Reviews with content warning for Genocide - The Diary of a Young Girl

Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

45 reviews

naomidanae's review against another edition

funny informative tense medium-paced

4.0

There’s not much to say about this book that hasn’t already been said. Anne Frank is a precocious writer, with many deep things to say for so young a person. It’s heartbreaking to read certain passages knowing what happened to her. Some editions might do this, but I wish there’d been a narration at the end explaining what happened to the family and the rest of the annex. I never read this as a teen, so it was something I wanted to read this year as my “at least one classic a year” book.

Some quotes:
“No one wants to see the danger until it’s staring them in the face.”

“The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity. As long as this exists, and that should be forever, I know that there will be solace for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances. I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer.”

“…until all of humanity, without exception, undergoes a metamorphosis, wars will continue to be waged, and everything that has been carefully built up, cultivated and grown will be cut down and destroyed, only to start all over again!”

Content Warnings

yellowpurple500's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

A story I strongly believe everyone should read at some point.
I had to keep putting this down just to process how this is real. The emotions Anne shares are real, the arguments, thr tension, the conversations are real.

Anne wanted to be a writer and share her story with the world. The more people that share and read her diary, the more her dream is reality.

Content Warnings

livia3_answorth's review

Go to review page

hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Content Warnings

jjb21's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A beautiful, hopeful, heartbreaking account.

It’s much more than the traumatising history I expected. In some ways it’s a charming coming-of-age story. Hearing the very real trials and tribulations of a ‘normal’ 13-year-old - stuck in a room with a bunch of ’stupid’ adults - can, at times, be very funny and charming.

But it has a menacing countdown throughout, and the final pages were always going to have me in tears.

But it’s as inspiring as it is depressing. Faced by the worst events imaginable, Anne is so wise and forgiving. She writes beautifully about life and love and humanity and hunger and purpose and society and family and friendships. And the Dutch people who support those in the Annexe are a source of great hope for the future.

I hope we’ve learned from this period of history.

Content Warnings

asimpson7's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Such a sad read, knowing her fate while reading her words about being optimistic about the future. Although it makes me very appreciative of my life even though it may be hard it’s nothing compared to having to be in hiding and fear for my life just because of my beliefs.

Content Warnings

lrl06's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny informative lighthearted tense medium-paced

3.5

“People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things“ is one of the beautiful things she wrote with this one being just a month before she was captured, on July 6th 1944. Such intelligence and emotional maturity strikes from this young girl to write with such knowledge on both herself and the world around her. Her essence of normalcy in such hard times really advocate for her personality.

The reasons this weren’t a five star review from me is because I didn’t exactly find myself completely compelled to go onto the next page nor do I think I would have typically picked up a book about a 13 to 15-year-old’s life besides the political and historical context. For the context however, I think this is a vital read to understand just one person’s perspective of eight people in this mass genocide.

Content Warnings

venetiana's review against another edition

Go to review page

I've read the original so many times, and the book is so, so dear to my heart. I physically couldn't bear to listen to it with this narration.

It sounds so much like badly acted contemporary German theatre, it almost felt disrespectful to Anne's thoughtful, vulnerable, honest, sensitive writing.

I sincerely hope you read it before you venture into the German audio book.

Content Warnings