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About the author
Anneliese Marie "Anne" Frank was
born on 12 june 1929 in Frankfurt, Prussia, Weimar Republic. She lived most of
her life near Amsterdam, Netherlands, she moved there with her family at
the age of four and a half when there was Nazis' control over Germany. As a
German National Citizen, she lost her citizenship in 1941 and
became stateless. In May 1940, the Franks family got trapped in Amsterdam
by the German occupation of the Netherlands.
In August 1944, Anne kept a diary which she
received as a birthday gift, and started writing in it regularly. In October or
November 1944, Anne and her sister, Margot, were shifted
from Auschwitz to Bergen - Belsen concentration camp where they
both died because of Typhus a few months later.
Otto,(Father of Anne Frank) the only
survivor of the Frank family, returned to Amsterdam after the war to find that
her diary had been saved by his secretary and his efforts led to its
publication in 1947. It was translated from its original Dutch version and
first published in English in 1952 as The Diary Of A Young Girl and has
since been translated into over 70 languages.
Review:
The diary of a young girl has been considered praiseworthy for its literary uses. From Commenting on Anne Frank's writing style, the dramatist Meyer Levin commended Frank for sustaining the tension of a well-constructed novel and was so impressed by the quality of her work that later on he collaborated with Otto Frank on a dramatization of the diary soon after its publication.
Levin became
obsessed with Anne Frank, which he wrote about in his autobiography The
Obsession. The poet John Berryman called the book a unique depiction, not just of adolescence but of the conversion of a child into a person as it is happening in a confident,
precise, economic style stunning in its honesty.
In the next two years, Anne wrote faithfully in her diary in which she considered a friend, addressing many of the entries to “Dear Kitty.” In all her journals and later notebooks, Anne counted the day-to-day life within the annex.
She wrote randomly about her
developing body, and also that she experienced a small romance with Peter van
Pels. She also discussed all her hopes for the future, which included becoming
a journalist or a writer. In addition to the diary, Anne also wrote many short
stories and compiled a list of beautiful sentences from other works.
Anne’s last diary entry was written
on August 1, 1944. Three days later the secret annex was discovered by
the Gestapo, which had received a tip from Dutch informers.
My view
Although I read this book in tenth grade, it still remains one of those literary works that stay with you forever and are relevant for years to come. What sets apart this highly nuanced book is that it captures the adolescent mood swings in a truly impeccable manner.
I don't think that Anne
realized that by putting her teenage in her diary she was actually leaving
behind a great treasure, the treasure of thought. The most beautiful aspect of
the book is the accuracy with which it portrays human relationships - those
with your friends as well as family and goes on to discuss matters of war
religion, philosophy, and everything under the sun where a human mind can
possibly go.
Anne suffered a lot being hidden away,
without the escape of nature and the ability to go about her life as a multi
faced young lady. She had the ability to read herself, to know herself and
recognize her strengths, her faults, and her dreams in such a way, She knew herself more clearly than I
think most of us ever could.
Anne’s story shows us that just because people may be of a different religion or race, doesn’t mean that they should be treated differently. The terrible treatment of Jewish people during the war has shown this. Her diary shows us things that people don’t think about now, for example how every day the people in hiding worried about maybe being found and punished.
I liked that Anne was a really happy and cheerful person even though she and her family were in an awful situation. Anne enjoyed writing and describing others. She was talkative and inquisitive and could be selfish. She was a typical teenage girl and she didn’t always understand how difficult life was for her mother and the other adults around her.
She commented on the people
who shared their hiding space. Sometimes this wasn’t very nice, but it shows
how everybody’s life was challenging because they had to be quiet and not bring
attention to themselves.
I would recommend this book to anyone who
has an interest in reading historical, war, or mystery books as it is so
interesting. This book would be suitable for people aged ten upwards since it
is very sad in places.
My rating for the book - 5/5
You can easily buy a copy of this book from
Amazon - Diary of a Young Girl
Written By - Ishita Sharma
Edited By - Anamika Malik
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