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A review by charlote_1347
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
5.0
SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
Reading this diary was an eye-opening experience. I went into it thinking I was prepared for the bleak, tragic end but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Anne captured my mind and heart in her first entry and her grip only tightened the more she wrote.
Her writing is the first thing I’m going to applaud. I know how difficult it is to find the right words. The effort it takes is monumental and for Anne to succeed in it time and time again with little to no effort is awe-inspiring. Even in her earliest entries she is insightful and joyful. The restrictions placed on her purely because of her religion do not impact on her appreciation and love of life at all. I’m aware a translator may have popped a few words in or out to improve the flow but the majority of credit goes to Anne: a teenage girl. That’s the one thing I can’t wrap my head around: how brilliant Anne would have become if she’d made it into adulthood. It makes me angry and ashamed to think that her life, and millions of others, were callously ended for such cowardly, hateful reasons.
The content itself is exceptional. Anne strikes a perfect balance between personal, political and observational. Multiple times I felt like I was right in the room, close-knit and claustrophobic but always grateful to be alive. My favourite ‘parts’ were those concerning Anne’s first thoughts on sexuality and the development of her relationship with Peter. The former, not something she probably would have chosen to share if she’d had the choice, really kicked my empathy to the next level because it showed the sheer helplessness of her position. Anne's stuck as the perpetual ‘child’ in the Annex, despite the fact that she's rapidly growing up. Who can she approach to ask her questions? Who won't betray her confidence?
And her relationship with Peter is so…human. It's not like in the films where the boy and girl meet, circle each other for a while and declare their affection/love in a grand, romantic gesture. Anne and Peter are heartfelt, raw and hesitant. Neither of them has had romantic encounters before and it shows. They are knees and elbows and mumbled words and it's so real. When Peter puts Anne’s head on his shoulder and rests his on hers, I swooned.
I’ll end with a few thoughts. I now have an answer to that random query that bounces around the internet, about an empty bench and choosing someone from the dead who will come and sit on it with you. I would choose Anne, hands-down. She grows up, like any other child, but the ordeal she goes through and the positivity she maintains in herself and others is stirring. Truly, she is an example to follow.
Reading this diary was an eye-opening experience. I went into it thinking I was prepared for the bleak, tragic end but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Anne captured my mind and heart in her first entry and her grip only tightened the more she wrote.
Her writing is the first thing I’m going to applaud. I know how difficult it is to find the right words. The effort it takes is monumental and for Anne to succeed in it time and time again with little to no effort is awe-inspiring. Even in her earliest entries she is insightful and joyful. The restrictions placed on her purely because of her religion do not impact on her appreciation and love of life at all. I’m aware a translator may have popped a few words in or out to improve the flow but the majority of credit goes to Anne: a teenage girl. That’s the one thing I can’t wrap my head around: how brilliant Anne would have become if she’d made it into adulthood. It makes me angry and ashamed to think that her life, and millions of others, were callously ended for such cowardly, hateful reasons.
The content itself is exceptional. Anne strikes a perfect balance between personal, political and observational. Multiple times I felt like I was right in the room, close-knit and claustrophobic but always grateful to be alive. My favourite ‘parts’ were those concerning Anne’s first thoughts on sexuality and the development of her relationship with Peter. The former, not something she probably would have chosen to share if she’d had the choice, really kicked my empathy to the next level because it showed the sheer helplessness of her position. Anne's stuck as the perpetual ‘child’ in the Annex, despite the fact that she's rapidly growing up. Who can she approach to ask her questions? Who won't betray her confidence?
And her relationship with Peter is so…human. It's not like in the films where the boy and girl meet, circle each other for a while and declare their affection/love in a grand, romantic gesture. Anne and Peter are heartfelt, raw and hesitant. Neither of them has had romantic encounters before and it shows. They are knees and elbows and mumbled words and it's so real. When Peter puts Anne’s head on his shoulder and rests his on hers, I swooned.
I’ll end with a few thoughts. I now have an answer to that random query that bounces around the internet, about an empty bench and choosing someone from the dead who will come and sit on it with you. I would choose Anne, hands-down. She grows up, like any other child, but the ordeal she goes through and the positivity she maintains in herself and others is stirring. Truly, she is an example to follow.