Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, does it get compelling?
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, does it get compelling? Am only 18% done, so maybe it’s early to say anything, but I would love more than life in the secret annexe..
*noted, compelling sounds appropriate to better*
Anne was 13 when she got the diary. Young and silly. She gets more mature and more serious, and has more to say as she gets older.
Okay. I will hang in there
Well that’s kind of the point, tragically
Yes
my current read..
Better is a strange term to use in the context of this book. It’s a heartbreaking read, and that’s the whole point.
Actually the heart breaking part is in my definition better..my poor choice of words
I thought the part that was most heartbreaking is that we know how things end for her. Her writings are hopeful throughout.
The world might be a better place if everyone read her diary. Does it become more compelling? Yes. Does it get better? That depends on one’s definition of “better”. Definitely not better for Anne or her family or the many Jews and peoples of the resistances who died during the Holocaust.
NO. Everbody dies except her father. How could it get better? o
Well that’s what the book is about, it’s a real diary not fiction so not much of a plot 😉 but it’s definitely worth reading 🙂
By better, I meant getting into the heartbreaking part..My poor choice of words.
It’s treasure is in under what circumstances it was written, the age of the writer, and that it survived the war. Anne Frank was a remarkable young historian.
The compelling part for me is the ordinariness of Anne Frank. She was just a typical girl caught up in the horrors of Nazi Germany. The take away is that if we ever let history repeat itself, the same thing could happen to any of us.
Joss, the story builds on that claustrophobic feeling of being in that space, and on the joyful character of Anne whose spirit lives. Even if you don’t like the book by the end, finish it…so that you understand and care for Anne
Well put Cindy. I will finish it. Am on a knowing about the holocaust mission, so I shall keep on
@Joss You might also like this book – I listened to the audio and I was RIVETED
https://www.amazon.com/Measure-Man-Auschwitz-Survivor-Presidents-ebook/dp/B00INC64I4
Thanks Rosemary. I definitely will!
@Joss I’m glad you amended your initial post to provide clarification. ? Someone recommended a memoir by Miep Gies, the woman who provided food, etc. to the Frank family and people who lived with them. I second that—it gives the “other side” of the story. The bravery of the people who put their lives on the line to help their fellow man is simply and truly humbling. It also shows the state of Amsterdam after the war and Miep’s fruendship with Anne’s father.
Make sure it’s the unedited version. I heard there was an edited version. Probably excluded her lesbian musings I’d imagine. Not sure what else but she was an amazing person with much depth of character. I can imagine the writing would be dull if someone went in and edited it for the sake of being polite.
It’s in my bookcase waiting for me…
The story of Anne Frank works best if aware of what was going on in her world.
Google images to SEE the space she’s living and writing in. Read other sources to feel the desperation they felt to need to go into hiding. Read Miep Gies account of helping them hide, she worked downstairs.
I will look into that.
I think you have to approach that book differently than others. It is a real diary. It’s not trying to have a plot or a climax. It was her reality.
***the book was edited by her father after the war so some passages are missing, mostly dealing with her feelings towards her mother.
The heartbreaking part is that she and everyone but her father dies. Read thru that prism.
It’s important to read and will stick with you forever.
The whole point of the book is that she left it in the annex when they were found and sent to concentration camps, and she didn’t survive to go back to get it after the war.
It is not a novel. It is the diary of a real young women living in uncertainty. That is the beauty in the book. No there is no climatic point or epic plot twist.
How do you even answer a question like this?
It is important to realise its a real life diary not a fiction novel that might have a happy ending or a build up climax. It’s history and the events happening while she’s in there are important to know and visualise to understand what she’s going through, I’m a German girl that read this in school at the same time as we visited gas chambers and talked about the events of the WWII
When one of my professors taught this book he discussed it in relation to its blockbuster success in the United States. It’s one of the most widely read pieces of literature in America. Also – Anne was interested in writing, it was a dream of hers. She actually wanted to publish her diary and actively edited portions herself. She wanted it to live on.
These nuances and complicated questions – why her – why this account – (maybe comparing and contrasting Hiroshima as a similar nonfiction work) – these tough questions make the plot more compelling because you’re working through it in a more complex way. Otherwise the claustrophobia of the narrative can be incredibly exhausting – think compassion drain.
It’s a diary, so not written to entertain, but to keep a record of every day events. So, no, it does not build up to a climax as a fiction book would.