Review: The Diary of a Young Girl

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! In the first 50 pages or so, I thought this was going to be another one of those books that are way overhyped. Anne starts off as an immature pre-adolescent girl who writes about the little nothings that occur every day in the Secret Annex and brags about her former popularity among male students at her school. To be frank (haha, get it?), I was really annoyed at her immaturity. At the turn of the year in 1944, I began to notice a different side of her: she became analytical in her emotions and questioned the essence of humanity. It was honestly one of the most incredible things I've ever read. We are so constantly flooded with busy work nowadays that we never take the time to reflect upon our own emotional and mental maturity, something Anne was given plenty of time to do. She writes:
"Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and God. Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy."
Even though I am not a religious individual, her words are unbelievably inspiring, telling us that we cannot take life for granted.

Throughout the early months of 1944, Anne also became involved with Peter, a boy who also lived in the Secret Annex. She finds herself immersed in her first love and her first kiss. The entries she produced almost made me feel like I was reliving my teenage years...except that she was able to take her emotions and put them so concisely into words. Even though she had a crush on the boy of her dreams, she was able to take a step back and take a good look at the current state of their relationship.

In a way, this work reminded me of Man's Search for Meaning where Frankl discovered the purpose and meaning of life after living through the atrocities of the concentration camps. In Anne's case, she was able to find a higher ideal throughout her time in the Annex.

I would highly recommend for everyone to read this book at least once in their lifetime.

I end with my favorite quote from the book (days before Anne's capture):
"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build upon my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the suffering of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again."

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