Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic--a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
Praise for The Diary of a Young Girl
"A truly remarkable book." -- The New York Times
"One of the most moving personal documents to come out of World War II." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"There may be no better way to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II than to reread The Diary of a Young Girl, a testament to an indestructible nobility of spirit in the face of pure evil." -- Chicago Tribune
"The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust . . . remains astonishing and excruciating." -- The New York Times Book Review
"How brilliantly Anne Frank captures the self-conscious alienation and na#65533;ve self-absorption of adolescence." -- Newsday
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
Praise for The Diary of a Young Girl
"A truly remarkable book." -- The New York Times
"One of the most moving personal documents to come out of World War II." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"There may be no better way to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II than to reread The Diary of a Young Girl, a testament to an indestructible nobility of spirit in the face of pure evil." -- Chicago Tribune
"The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust . . . remains astonishing and excruciating." -- The New York Times Book Review
"How brilliantly Anne Frank captures the self-conscious alienation and na#65533;ve self-absorption of adolescence." -- Newsday
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Publisher:
New York, N.Y. : Doubleday, c1995.
Edition:
Definitive ed.
ISBN:
9780385480338
0385480334
9780553577129
0553577123
9780385473781
0385473788
0385480334
9780553577129
0553577123
9780385473781
0385473788
Characteristics:
340 p. ;,21 cm.
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platypus101
Jul 11, 2013
For her 13th birthday Anne Frank received a diary she dubbed Kitty. Shortly after her birthday with the fear that her older sister, Margo may be taken by the Nazis the Franks disappear into the night and go into hiding. It is through Kitty that Anne records her thoughts and daily life living behind a bookcase in the secret annex.
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Add a CommentThe level of insight and intelligence evident in Anne's writing blew me away. From mundane daily rituals, to accounts of key events, to explorations of self and personal development made this an all-round captivating reading experience. Knowing the tragic outcome, her speculations about the future became a poignant reminder of the tragedies of her time.
A must read!
Ya gotta hand it to this teen girl who was writing about her life with such clarity and eloquence when her life was hanging by a thread.
From the pure standpoint of the reader with all emotions set aside, the fact that the diary includes a love interest is a blessing. But even without it, it's a wonderful and at times intense read. Knowing what happens to all of them after the diary ends packs the punch that would've been included had this been a work of fiction, but it's not.
A great book. A bit strange to read, knowing the outcome, while Anne doesn't. At times, the book reads like a fictional diary where the author knows where she's going with the story, knows the ending, and is putting in poignant little moments or comments to pull at the reader's heart strings, but of course Anne didn't know the ending when she was writing her diary, and that makes it even more poignant. Reading the last few months of the diary was the hardest because she kept mentioning things she was going to do in October of that year or what she wanted to do after she finished school, after the end of the war, and all I could think was "No, your not going to get to do those things" because the Nazis are coming in a few weeks and you'll die in a concentration camp a few months after that. It was amazing how, with the thought of concentration camps and other horrors on her mind she could still write some really trivial stuff about boys that she was soooo in love with, and the arguments that her fellow companions were having about food and use of the toilet among other things.
I tried to read this when I was younger, and can even remember writing entries in my diary addressed to Kitty. I believe; however, that I was too young to appreciate this book for what it is. Re-reading this as an adult made me truly appreciate this story for what it is. It is a story of a girl growing up, dealing with the typical struggles all teenaged girls face, even while in hiding. I recommend that if you have read this in your younger years, you re-visit it again.
This is the first book I read as a very young girl that rocked me to my core - and it still does many years later. Anne Frank is the voice of the millions who lost their lives in the Holocaust.