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The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank

Start date: January 1, 2022

Finish date: January 31, 2022

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

Why we're reading this: January Bonus Read- International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
[close] January Bonus Read- International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

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What Members Thought

May 09, 2019 Anniken Haga added it

Shelves: 2019, audiobook, biography, ya

I will not rate this book. Usually, I do rate biographies, but I don't feel right rating this.
Regarding adding it to my YA shelf: Seeing as it is about a teen and it is described in the beginning to be of most interest to teens, I ad it there.

Part of that is because as a book, it's not that interesting. If this was fiction, I'd have DNFed it withing a few hours of starting it. I didn't much like the MC (Anne) as a person and couldn't bond with her in the beginning - there was so much focus on I will not rate this book. Usually, I do rate biographies, but I don't feel right rating this.
Regarding adding it to my YA shelf: Seeing as it is about a teen and it is described in the beginning to be of most interest to teens, I ad it there.

Part of that is because as a book, it's not that interesting. If this was fiction, I'd have DNFed it withing a few hours of starting it. I didn't much like the MC (Anne) as a person and couldn't bond with her in the beginning - there was so much focus on boys, which I never cared for, even when I was at her age - and she was so harsh against the people around her, which I couldn't like or respect. The story isn't all that interesting, as there is only that much that can happen within a small area when in hiding, and there wasn't a plotline - when is there ever a plotline in real life? Be honest, here!

I am glad I stuck with it, though, for Anne did grow as one might expect for a teen girl. While I never connected with her or cared about most of the things that were important in her life - following royal families and celebreties, make up and hair - I did feel for her because of her ''imprisonment''.*

There have been a lot of people saying that this book can't possibly be written by a teen girl. It is too well written. But first of all, she went back and edited it when she desided that it might be interesting to publish, so of course it was cleaned up. And she did grow as a person, a lot more than many others at her age from her situation.** She also talked about some things that I can't picture a man talking about, or in that way, at that time. So I believe Anne was real and that this is her story, which made it a whole lot stronger.
And while I knew how it would end, I found myself wishing that it would change. That it was really a work of fiction and we would have a happy ending.

The only problem I had, was that the translators didn't translate some sentences. Probably to portray the characters, but I don't know German, and so it was a frustraison as it didn't do anything for me. Why translate everything expect these sentences? Where's the point?

In the end, I'm glad I stuck with it. It is an important book, a reminder what is more important than ever in these times.

*I have tasted how it is to be forced to be inside. Sure, for me it wasn't a matter of life or death, but I have been trapped in that way, and I think the way it was described, the thoughts and things Anne mentioned about it, were true and strong.
**As I said, I think the situation made her grow, and with my own experience as mentioned above, I know that it gives a lot of room to talk and evolve, even if you don't want to. ...more

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