after reading the book thief, i decided to read the holocaust based books on my to-read list, the first one being anne frank: the diary of a young girl.
as a kid, i had a copy of this book but i never read it. why? i have no idea but never read it. sadly, i wish i did though because i probably would have enjoyed this book more than i did.
okay, i am might end up going to hell for saying this but at times i found myself bored while reading anne frank's diary. also after reading the first couple of entries, i was skeptical and thought maybe her dad wrote. i know i should probably burn in hell for such thoughts, but before you think i am the most horrible person on the earth, let me explain myself.
i recognize the importance of anne frank and her diary because it gives victims of the holocaust a face. like i wrote in my my post on the graphic novels, maus, holocaust narratives provide us with a personal experience that we would never receive from a textbook. it humanizes the holocaust; we can read that millions of jews were killed and recognize it as a tragedy for mankind but reading about a specific individual and learning about it provides us not only with a better understanding but also compassion for the victims.
furthermore, i recognize the importance of anne frank's diary because it is usually the first narrative by a holocaust victim that one reads. unfortunately, for me, it was not my first, so it didn't leave that big of an impact on me. furthermore, i am not as naive as young adult me would have been, so i was not surprised by the fact that anne frank was the same as any other 13/14 year old girl. (and yes, i would have been that naive, i didn't know jewish people growing up.) anne was just as boy craze, insecure, confused, moody, hopeful, and curious about her body as any other girl, she just had the unfortunate addition of being a jewish girl in nazi germany. sincs this is the case, you have to forgive 30-year-old me for losing interest, reading about 13-year-old life drama. and lets be honest, this made up majority of the diary, i got bored with girl talk.
quick digression, i have to add, i found it very interesting that anne discussed the two selfs within her. i often feel like that, i have my loud crazy extrovert self and then my quiet more reserved and serious self. i think it's part of being a gemini and as i read thought she had to for sure be one. and yes, anne was a gemini, birthday june 11.
i must add that i was interested in reading about their daily life in the secret annex. what a blessing and how brave their friends that helped them. i enjoyed reading her descriptions of their days. also how difficult it was to be inside all day and not allowed out, i would have gone stir crazy. it's even more saddening when you consider the alternative to hiding. and though at times i lost interesting in the diary, there is no denying what a strong spirit anne had to endure all that she did.
it was also interesting to read anne's thoughts on politics but her discussions made me very skeptical about anne actually penning this diary. i have to admit that after reading the first entry, i googled to see if her dad had written her diary instead. the language used just seemed to sophisticated for a 13 year old. i understand that anne's family was affluent and her education was therefore superb, i mean, we did see all that she studied. but something just felt inauthentic with her speech, i wondered if it was also a bad translation. however, my google finds showed that there were other skeptics and that tests were done on the paper and that she did write it.
i did read that she did rewrote part of the diary with the intend of it one day being published, after hearing the radio program discuss the importance of diaries from that time period. so i can imagine her family helping her with part of the rewriting. also i am sure that her discussions of politics and war were heavily influenced by her family and the conversations of the secret annexe. and i mean the parts about peter were so honest that the diary had to be her words. but i do believe she had a little help. but i mean no harm no foul, because at the end of the day, the diary is still an important narrative for history.
but all in all, a wonderful book and as mentioned in the previous sentence an important book for history and for our betterment as humans.
