The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank (The Definitive Edition)

This is my topic for June! I recently went to Amsterdam where Sondra and I visited the Anne Frank Museum. I was touched and moved beyond words. Seeing the situs and actual diary is so powerful. You can feel the presence of the Franks all over the building. Plus, I got the profound realization that Anne Frank was a young woman well before her time, both regarding womens' abilities and her unbelievably advanced skill as a writer (and understanding of the craft - both in effect and importance), not to mention her wit, sassiness and survival skills. I did not grasp any of that the first time I read this.

I did read this book in high school, but at the Museum, picked up this relatively new "60th Anniversay Edition" and/or "The Definitive Edition" Edited by Anne's Father, Frank, the sole survivor of the family/friends. I believe it adds in pages not included in the earlier versions. I also feel that as a reader, I am a very different person from the one I was in the 80's (in my early teens) ... so I owe it to this great work to re-visit it with new eyes.



Review to follow.

Carolyn
Admin

For one of the rare times in my life, I am so awed a book, I find myself at a loss for words. I am not sure if it is the changes in my own life, or the approach I now brought to this book ... but really, it is amazing. It's often said that children with illness or suffering catastrophic situations mature well before their time. It is either that, or just this young woman's brilliance, that makes this probably the most important biographical work done by a child/young adult. To say she was "ahead of her time" feels like such a paltry understatement.

The amazing thing is she knew very much what was going on in the world. She never hid from the realities, yet she found hope in the every day. This young woman travelled many territories just in that two year span. Yet somehow, she always remained positive, tried to forge peace with those around her. Whenever she had moments of anger or meanness, she'd check herself, her motives. To watch someone grow that amount in two years, and at such a young age (and a turbulent age for a girl) is a gift in itself, and that she shared it so intimately. I also understand more her Father's struggle with how to present this to the world ... in such a way that it made it a better place, and focused on what Anne was trying to say about the genocide.

The interesting thing about this edition is it covers the two year span the family was in hiding, Anne was 13 to begin, 15 when she died of typhoid in a death camp. Right before capture, when she was 15, Anne had some idea that publication of her words would be possible (from a London-based speech she heard on the radio announcing an open call for Jewish survivor stories), she even had a title for it, The Secret Annexe. So @ 15, she went back in and edited (updated) some of her early entries. There are not a ton of these, but what she gained in that time, it's so profound.

It is hard to read this book, knowing what ultimately happened, without crying, or being profoundly affected. The loss of such a great woman is palpable on every page, but definitely near the end. Having been to 263 Prinsengracht (which was limited and set up for visitation by Otto Frank, I now know), I can only say it brings the atrocities against the Jewish people in WWII to a level I had not fully processed or understood. And as Anne pointed out many times, they were actually the lucky ones.

Although by no means an "easy" read emotionally (from her struggles, to her revelations, to the realities of murder), I highly recommend this book, especially this "critical" or "definitive" edition, with the Forward, Afterward and Anne's updated entries.

5 out of 5 stars