Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Review: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Writing Style-6.9
Originality-7.0
Plot-6.5
Literary Merit(whatever that means)-8.4
Overall-7.3
It’s unbelievable that this was written by a 13-14 year old. Simply the fact that a 13 year old could write 300 pages that hold most people’s attention is amazing. It shows an uncanny grasp of storytelling, pacing, and language.
I recently read Henry and June by Anais Nin, which is a section of Nin’s diaries that deals with her relationship with Henry Miller and his wife June. And I have to say that I think a 13 year old Anne Frank writes every bit as well and is in many ways as mature as an adult Anais Nin. In fact, I was repeatedly reminded of Nin’s diary while reading this. Particularly, Anne’s description of her feelings for Peter and one entry where she candidly describes exploring her own genitalia, which could have easily been an entry in Nin’s diary.
I’m sure most of you know the story. Anne Frank and her family are hiding in a secret apartment, or annex, with another family and some other random guy. She falls in love with Peter, the son from the other family.
Those people who would only seek to read this book for sensational violence of the holocaust should be forewarned. None, of the diary is written inside a concentration camp. There’s no physical torture, gas chambers, or mass graves. It’s more subtle than that.
It’s simply a real life snapshot of how people rather manfully persevered and did their best to carry on with their lives under the most horribly oppressive conditions. For instance, they celebrate holidays and birthdays (often writing each other poems as presents) and they take correspondence courses and continue their studies and work from before they went into hiding.
Even without the tension of the war and holocaust going on just outside their door, this is a brilliantly written diary. Even compared to diaries and memoirs written by adults whose lives are tumultuous this could stand up on its own.
However, I think the big catch of this book is that it’s so hard to come to grips with the fact that there was this brilliant young girl living with her friends and family all the while leading rather mundane, regular lives waiting for a war to end, and then they got caught one night. And of the eight of them, only Anne’s father survives the concentration camps. It’s this sudden, inexplicable end to so much that we recognize and value in people that leaves us shaking our heads at this book and the circumstances that come about to make it reality.
Originality-7.0
Plot-6.5
Literary Merit(whatever that means)-8.4
Overall-7.3
It’s unbelievable that this was written by a 13-14 year old. Simply the fact that a 13 year old could write 300 pages that hold most people’s attention is amazing. It shows an uncanny grasp of storytelling, pacing, and language.
I recently read Henry and June by Anais Nin, which is a section of Nin’s diaries that deals with her relationship with Henry Miller and his wife June. And I have to say that I think a 13 year old Anne Frank writes every bit as well and is in many ways as mature as an adult Anais Nin. In fact, I was repeatedly reminded of Nin’s diary while reading this. Particularly, Anne’s description of her feelings for Peter and one entry where she candidly describes exploring her own genitalia, which could have easily been an entry in Nin’s diary.
I’m sure most of you know the story. Anne Frank and her family are hiding in a secret apartment, or annex, with another family and some other random guy. She falls in love with Peter, the son from the other family.
Those people who would only seek to read this book for sensational violence of the holocaust should be forewarned. None, of the diary is written inside a concentration camp. There’s no physical torture, gas chambers, or mass graves. It’s more subtle than that.
It’s simply a real life snapshot of how people rather manfully persevered and did their best to carry on with their lives under the most horribly oppressive conditions. For instance, they celebrate holidays and birthdays (often writing each other poems as presents) and they take correspondence courses and continue their studies and work from before they went into hiding.
Even without the tension of the war and holocaust going on just outside their door, this is a brilliantly written diary. Even compared to diaries and memoirs written by adults whose lives are tumultuous this could stand up on its own.
However, I think the big catch of this book is that it’s so hard to come to grips with the fact that there was this brilliant young girl living with her friends and family all the while leading rather mundane, regular lives waiting for a war to end, and then they got caught one night. And of the eight of them, only Anne’s father survives the concentration camps. It’s this sudden, inexplicable end to so much that we recognize and value in people that leaves us shaking our heads at this book and the circumstances that come about to make it reality.
