The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Published by Anchor
Publication Date September 15, 2010
Source: Gift
Genres: Diary
Goodreads
The diary as Anne Frank wrote it. At last, in a new translation, this definitive edition contains entries about Anne's burgeoning sexuality and confrontations with her mother that were cut from previous editions. Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is among the most enduring documents of the twentieth century. Since its publication in 1947, it has been a beloved and deeply admired monument to the indestructible nature of the human spirit, read by millions of people and translated into more than fifty-five languages. Doubleday, which published the first English translation of the diary in 1952, now offers a new translation that captures Anne's youthful spirit and restores the original material omitted by Anne's father, Otto -- approximately thirty percent of the diary. The elder Frank excised details about Anne's emerging sexuality, and about the often-stormy relations between Anne and her mother. Anne Frank and her family, fleeing the horrors of Nazi occupation forces, hid in the back of an Amsterdam office building for two years. This is Anne's record of that time. She was thirteen when the family went into the "Secret Annex," and in these pages, she grows to be a young woman and proves to be an insightful observer of human nature as well. A timeless story discovered by each new generation, The Diary of a Young Girl stands without peer. For young readers and adults, it continues to bring to life this young woman, who for a time survived the worst horrors the modern world had seen -- and who remained triumphantly and heartbreakingly human throughout her ordeal.
When I was younger I went through a “holocaust” phase before moving on to Harriet Tubman and slavery. The funny thing is that Anne Frank’s Diary was not the first Holocaust book I read, I think that was The Devil’s Advocate. Anyway, I soon became fascinated by the Secret Annex and the secluded life she lived for two years. Unfortunately she and the other occupants of the Annex were betrayed and sent to concentration camps with only her father Otto Frank surviving. The tragic thing (not to minimize the inhumanity of it all) is that Anne died mere weeks before liberation. Anne’s dream was to have her diary published after the war and after liberation her father saw that happen, making Kitty a time capsule to an unfathomable past.
If you found the diary interesting, check out Francine Prose's book Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, and the Afterlife. Fascinating look at the diaries from a number of different contexts. That makes it sound academic, but really, it's very readable.
I have been meaning to read this.. I found it interesting that recently an "uncut" version was published with the sections Anne's father wanted cut out of the book. Sad that those were published.
Angie