Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Random USA (2015), Edition: Reissue, 304 pages
Description
Journal of a Jewish teenager describes the joys and torments of daily life and typical adolescent thoughts throughout two years spent in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
Media reviews
It is a truly remarkable book. Its revelation of the emotional turmoil and intellectual growth of an adolescent girl during extraordinarily difficult circumstances is psychologically fascinating. Its portrayal of ordinary people under frightful nervous strain and perpetual forced intimacy is wise
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and perceptive. Anne was precociously mature in her understanding of both herself and of others. Show Less
Anne Frank's diary is too tenderly intimate a book to be frozen with the label "classic," and yet no lesser designation serves... But her book is not a classic to be left on the library shelf. It is a warm and stirring confession, to be read over and over for insight and enjoyment.
User reviews
LibraryThing member asciiphil
Sometimes, it seems that everyone except me had to read The Diary of Anne Frank in school. (The fact that I probably got more out of the book because I didn't is a piece for another day.) While I was reading, I learned from a friend of mine that I was reading an edited version. Though it is not
Anne Frank was a talented writer. She does a good job of expressing what her life was like during the two years of her family's hiding from the Germans. At times, I did feel that I was an interloper in someone else's thoughts, especially during the time when she was exploring her feelings for Peter, but that lends to the feel of the book. It tells the tale of a young girl thrust into a situation where she has little control over her life and how she manages to live with that.
I'm not sure what I think of the translation. Anne originally wrote in Dutch, which doesn't work well for a sadly monolingual American such as myself. The translation is very much one for a British audience--in addition to things like footnotes translating guilders into shillings and pence, much of Anne's translated language usage involved very British phrases like, "had a jolly good row with so-and-so." For the most part this was relatively unnoticeable, since the phrasing flowed very smoothly through my understanding, but occasionally I was struck by the contrast inherent in a Dutch girl being given a British voice. I understand the reasons for the mode of the translation, but I do wonder what exactly Anne really wrote. (For a real answer, I'd have to learn Dutch, and for a real answer, I'd probably have to grow up in Holland.)
What strikes me most is Anne's generally unflagging optimism throughout the whole book. In one of her final entries, she waxes very introspective, examining her thoughts and behaviors carefully. Near the end of that entry, she writes, "It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death."
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indicated anywhere in the copy I have, it was edited by Anne's father before publication. (This despite the declaration "unabridged" on the title page.) I am told Anne's father removed much about Anne that was specifically Jewish or related to her burgeoning sexuality. (The former because he wanted her to be a more religion-neutral hero, the latter presumably because he didn't want people reading that about his daughter.) So I suppose I'll have to read the fuller version at some point. Regardless, this one is quite good.Anne Frank was a talented writer. She does a good job of expressing what her life was like during the two years of her family's hiding from the Germans. At times, I did feel that I was an interloper in someone else's thoughts, especially during the time when she was exploring her feelings for Peter, but that lends to the feel of the book. It tells the tale of a young girl thrust into a situation where she has little control over her life and how she manages to live with that.
I'm not sure what I think of the translation. Anne originally wrote in Dutch, which doesn't work well for a sadly monolingual American such as myself. The translation is very much one for a British audience--in addition to things like footnotes translating guilders into shillings and pence, much of Anne's translated language usage involved very British phrases like, "had a jolly good row with so-and-so." For the most part this was relatively unnoticeable, since the phrasing flowed very smoothly through my understanding, but occasionally I was struck by the contrast inherent in a Dutch girl being given a British voice. I understand the reasons for the mode of the translation, but I do wonder what exactly Anne really wrote. (For a real answer, I'd have to learn Dutch, and for a real answer, I'd probably have to grow up in Holland.)
What strikes me most is Anne's generally unflagging optimism throughout the whole book. In one of her final entries, she waxes very introspective, examining her thoughts and behaviors carefully. Near the end of that entry, she writes, "It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death."
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LibraryThing member GlebtheDancer
This is one of those books that I thought I knew what it would say, before I read it. I was expecting a chronicling of an heroic struggle of a family against the forces of oppression. What I found instead, was so much more human, touching, tragic and beautiful. Anne Frank was, from her own writing,
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a typical teenage girl: stroppy, irritating, precocious, gobby and loud. The inmates of the secret annexe are portrayed (by Anne) as constantly bickering over trivialities, being petty and finding little in the way of shared warmth. Anne also chronicles her burgeoning sexuality,and the beginnings of her transition into womanhood, like any young girl. And then, one day, it stops just like that, and they are all taken away, and they all die. Anne's diary is the most shocking reminder that the victims of the holocaust were just people; ordinary, mundane, people, killed in their millions. As a piece if literature its actually not bad, but as a documentation of the holocaust from the inside its incredible. Show Less
LibraryThing member MoniqueReads
"Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl" is to powerful to be adequately expressed in words. At the end I was in tears and so sad. The power in the story is not just not that Anne Frank dies in a concentration camp (I don't think this is a spoiler since it should be common knowledge) but in the hope and
The story is compelling because Anne Frank the reader gets to see a 13 year old girl develop while hiding in a back attic (apartment) during the holocaust. The reader gets to see her go though all the emotional and developmental changes that teenage girls go through. They get to read about her dream of being a reporter. Her appreciation for the Dutch people for not only hiding them but taking them in as refuges before the Germans conquered the country. Anne expresses her disassociation with her parents and the mixed feelings that age and Independence bring to the parent-child relationship. It is all there pain, hope, frustration, happiness.
Even knowing how Anne's story ends I couldn't help but hoping for her.
On another note: I really enjoy reading not only nonfiction books but also historical fiction but sometimes they put the world in order. For instance I know the time period that the holocaust happen. I know about Gandhi. But to put them together and to see how Gandhi's words affected Anne Frank and her family is eye opening. When in school there is a tendency to look at bits and pieces of history and disconnect places and events. Reading story like this mesh them together and gives people a boarder more encompassing view of the world.
Pros: Writing, Characters, Everything
Cons: Sad
Overall Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is most definitely now a favorite book. It is a real tear jerkier so keep a box of tissues with you and don't read it in a public place.
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fear that Frank express throughout the diary.The story is compelling because Anne Frank the reader gets to see a 13 year old girl develop while hiding in a back attic (apartment) during the holocaust. The reader gets to see her go though all the emotional and developmental changes that teenage girls go through. They get to read about her dream of being a reporter. Her appreciation for the Dutch people for not only hiding them but taking them in as refuges before the Germans conquered the country. Anne expresses her disassociation with her parents and the mixed feelings that age and Independence bring to the parent-child relationship. It is all there pain, hope, frustration, happiness.
Even knowing how Anne's story ends I couldn't help but hoping for her.
On another note: I really enjoy reading not only nonfiction books but also historical fiction but sometimes they put the world in order. For instance I know the time period that the holocaust happen. I know about Gandhi. But to put them together and to see how Gandhi's words affected Anne Frank and her family is eye opening. When in school there is a tendency to look at bits and pieces of history and disconnect places and events. Reading story like this mesh them together and gives people a boarder more encompassing view of the world.
Pros: Writing, Characters, Everything
Cons: Sad
Overall Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is most definitely now a favorite book. It is a real tear jerkier so keep a box of tissues with you and don't read it in a public place.
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LibraryThing member varwenea
“I want to go on living even after my death!” – Anne Frank, April 4, 1944. She has far exceeded her expectations.
It is unnecessary to write a review of a person’s diary, especially when it’s the historical phenomenon of Anne Frank. My words here are perhaps notes more for myself than a
About the diary version, mine is “version b” the most common variant, a paperback stocked by the book shop at the Anne Frank House; this contains the editorial passages that Anne inserted upon her re-read and wanted her diary to be thorough and to be a reference for her future book, ‘The Secret Annexe’. It also has full content including her blossoming sexuality.
The diary was certainly intriguing. The first half was solid with historical notations, the specifics of living a life in hiding, and the relationships, interactions, frustrations, angst amongst those in hiding. I particularly enjoyed learning about their saintly helpers. The third quarter dragged for this reader as much of it was her pining for Peter van Daan. The last quarter contained her most mature and elaborate thoughts about war, its effects, the destruction.
Despite knowing the aftermath, I cried like a faucet reading the 'Afterword' and 'The Legacy of Anne Frank'.
Let’s close with these words from Anne, on July 15, 1944, shortly before they were taken on August 4, 1944:
“It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I’ll be able to realize them!”
It is unnecessary to write a review of a person’s diary, especially when it’s the historical phenomenon of Anne Frank. My words here are perhaps notes more for myself than a
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review for my fellow LT users. Had she survived, I surmise that she would have been awarded a Nobel Peace prize, carrying on the message of peace and understanding, preventing these atrocities from repeating in the future, which is what Otto Frank did in his remaining years.About the diary version, mine is “version b” the most common variant, a paperback stocked by the book shop at the Anne Frank House; this contains the editorial passages that Anne inserted upon her re-read and wanted her diary to be thorough and to be a reference for her future book, ‘The Secret Annexe’. It also has full content including her blossoming sexuality.
The diary was certainly intriguing. The first half was solid with historical notations, the specifics of living a life in hiding, and the relationships, interactions, frustrations, angst amongst those in hiding. I particularly enjoyed learning about their saintly helpers. The third quarter dragged for this reader as much of it was her pining for Peter van Daan. The last quarter contained her most mature and elaborate thoughts about war, its effects, the destruction.
Despite knowing the aftermath, I cried like a faucet reading the 'Afterword' and 'The Legacy of Anne Frank'.
Let’s close with these words from Anne, on July 15, 1944, shortly before they were taken on August 4, 1944:
“It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I’ll be able to realize them!”
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LibraryThing member Tony2704
A great story of one family's struggle against Nazi Germany, a fantastic recollection of events
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
5***** and a ❤
When I first read this I was about the same age as Anne was when she began her diary. I re-read it in the 1990s after I visited Amsterdam and the Anne Frank House. I’m so glad I revisited it yet again. What an extraordinary young woman Anne Frank was! I’m struck with how honest
UPDATE: 03Nov12 ... saw the play last week and thought I'd revisit this extraordinary work again. Such a powerful and intimate story.
When I first read this I was about the same age as Anne was when she began her diary. I re-read it in the 1990s after I visited Amsterdam and the Anne Frank House. I’m so glad I revisited it yet again. What an extraordinary young woman Anne Frank was! I’m struck with how honest
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she is in recording her observations, thoughts, dreams, hopes, frustrations. She literally comes alive on the page. I’m sure this is in part because she never expected anyone to read these pages. This gave her the freedom to write with brutal honesty. And still … I recently came across my own diary from that time in my life (age about 13-15). I was nowhere near so insightful, and far more self-centered. It breaks my heart, again, to know that the world lost this wonderful person far too soon. UPDATE: 03Nov12 ... saw the play last week and thought I'd revisit this extraordinary work again. Such a powerful and intimate story.
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LibraryThing member ckalinowski
This book is written in diary format and chronicles the real life story of Anne Frank. When Hitler started to arrest and persecute Jewish people, thirteen year old Anne, her parents and sister Margot, are forced to go into hiding. They live on the upper floor of an old house and are eventually
While this book is often sad and painful to get through, it is an absolute must read for anyone wanting to learn about the atrocities of the Nazi regime. A truly gripping and haunting book.
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joined by Mr. and Mrs Van Dann and their fifteen year old son Peter. Friends provide them with food, supplies and information about the outside world. The only entertainment they have is the radio and books to read. Anne longs to go outside, but can only look out the window through a chink in the curtains. Anne and Peter start to fall in love, but sadly after four years in hiding the Germans find them and take them to concentration camps. While this book is often sad and painful to get through, it is an absolute must read for anyone wanting to learn about the atrocities of the Nazi regime. A truly gripping and haunting book.
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LibraryThing member Andorion
The toughest part about reading this book was reading all of Anne's thoughts, dreams and ambitions and then looking at the date of the entry and realizing how little time she had left.
LibraryThing member Jenster
I LOVE THIS BOOK I would give it all 5 stars but it was sad and hard to think about back then if you were a jew.They punised harshly.I would recomed this book but you need a box of clean x and you can not read it in public.
LibraryThing member Charitas
This is the true story ofa young Jewish girl named Anne Frank. For her 13th birthday she received a diary and named it Kitty. In the diary she talks about the Nazi's sending a notice for her dad and sister departure for a concentration camp. The family flees to a hiding place and are joined by the
This is a very moving book. It really gave me a understanding of things that Jewish people went through.
For a classroom extension students would read a chapter in the diary and then we would discuss how the felt about it. They could always start their own diaries of their lives.
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Vans. The diary is about her life in hiding with her family and the Vans.This is a very moving book. It really gave me a understanding of things that Jewish people went through.
For a classroom extension students would read a chapter in the diary and then we would discuss how the felt about it. They could always start their own diaries of their lives.
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LibraryThing member ljspear
The Diary of a Young Girl is a book based on the writings from a diary written by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The family was apprehended in 1944 and Anne Frank ultimately died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen
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concentration camp. After the war, the diary was retrieved by Anne's father, Otto Frank who led efforts to publish the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member samitay89
This book is about a girl name Anne Frank and her family go into hiding because of the Nazi's are after any jews. The are in hiding for about two years when they got caught. This book tells their stories and what they had to do everyday to stay alive.
I love this book because it shows you how
I would read this book to grade 4th and up. I would have them discuse what they thought about what happen to these people.
I love this book because it shows you how
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horrible it was. This helps you see a glimps of the jews had to put up with. I would read this book to grade 4th and up. I would have them discuse what they thought about what happen to these people.
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LibraryThing member otherfool
The only girl I've ever loved
was born with roses in her eyes
But then they buried her alive,
one evening 1945,
with just her sister at her side.
(Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945)
It's such a shame that as a Dutchman I've never read the diary of Anne Frank up until recently, as it not only describes
was born with roses in her eyes
But then they buried her alive,
one evening 1945,
with just her sister at her side.
(Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945)
It's such a shame that as a Dutchman I've never read the diary of Anne Frank up until recently, as it not only describes
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such an important milestone in history from such a special perspective, but is also a touching and very personal written analysis of herself and the people surrounding her in the 'achterhuis'. Anne has an almost awkward and very adult self-awareness and knows how to describe it inch-perfect. Somewhere in the diary Anne writes about becoming a journalist, or even a writer. Not only did the world lose an innocent young girl, it also lost a great talent who kept my eyes glued to the pages right up until the sad, sad epilogue. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kait_scott
This book is about a young girl how had to go into hiding. while she was hidding she kept a diary of all the thing that happened.Unfortunately they got caught when they were hiddening. After all the camps let out her dad published her diary, because her dream was to be a writter.
My favorite part
My favorite part
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of this book was when she was talking about this girl J.R and how stuck up she was. This book was really good. Help explaine wah the Jews went through when it came to the Concentration camps. This was also one of thoughs book that i didn't want to put down. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bibliotropic
I regret to say that it was only recently that I actually finally read this book, though I've one edition or another on my bookshelf since the sixth grade. And while I am tempted to do something of a joke review and talk about none of the events contained within the book were realistic and none of
I became fascinated with what civilian life was like during World War 2 after seeing a book of my grandmother's: Robert Westall's Children of the Blitz. Plenty of books will tell me what the political side of the war was like, what it was like for the people on the front lines, doing the fighting, but there are too few books that will detail was it was like for those who were just trying to stay alive in their homes. It's one thing to shake your head and say it was a terrible time and to quote some statistics, but it's quite another to read something written by somebody who was actually there, talking about their life amid uncertainty and bombing and fear of being killed in the night. It brings it all home, makes something distant and sanitized seem actually real, and, if you think about it, might actually cause a sleepless night or two.
While reading this, I was struck with just how alike Anne was to the girls of her age that I knew and know. Occupied with the same problems, thinking the same thoughts, and never mind that Anne was in hiding from Nazis and nobody I know can claim that. Reading entries about things like her daily routine, her thoughts about others, the sense that "life goes on" really came through clearly. No matter what, no matter how serious the situation, we still remain ourselves and the same old things will still bother us. We may not complain about them as much, but they're still there.
I her thoughts about Peter to be particularly amusing. It started with, "Oh, he's so dull," went to, "He's interesting, but you mustn't think I'm in love with him, because I'm not," right to, "I can't stop thinking about him, I think I'm in love with him." Oh, teenagers.
I don't often come across books that I would recommend to everyone I meet, but it seems a shame if a person goes their life without reading this book. There are echoes of World War 2 still in our society today, and to not understand even a little of what that all means is a little bit sad. It's not knowing your own history, particularly if you're in, well, Europe, North America, various parts of Asia... Yeah, there's a reason it was called a World War, after all. If you happen to live in this world, do yourself a favour and read this book if you haven't already. It may not contain any stunning revelations about life, but you close the book at the end feeling a bit different than before.
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the people were believable as characters, I think I owe it to the people who actually went through that nightmare to do this thing seriously.I became fascinated with what civilian life was like during World War 2 after seeing a book of my grandmother's: Robert Westall's Children of the Blitz. Plenty of books will tell me what the political side of the war was like, what it was like for the people on the front lines, doing the fighting, but there are too few books that will detail was it was like for those who were just trying to stay alive in their homes. It's one thing to shake your head and say it was a terrible time and to quote some statistics, but it's quite another to read something written by somebody who was actually there, talking about their life amid uncertainty and bombing and fear of being killed in the night. It brings it all home, makes something distant and sanitized seem actually real, and, if you think about it, might actually cause a sleepless night or two.
While reading this, I was struck with just how alike Anne was to the girls of her age that I knew and know. Occupied with the same problems, thinking the same thoughts, and never mind that Anne was in hiding from Nazis and nobody I know can claim that. Reading entries about things like her daily routine, her thoughts about others, the sense that "life goes on" really came through clearly. No matter what, no matter how serious the situation, we still remain ourselves and the same old things will still bother us. We may not complain about them as much, but they're still there.
I her thoughts about Peter to be particularly amusing. It started with, "Oh, he's so dull," went to, "He's interesting, but you mustn't think I'm in love with him, because I'm not," right to, "I can't stop thinking about him, I think I'm in love with him." Oh, teenagers.
I don't often come across books that I would recommend to everyone I meet, but it seems a shame if a person goes their life without reading this book. There are echoes of World War 2 still in our society today, and to not understand even a little of what that all means is a little bit sad. It's not knowing your own history, particularly if you're in, well, Europe, North America, various parts of Asia... Yeah, there's a reason it was called a World War, after all. If you happen to live in this world, do yourself a favour and read this book if you haven't already. It may not contain any stunning revelations about life, but you close the book at the end feeling a bit different than before.
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LibraryThing member missnix
Fabulous, amazing that a girl so young could think so big. It makes you think more about how people suffered because of Hitler.
I read this after my mum and absoulutely loved it. It's so moving and I cried when I heard how things ended. I would read it again any time and I think that anyone who
I read this after my mum and absoulutely loved it. It's so moving and I cried when I heard how things ended. I would read it again any time and I think that anyone who
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hasn't read the book should get to it immediately. Such a moving book. Show Less
LibraryThing member aimless22
I was about twelve when my mother gave me Anne Frank's book. At that time, I knew little if anything about the Holocaust or WWII. Anne's words introduced me to to the unimaginable Nazi polices and the horrible realities of war.
Early in her diary, Anne calms the reader with one simple line, "Yet
As a young girl myself, the simple act of reading Anne's words were an inspiration to me.
Early in her diary, Anne calms the reader with one simple line, "Yet
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things were still bearable." What optimism this young woman possessed. She continues to display this quality throughout her writing. She believed that life is a good thing, a valued thing. She wrote about the future, her future. As a young girl myself, the simple act of reading Anne's words were an inspiration to me.
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LibraryThing member rayski
Not just about the holocaust, but better about the sociology of 8 people living together in for 2 plus years in a very small space. The even more interesting part is reading into the growing mind of a 13-15 year old girl.
LibraryThing member MerryMary
Discovered 40 years ago - in high school. At the time I was fascinated by her courage and my ability to identify with her. Now I still feel that way - but am further awed by the universality of her message.
LibraryThing member emhromp2
If anyone wants to know anything about the second world war in the Netherlands, he or she should read this book. The diary starts with a more or less carefree Anne, and we follow her tragic story until her last day in the Achterhuis.
LibraryThing member LScrlovr20
I love learning about Anne Frank, and this book was helpful to do just that. It went into a great description of how life was for the families within the secret annex, as well as the lives of those who lived during the Holocaust.
LibraryThing member margoletta
Factual account written in a diary by a 14 year old Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis in an attic in Germany during the early 1940's. Her feelings on life are a true testament about the entire human race and our connection to it all. Fabulous. An account you'll never forget.
LibraryThing member su_library_student
The first time I read this book I was only 12 years old; I found it moving then and still find it moving today. This is the diary of a young Jewish girl who goes into hiding with her family during WWII. This was the first book I read on this topic and I continue to pick up books about the holocaust
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today. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in history but also anyone who enjoys reading about youth and coming of age (especially in difficult times). Show Less
LibraryThing member kairstream
Anne Frank hides from the Nazis with her family during World War II. This book includes pictures and additional background information for understanding.
LibraryThing member ms.awesome
Pretty good book. I felt so sorry for the family at the end.
Subjects
Awards
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 1996)
Notable Books List (1952)
ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (Biography — 1999)
Waterstones Books of the Century (26 — 1997)
Guardian 100 Greatest Non-Fiction (Memoir)
Language
Original publication date
1947
Physical description
6.9 inches
ISBN
9780553296983
UPC
000553296981