"If we can save someone, then everything else is of secondary importance."
Dates read: May 13 - May 22
Genre(s): memoir, autobiography, nonfiction
Rating: none (see below)
I have decided not to give this book a star rating at all because it is a personal diary that the author never thought anyone else would read beyond the parts she actually intended to publish one day. It contains the private ruminations of a young girl--who was forced to grow up too quickly--caught in the midst of WWII, and therefore it cannot be given a rating that determines it to be simply "good" or "bad." However, I am writing this "review" because I must write something about this incredible piece.
"I have now reached the stage that I don't care much whether I live or die. The world will still keep on turning without me: what is going to happen, will happen, and anyway it's no good to resist."
Of course we cannot refer to this diary as a "literary masterpiece" for reasons I have already mentioned, but as the Philadelphia Inquirer stated, it remains "one of the most moving personal documents to come out of World War II." Anne's diary is full of even the smallest details, including food and sleeping arrangements, as well as thoughts on her life in hiding and the monotonous things her and her family did daily just to pass the time, as they could not leave or go outdoors. It is incredibly interesting to a reader like myself, who has never gone through such an experience.
It is not fair for someone to say that this is boring. I am personally not interested much in the entire history of any war, nor do I understand the details about invasions or the politics of war, but I am interested in Anne's (and other people's) stories during this particular one. I read this diary through Anne's eyes and the war became more of a reality to me. It was heartbreaking knowing that Anne's diary would have no neat conclusion, as her haven was raided just three days after her final entry. I was already angry and heartbroken to learn about the Holocaust in past history classes, and Anne's diary confirmed those feelings even further--but for the better.
Reading this collection of a teenage girl's thoughts, concerns, and reflections, you get to see what it was like to be persecuted for your beliefs/heritage and to be forced into hiding to avoid being rounded up and sent to a Nazi death camp. It makes you check your privilege many times. You get to experience right along with Anne the dread, fear, hope, and misery. For over two years, Anne was confined to living in close quarters with seven other people. That's more than 730 days. It is a given that they annoyed each other almost every day. These two families had to drop everything, leave most of their possessions and their normal lives behind, and adapt to a new way of life. We must continue reading stories and experiences that are unlike our own if we wish to be united as human beings.
Through all of the rations, same old meals (such as potatoes at every dinner,) quarrels, puberty, unusual birthdays, growing-out of clothes and shoes, discovery scares, illnesses, radio broadcasts about the war, burglaries, forbidden love, curtain-closings, and the inability to go outdoors for over two years, Anne retained her optimism and her hopes that she would one day walk among people again, that the war would be over, that she could go back to school and become a journalist and an author. She knew, even at fifteen, that not all people are bad and in the end, good will prevail. And that, to say the least, is inspiring.
"If we can save someone, then everything else is of secondary importance."
There are over 60,000 1-star and over 109,000 2-star reviews for this work on goodreads. That is quite a lot of negativity coming from people who did not have to experience Anne's exact struggles. Below are some quotes I read in others' reviews and my assessment of them:
I hated having to read parts of this in school. It's maybe the most boring, least interesting book I've ever heard anyone rave about. Hell, I think that my OWN journal is boring, let alone some stranger's diary.
I am not for a second hesitant to assume that this person has not lived a life like Anne was forced to, which makes their comments about their own journal being boring quite invalid. Of course, we all have likes and dislikes, or preferences, that determine what we read. Perhaps this person is simply not into diary entry-style writing. Still, that by no means makes Anne's story "boring." At thirteen years old, she had to hide her entire existence in order to have even a small chance at avoiding Nazi capture. She endured having to grow up in a small space with many others for over two years only to die from typhus in a concentration camp. Although I suppose it really is my own opinion, nothing about her adjusting to this terrible new way of life was uninteresting.
I KNOW her situation was extreme. I KNOW that I would not have behaved any better than Anne. I KNOW her story deserves attention because it puts a face on history that we dare not forget. However, the writing just seemed to me like so much whining about and secret berating of other people that I just got sick of it. I couldn't even finish the book. Perhaps had I persevered to the end I would have been rewarded.
They are missing out, as Anne grew up quite fast and learned from her many mistakes and outbursts. She wrote about her embarrassment of her younger self. She eventually grew quieter among the others and kept her annoyed thoughts for her diary. She had no one else to vent to but her diary. No one else (besides Peter later on) understood who she was or how she felt, or desired to hear anything she had to say. Writing, in general as well as in journals/diaries, has proven to be therapeutic and necessary for many people's mental health. Getting your thoughts down on paper relieves stress and can improve your mood.
I look up to Anne because of what she dealt with at such a young age, and her writing was great, but I felt like she just went on and on in her writing.
What else was there for her to do? She could not fill her time with going to school, or hanging out with her many friends, or going outside, or going to the theater, or anything beyond what she was able to do in the confines of the annex. Diaries are meant to contain detailed accounts about one's day, and as Anne was thrust into a completely unprecedented way of living, it is understandable that she would want no detail left out. I'm sure she intended to read back on her ruminations during that time once the war had ended. She wrote in her diary that she planned to publish a book about her time living in hiding, and therefore needed to capture all the details as an author compiling notes.
Don't you ever pick this book, Don't start reading it, because it's only a big waste of time and life. It's extremely unbearably boring and useless. I have no idea how this can be a bestseller book.
This review was a waste of time. This is a bestseller because it's one of the most valuable pieces of history contained in writing. It has sold over 30 million copies in 70 different languages because it provides a powerful glimpse into the life of a teenage Jewish girl trying to cope with living in hiding while Holland was occupied by Nazis who were hunting down and forcing people like her into camps to be killed. It carries a beautiful and heartbreaking message of courage and hope in the face of adversity. It reminds us of the terrible things that millions of innocent people and even children had to endure. We cannot erase history.
I hated having to read parts of this in school. It's maybe the most boring, least interesting book I've ever heard anyone rave about. Hell, I think that my OWN journal is boring, let alone some stranger's diary.
I am not for a second hesitant to assume that this person has not lived a life like Anne was forced to, which makes their comments about their own journal being boring quite invalid. Of course, we all have likes and dislikes, or preferences, that determine what we read. Perhaps this person is simply not into diary entry-style writing. Still, that by no means makes Anne's story "boring." At thirteen years old, she had to hide her entire existence in order to have even a small chance at avoiding Nazi capture. She endured having to grow up in a small space with many others for over two years only to die from typhus in a concentration camp. Although I suppose it really is my own opinion, nothing about her adjusting to this terrible new way of life was uninteresting.
I KNOW her situation was extreme. I KNOW that I would not have behaved any better than Anne. I KNOW her story deserves attention because it puts a face on history that we dare not forget. However, the writing just seemed to me like so much whining about and secret berating of other people that I just got sick of it. I couldn't even finish the book. Perhaps had I persevered to the end I would have been rewarded.
They are missing out, as Anne grew up quite fast and learned from her many mistakes and outbursts. She wrote about her embarrassment of her younger self. She eventually grew quieter among the others and kept her annoyed thoughts for her diary. She had no one else to vent to but her diary. No one else (besides Peter later on) understood who she was or how she felt, or desired to hear anything she had to say. Writing, in general as well as in journals/diaries, has proven to be therapeutic and necessary for many people's mental health. Getting your thoughts down on paper relieves stress and can improve your mood.
I look up to Anne because of what she dealt with at such a young age, and her writing was great, but I felt like she just went on and on in her writing.
What else was there for her to do? She could not fill her time with going to school, or hanging out with her many friends, or going outside, or going to the theater, or anything beyond what she was able to do in the confines of the annex. Diaries are meant to contain detailed accounts about one's day, and as Anne was thrust into a completely unprecedented way of living, it is understandable that she would want no detail left out. I'm sure she intended to read back on her ruminations during that time once the war had ended. She wrote in her diary that she planned to publish a book about her time living in hiding, and therefore needed to capture all the details as an author compiling notes.
Don't you ever pick this book, Don't start reading it, because it's only a big waste of time and life. It's extremely unbearably boring and useless. I have no idea how this can be a bestseller book.
This review was a waste of time. This is a bestseller because it's one of the most valuable pieces of history contained in writing. It has sold over 30 million copies in 70 different languages because it provides a powerful glimpse into the life of a teenage Jewish girl trying to cope with living in hiding while Holland was occupied by Nazis who were hunting down and forcing people like her into camps to be killed. It carries a beautiful and heartbreaking message of courage and hope in the face of adversity. It reminds us of the terrible things that millions of innocent people and even children had to endure. We cannot erase history.