“I want to go on living even after my death” // Review of “Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank

Title: Diary of a Young Girl (Definitive Edition)
Author: Anne Frank
Genre: Memoir/Non-fiction
Date Read: 06/01/2017 to 09/01/2017
Rating: ★★★★

Review: 

It feels a bit odd to be rating and reviewing Anne Frank’s diary, yet here I am. I had seen plenty of the profound quotes from its pages everywhere over the years, but it was a surprise to read the diary in full and realise just how much of a normal teenager Anne was.

This review hardly needs the usual paragraph I do here with a quick synopsis. This is the diary kept by Anne Frank during the years 1942-44, when she and her family and four others hid in the secret Annex at the back of her father’s office building to hide from the Nazis.

Anne was an incredibly insightful 13-year-old, far more than I ever was or many of the people I know. Her circumstances gave her a unique perspective from which to observe people. I am glad I read the definitive edition, as I believe in earlier editions her father edited out a lot of the material relating to Anne’s fraught relationship with her mother. I am glad I read this, as it was what made me feel closest to Anne; I identified a lot with the relationship she described.

Anne’s diary is also incredibly important as a piece of social history. She describes the ways the Secret Annex passed the time while stuck in the tiny space for such a long time, how they obtained food, and how they were helped by their friends still on the outside. While she did still at times come across as a whiny 13-year-old, I was able to forgive her due to the incredible observations about life and human nature that she often made.

This isn’t really my best review but it’s hard to know what else to day. I am not really one for telling people what they “should” read, but I think this is probably an exception.

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