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Diary of Anne Frank

Customer Rating:

I knew that the Diary of Anne Frank was the second most purchased book in the world, the Bible being the first, but I still wasn't sure if I wanted to read it. In our eighth grade class, our teacher is big on the Holocaust. And when she first mentioned that we would be learning about it, I was excited; to a point. I know that most kids my age think 'ooh blood and guts and gore' and think it's cool or funny or a joke. They all watch horror movies that almost make them immune to real life experiences that involve real horror or real tragedy. So before we started learning about it, I wanted to know more in depth about how it was like to be a teen during the Holocaust. So, I summed up the guts and checked it out at the library. When I started reading it, I couldn't stop. Anne and I are so similar. She's always happy-go-lucky despite the terrible circumstances; she's very curious, careless, and sometimes a trouble maker. And even though I'm not Jewish, I think it's extremely easy to worm your way into her shoes. You learn so much, and it's really emotional, knowing that Anne Frank, this person you've grown attatched to, and her family, everyone except her father Otto Frank, has been killed. Slaughtered innocently by the Nazis, a cult led by Hitler that cornered them just because of their religion or their looks. I think that if anyone wants to learn about the Holocaust, this is a must read; it's an amazing journey that might not end so happily, but Anne never ceased to hope. It has such vivid details of everything that sometimes it's hard to believe that something like the concentration camps and Hitler and everything existed. The fact that it's in diary form makes it all the better. This non-fiction diary is amazing, and I think everyone, at some point, should read it.

awesome book, sad story	Customer Rating:
a wonderful story told by an innocent child. it is a must read for all generations

A good example of what it means to be a Refugee.	Customer Rating:
I am presently living like a refugee, so I can say from experience this is a good way to understand what it means to be stuck in a room for four years, having done that myself. This is what happens when wars get out of hand. Required reading for government workers.

Another School Reading, Re-Read As An Adult

Customer Rating:

Sometimes you wonder to what purpose a person releases the details of a love ones life after death. This is just such a case. I will admit, I did not read the book as instructed in school, or many of the books forced upon us. As an adult, I went back and read many of them to see what I had missed (like the Red Badge of Courage, Uncle Toms Cabine, Tom Sawyer, etc.). This book from the hype would seem to be a literary masterpiece, rather, what it turns out to be is a rudementarry, and purposely selected piece of a little girls journal. If the purpose of the book was to delve into the mind of a teenage girl of the 1940's who does not get on well with her family or others, and seem a bit spoiled, it is a glowing success. The problem here is that it is meant to showcase a little girl in hiding from the Nazi's during WWII. To this it fails in that it merely touches on those issues (other than the ad nauseum complaints that Anne Frank makes about her inconveniences). I also get the feeling that this was severly edited to make the father look better than he was (in that he released the book), while making everyone else the villan. I guess this book is timeless in that most teenagers today have the same rants and raves. If you are reading it looking for historical perspective of a Jewish teen in hiding, you will not get much more than the backdrop which leaks through every now and again, since all the rest could truly be the rants of a teen of any generation. I know this review will be unpopular since this book is considered a modern day classic from our generation, I just feel there are numerous books that are far better at demostrating the attrocities, and difficulties of living through World War II, and going into hiding as a Jew during that time period. I was dissapointed.

Profound

Customer Rating:

I am probably being redundant when I say this, but this was a profound book. This was a rare look into the life of a Jew living in hiding during Nazi occupation that shaped the worlds understanding of this dreadful persecution. Anne begins as a spoiled and restless child, but her time in hiding definitely changes her. She becomes more precocious and reflective, sharing her insightful thoughts with her diary. She comments on her parents, her living conditions, her learning pursuits, politics and the war, her desire to be loved, among many other things. Of course, there is great conflict in the "Secret Annex" with eight people living in such close quarters for over two years, but it reveals the fragility of human nature when confronted with such tension. Anne's descriptions allow the reader to easily imagine their plight and her writing matures throughout. Anne's diary is a timeless and necessary piece of literature. The tragedy of her death is nothing compared to her devotion to humanity.