Product Description

In Amsterdam, in the summer of 1942, the Nazis forced teenager Anne Frank and her family into hiding. For over two years, they, another family and a German dentist lived in a 'secret annexe', fearing discovery. All that time, Anne kept a diary. An intimate record of tension and struggle, adolescence and confinement, anger and heartbreak, this is the definitive edition of the diary of Anne Frank.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1266 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
Anne Frank's diary is one of the greatest books of the century . . . As she brings herself and her circumstances into such buzzing, engaged life on the page, she triumphs over her history. We return to her again and again, unable to believe that this hymn to life was written on the way to Belsen (Guardian )

A modern classic . . . Anne's diary tells a story that is true, memorable, important and strongly personalized . . . compelling reading (The Times )

Still rings down the decades as the most moving testament to the persecution of innocence (Daily Mail )

About the Author
Anne Frank was born on 12 June 1929. She died in Bergen-Belsen, three months short of her sixteenth birthday.

Customer Reviews

Poignant & sad yet a true insight into life.
It is impossible to read this true story without feeling sad. Anne's hopes, dreams and her confidence for her own future plans make it all the more poignant when you know that she never lived to see her sixteenth birthday. Out of the eight in hiding in The Annex only her father survived the concentration camps, all the others died in captivity, when you think about this when reading the book it makes it so dreadfully sad. It is the real story of how they survived, terrified they would be discovered, frustrated and fearful at their self imposed living conditions in hiding. This version of Anne Franks Diaries includes diary entries that had been omitted from previous editions. She is brutally honest about those she shared The Annex with and whilst her words often seem like those of a typical teenage girl, there is a world wiseness that shines though. The situation she finds herself in is one that few can ever imagine, it is more than a diary of a teenager but a social history too, one that I will always wish could have had a much happier ending.

The Diary of a Young Girl is the most poignant book I have ever read.

Paper is more patient than man.
Since a young age I had known about Anne Frank, from her diary, hiding in the "Secret Annexe" in Amsterdam during the Second World War, and ultimately her tragic death at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. But until recently I had not read the diary. I had been read extracts from it but never picked it up and read it from beginning to end. If I try to think of reason behind why it took me so long, I fail to think of one.


I started reading on Tuesday and quickly found myself in a state of being half surprised. Growing up, though knowing it was non-fiction, and had actually happened, I only ever really read fictional books so a part of me imagined reading the Diary would just feel like reading a rather realistic fiction. What took me (oddly) by surprise is how aware I was of the fact that it is a Diary. It wasn't at all like the `realistic fiction' I imagined when I was younger. This I discovered quickly, and thus made me hang on every word.

Another thing I noticed early on was Anne's sense of humour, which I didn't expect. There were entries that not only made me smile, but if I was with someone, they'd notice I was somewhat amused, and I would then read them what I found funny.

"I was being discussed and they decided that I'm not completely stupid after all." - 21st September, 1942.


I'm aware of how odd, if not disrespectful, it may sound, laughing at the Diary, considering the situation they were in. But don't get me wrong, it wasn't laugh out loud funny. Anne wasn't telling a joke, she had a very subtle sense of humour that really wasn't obvious. You could see it was present though, in the way certain comments were worded.

"Mr. Van Daan used to be in the meat, sausage, and spice business. It was because of his knowledge of this trade that he was taken on in Daddy's business. Now he is showing the sausagy side of himself, which, for us, is by no means disagreeable." - 10th December, 1942.


It was around half-way through the Diary when I found myself thinking about it more when I was busy doing other things. I wouldn't say I felt guilty as such. Thankful, is what I felt.

One night, I looked around my room, at all my belongings, and just felt so thankful that I have all the things that I do. The guilty-side would make more of an appearance at dinner-time, or when I would climb into my large snugly bed. I've felt this a little less now that I've finished reading. But the thankfulness remains here to stay.

In the beginning I admired how observant she was, and her ideology, her views on the world, her theories. As the diary progressed you could see her becoming a young woman, and it's not only you, who is learning more about her, but she is learning about herself, and is honest about it.

She becomes aware of her strengths, and her flaws. And as this went on I just became more fascinated by every entry. I also pondered how what she wrote still applies today, there are obviously differences but in the grand scheme of things not a lot has changed. The feelings felt, thoughts and curiosities are exactly the same as any teenager nowadays.

There was something I noticed on the evening that I finished reading the Diary, and not long after I thought of a possible theory behind it. That entire day I could've easily picked the book up and finished it. I wasn't busy that day, I was thinking about the Diary, and I know I wanted to finish it. But 6 o' clock in the evening came along and still I had not touched it. My theory came to me later that night when I began to read again.

I was reading it knowing what was coming, knowing full well what would be the outcome to all of it, and she continued to write, with no idea. (This became sadder towards the end with the invasion of the Allies beginning). And after a while I thought, on some level, if I didn't finish reading it, they can't get caught. And it couldn't have ended like it did.

"Dear Kitty, Now I'm getting really hopeful, now things are going well at last. Yes, really, they're going well! Super news!" - 21st July 1944. Anne's penultimate entry, just 15 days before capture.


When I had finished reading the Diary, I honestly felt like I had sort of lost a friend. I had learnt so much, and felt like Anne was confiding in me. Even though I knew how it ended in advance, I felt I had to prepare myself for the end and felt, well if I'm honest, a little lost when I was finished. I still feel like this a little, the day after.

Maybe it's just because I could feel with my fingers that there weren't many pages left, but the last few pages read almost as if they were finalizing things. Despite Anne having hope that it would all be over soon. I have never shed a tear over a book before but last night there was a statement that ended this.

"Daddy and Mummy have always thoroughly spoilt me, were sweet to me, defended me and have done all that parents could do. And yet I've felt so frightfully lonely for a long time, so left out, neglected and misunderstood."


No other book has been such a journey, so to speak, for me. I'm positive that this week changed me. This book changed me and the way I think. I thank Anne Frank for this. Sometime in the near future I shall visit the house, and the "Secret Annexe", to pay my respects.

Heartbreaking
In this story you know the end before you read it, and that is exactly what made me shed tears throughout the whole book. It is so painful, and so hurting, and it lingers, because you always hope that Anne will survive, while knowing the fatal end. I always look into the motives of the writer before I read his or her story. I also look at the time, place, and the background of the story before I read it. Anne Frank, wrote her diary out of pure motives, in a time of hell for mankind. I can't help compare her good heart and pure motives to contemporary writers. Unlike contemporary writers, Anne Frank did not write her diary in order to make money, or in order to achieve fame. Her only hope was to live. She yearned for freedom for her and for her family. Unlike today's writers, Anne is a pure spirit, and her story is heart breaking. It is a true story, not fiction, and her diary is pure. I would say she is like an angle of light for writing that diary. Anne's sufferings turned to a best seller owing to her innocence and pure heart. I cried because of her love towards mankind, despite of what happened to her and her family. She was such a good girl that the reader cannot remain indifferent. Her story is heart wrenching, and at the same time it alerts the reader to the madness that can attack mankind at any given moment. One cannot help wondering, whether such wars will happen again or not. But it can happen again if we don't take care! Mankind is living in a constant battle between madness and sanity. In my personal view this book should be a must read book in all schools all over the world. I have seen theatre plays about this story, but the book is the most heart breaking. The words written down come straight from a young girl's heart and it shattered the reader to small pieces. There is so much pain in that story, and pain refines the reader. It makes the reader a better person; more aware of the dangers of which we are often ignorant. I will recommend this book to all those who agree with Anne Frank, when she stated that despite all the evil, she still deeply believe that there is goodness in mankind. I believe her, and if she is watching us from heaven with a compassionate look, I want her to know that her book saved many people from darkness. In this chaos of life, a little girl name Anne Frank brought mankind one step ahead, and ushered us into the divine order of love. If you haven't read this book yet, what are you waiting for? Don't stay behind. Buy it and read it as soon as possible. Only then you will know how lucky we are to live not in her time and place. God bless her soul.