To me, this book became one of the most insightful, witty, well written and interesting books that I have ever read! It is almost unbelievable that the author, who possessed such a poignant mind with a very fine sense of humour, and a tremendous literary talent, was a girl of only 13-14 years of age!
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who, in 1942, together with her family and another family, went into a hiding in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of Holland. She had written most of this diary while they stayed there (and not in the camps, as usually thought of). Two years later they were found out and arrested by the Nazi police and transported to the labor camps, where almost everyone was eventually killed or died, including Anne. The only survivor was her father. Anne's diary was rescued by their Dutch friends just before the Nazi returned after their arrest to clean that hiding. After the war, with her father's consent and help, Anne's diary was published and became one of the most well known books in the world.
I had not heard much about it before I started to read it, and so had no particular expectations of what it will be. Quite unlike the popular image of this book, which is usually presented as the description of the suffering of the Jews during the WWII, the horrors of labor camps, etc., it is an optimistic and highly entertaining read about the life of this teenage (13-14) girl, mostly concerned with the grown ups around her and their social behaviour in that hide; her relationships with them and her innermost feelings and anxieties; her first and second love; her self exploration during those 25 months there and the hopes and dreams that she entertained for after the war is over, when they can return to a normal life; and much, much more. Although the struggles of the war and their frequent fears in hiding are also addressed, her writing mostly remains a humorous, witty, very touching and super addictive read!
So I am a little bit perplexed why so many 5* reviews here emphasise so much the terrible fortune of the many Jews during the WWII and the tragic end of Anne Frank and most of her family. Whereas these are undoubtedly the shocking facts (well described in _another_ book, "Anne Frank Remembered"), they happened after this diary was completed by Anne and thus did not influence neither the spirit nor the content of it.
This book is an important read for every parent because not only does it show what an early teenager anticipates, wants and needs to see in her parents, but also describes very well on how particular character traits of the parents and other grown ups, which we as adults stop even noticing because they're all so common, how these are perceived by children and how they form their opinions, and then of course their attitudes, towards us & life. I think it will be quite clear to everyone who reads the book that the parents-kids misunderstanding symptom, recurring in every generation, must be due not so much to the change of circumstances / technologies / opportunities / values, etc., but because too many of us, when we grow up and become parents, tend to do exactly the same things for our kids and become exactly the same characters which we ourselves despised while being young. No other book which I have read describes the yearnings and the needs of an adolescent so well and can offer so much practical insight for parents and kids alike as this one!
I do not intend to repeat what is already written in some other reviews here, but to give you just one example where this book really struck me by the depth of Anne's thought and feelings: how well (at the age of 14!) she defined what love is and what it is not. What does it mean to love someone? In one place she writes: "Love is understanding someone, caring for him, sharing his joys and sorrows". And then few months later she adds: "To love someone, I have to admire and respect that person". Until I read her diary I thought that the best definition of what love is was given by a renowned psychologist Erich Fromm (who actually wrote it when Anne was no more): "Love... always implies certain basic elements, common to all forms of love. These are care, responsibility, respect and knowledge". But if you pause and slowly repeat and compare these definitions, how much more precise and resonating is this word that Anne used, "to admire" (the same word in the Russian translation)! Aren't we all really longing for a partner, for friends and parents whom we would not only know and respect, but admire? Does not each of us yearn to live a life that is worth not only of respect, but admiration? Sometimes it happens that just one or few precise words open up the new depths of understanding and meaning. For Leo Tolstoy, a famous Russian author, 8 words spoken in the Sermon on the Mount: "Do not resist the one who is evil" (only 3 words in Russian actually) opened up the understanding of the teachings of the Gospels. As for me, this one verb, in the context of Anne's writing about love, - to admire (not in the modern, superficial sense of admiring what is on the outside, but subtle admiration of the person's character), - enriched my understanding of love. This is just one example which is most vivid in my memory from this book, but the truth is that at no moment I was willing to speed up my reading, or to skip any paragraph or part of it, because everything she wrote is really so captivating!
P.S. Few words on the English translation. This English text is beautifully written, maybe even a bit too beautiful, too stylized compared to the original. I actually cannot compare it to the original in Dutch, but when I looked at the Russian translation, some written thoughts sounded a little less accurately formulated there; somehow it felt more believable to be closer to the writing of a 14 year old girl. Yet I did preferred to read the English version, since as long as this is a translation, I think it is alright to make it more natural & harmonious in the final language, rather than trying to find ways to retain the slight unpolished-ness of the original. Besides, English is more of a kindred language with Dutch.
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Reviews with images
Great read for 12 and up, would not recommend any younger. Read further and I will explain why.
Beautiful book! Fell in love with anne emeidiently! A Sweet story of a girl who lived during the holocaust.Did NOT approve of the sexual content, not a good read for 12 or below.Some lesbian talk which completely shocked me. *****SPOILER ALERT: anne talks about wanting to touch her girlfriends breasts, and kissing her. Talk about longing to have a girlfriend. And how she always wondered why her girlfriend kept her body hidden from her. She talked about how she was interested in sex, and her and her friend peter talk about sex alot. They talk about male and female nudes and she describes what a female private looks like to him. Her and peter kiss many times and anne feels bad for doing it behind her parents backs, but continues to do it:******SPOILER END.Other people might not think if that as a big deal, but I do, bigtime.Other than that it was a good read.I give this book 4 stars because if the sexual content.
Top reviews from other countries
Cliente Amazon
Un libro con una buena presentación
Reviewed in Spain on April 19, 2024Neusche
Wichtig für alle nicht Deutschen, die über die Nazizeit was wissen wollen
Reviewed in Germany on February 9, 2023
MFR
A must read, though many flaws in this publisher's version
Reviewed in Canada on December 6, 2020