anne did not know the impact her diary would end up giving on so many. She had hopes of having it published, but how could she have known. Especially after being arrested.
Reading this kind of book today was such a surreal experience. The dates of her entries are like chapter markers. It just ticks by and ticks by getting closer to the end. The end which involves Anne being arrested and eventually dying from a disease in a concentration camp. And you can’t do anything to help, to warn her.
SPOILERS if you have no idea who Anne Frank is. If you don’t then you really should. You do know what the Holocaust is?? Of course, you do.
I’ll give a short description of who Anne Frank is to start with. Anne was a real little Jew girl in born in Germany in 1929, but her family moved to the Netherlands in 1933. A few years later, 1942, Anne is turning 13 and receives a diary which she writes in regularly until her death. A few weeks after her birthday, her family goes into hiding for 2 years with 4 other people. Totalling 8 people hiding in close quarters to each other.
Anne describes her life in hiding as if writing letters to a friend that she has named Kitty. Being in a letter format, Anne keeps her diary more informative than emotional sometimes. She mentions the politics going on with the war and the economy, what their eating situation is like, details of each person and what they own.
I wouldn’t say I enjoyed reading such a heavy subject. I didn’t expect to be so captivated that I could barely put it down, either. It’s an easy read when it comes to prose, being that it was written by a young girl. She wrote beautifully at times with very expressive emotions. For her age, she was very insightful. Many times she describes the bickering and fighting amongst the adults. Anne’s view of their fighting are very mature and progressive in comparison. She tries to be the bigger person much of the time.
Due to being in hiding and having to deal with the stress of all that, it’s very relatable today in our own quarantine. Not the war parts, but being stuck inside 24/7. Yet, we still have so many more liberties that Anne was never afforded. Food delivery systems, internet, people ignoring the rules, we still haver it better than she did. I am not in any way comparing this to the Holocaust.
I gave this a 4 stars. It was emotional and captivating, but also it’s a diary. I would feel weird giving someone’s diary any other score. Is it perfect? Of course not. Was it a good book? That’s kind of complicated. Was it worth the read? Very much so.
“Ordinary people don’t know how much books can mean to someone who’s cooped up.”
“As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?”
“Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?“
Rachels Books 