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sxtwo's review against another edition
3.0
Prose details the history of Diary from its inception to the late 1990s when the Critical Edition (which includes all of Anne's writing from the Annex) was published.
Prose argues convincingly that Anne was a great writer even at 15 that hoped that her diary would be published and that she crafted and recrafted the characters and dialogue accordingly.
When I read the Diary as a child, I was taught that she wrote just for herself. Prose's argument that Anne's craft was already so developed even at 15 somehow makes her murder even more heartbreaking.
I need to reread Diary now!
Prose argues convincingly that Anne was a great writer even at 15 that hoped that her diary would be published and that she crafted and recrafted the characters and dialogue accordingly.
When I read the Diary as a child, I was taught that she wrote just for herself. Prose's argument that Anne's craft was already so developed even at 15 somehow makes her murder even more heartbreaking.
I need to reread Diary now!
lyndseyreader's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a history of the diary, its author, and the diary's journey to publication. Though I knew the diary had been edited by her father, I did not know Anne aspired to be a writer and revised her diary in the hope that others might read it. Prose discusses Anne's development as a writer by comparing her original entries with the revised entries. Prose also discusses the controversy surrounding the play, the film, and those that deny the authenticity of the diary. Last, and especially interesting to me, she discussed how the diary is discussed and taught in schools.
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
5.0
I’m taking a class on legal issues in publishing. We talk about things like copyright law, libel law, and defamation. It’s not terribly exciting. In fact, it’s terribly unexciting. For one of our class projects about censorship, though, we have to prepare a presentation on banned books. My book? Anne Frank’s diary.
I have very distinct memories of reading Anne’s diary for a book report when I was in seventh grade. Even though I was way too old, I read it curled up in bed with my mom. I had been going through a strange phase where I loved reading Holocaust fiction (is this a normal phase for twelve year old girls, or was that just me?) and I remember feeling so connected to young Anne Frank. The issues she dealt with (aside from, you know, Nazi persecution and being forced to live in a secret Annex with seven other people) really rang true and very much humanized the entire idea of the Holocause for me. I’ve found that this is a relatively common response among the thousands of middle school kids who read the diary each year.
Francine Prose has written an extended critical look at the diary which is, in itself, completely fascinating and absorbing. She begins with the argument that Anne was not just another teenage diarist who one day aspired to be a writer, but rather a wildly talented writer creating a deliberate work of art. I had no idea that Anne had begun rewriting her diary with the hopes that it would one day become a novel of her experiences in the secret annex. When the diary was eventually returned to Anne’s father, Otto, he quickly realized not only her gift but her desire to be published and worked for many years to honor his daughter by fulfilling that desire.
Prose fleshes out her examination with biographical information of Anne, her family, and the other residents of the annex, as well as a look at the diary’s lasting effects and controversies. However, I was most intrigued by the pasages describing Otto’s attempts to edit his daughter’s diary — he chose to cut several passages referring to her budding sexuality and tumultuous relationship with her mother. These passages were gradually restored as “Critical” and “Definitive” editions of the diary were eventually published.
Over the years, Anne Frank has become mythologized, a larger-than-life representation of the horrors of the Holocaust. Prose addresses this hero worship without succumbing to it in her own writing. She presents a portrait of a flawed adolescent whose dreams would outlive her own fifteen short years. A must-read for anyone who found themselves touched by the diary.
I have very distinct memories of reading Anne’s diary for a book report when I was in seventh grade. Even though I was way too old, I read it curled up in bed with my mom. I had been going through a strange phase where I loved reading Holocaust fiction (is this a normal phase for twelve year old girls, or was that just me?) and I remember feeling so connected to young Anne Frank. The issues she dealt with (aside from, you know, Nazi persecution and being forced to live in a secret Annex with seven other people) really rang true and very much humanized the entire idea of the Holocause for me. I’ve found that this is a relatively common response among the thousands of middle school kids who read the diary each year.
Francine Prose has written an extended critical look at the diary which is, in itself, completely fascinating and absorbing. She begins with the argument that Anne was not just another teenage diarist who one day aspired to be a writer, but rather a wildly talented writer creating a deliberate work of art. I had no idea that Anne had begun rewriting her diary with the hopes that it would one day become a novel of her experiences in the secret annex. When the diary was eventually returned to Anne’s father, Otto, he quickly realized not only her gift but her desire to be published and worked for many years to honor his daughter by fulfilling that desire.
Prose fleshes out her examination with biographical information of Anne, her family, and the other residents of the annex, as well as a look at the diary’s lasting effects and controversies. However, I was most intrigued by the pasages describing Otto’s attempts to edit his daughter’s diary — he chose to cut several passages referring to her budding sexuality and tumultuous relationship with her mother. These passages were gradually restored as “Critical” and “Definitive” editions of the diary were eventually published.
Over the years, Anne Frank has become mythologized, a larger-than-life representation of the horrors of the Holocaust. Prose addresses this hero worship without succumbing to it in her own writing. She presents a portrait of a flawed adolescent whose dreams would outlive her own fifteen short years. A must-read for anyone who found themselves touched by the diary.
panda_incognito's review against another edition
5.0
Biographical only as necessary, this unique book takes Anne Frank's diary seriously as a literary work, telling about her life, her creative process and masterpiece, and the subsequent play, film, and use in schools. After all my reading about Anne Frank, I already was aware of much of the information in the first and third sections, but it was interesting to read from a new perspective, and the book was glorious well-written and expressive.
As a diarist myself, the second section was enthralling, and although I cannot imagine most casual readers of the diary being fully interested in the details of Anne as a writer, this book provides an excellent resource for those like me, who are fascinated by not only her work, but also her potential creative process, and imagine how that would have gone.
Many people do not realize that Anne edited her diary, or even that the solitary diary was not her only writing paper. I knew all along that the contents of the book could not fit in one diary, so it made sense to me to learn in other books about how she used various other exercise books and loose papers to continue her writing. Other books also sufficiently explained about Anne's revising process, but since this book was focused on the literary work, it offered significantly more detailed information.
In the midst of hiding, she went back and rewrote the first part, excising portions she disliked, summing up detail more concisely, and fleshing out the dramatic portions with more specific detail and dialogue. People criticize her father for making some edits prior to publication, but Anne already desired to use her diary to aid in writing a book someday, and had carefully revised it with an audience in mind.
Overall, this book was a fascinating read, and had lots of new information. I would not necessarily recommend it to every Anne Frank fan, but to anyone interested in her as a writer, this is an excellent resource.
As a diarist myself, the second section was enthralling, and although I cannot imagine most casual readers of the diary being fully interested in the details of Anne as a writer, this book provides an excellent resource for those like me, who are fascinated by not only her work, but also her potential creative process, and imagine how that would have gone.
Many people do not realize that Anne edited her diary, or even that the solitary diary was not her only writing paper. I knew all along that the contents of the book could not fit in one diary, so it made sense to me to learn in other books about how she used various other exercise books and loose papers to continue her writing. Other books also sufficiently explained about Anne's revising process, but since this book was focused on the literary work, it offered significantly more detailed information.
In the midst of hiding, she went back and rewrote the first part, excising portions she disliked, summing up detail more concisely, and fleshing out the dramatic portions with more specific detail and dialogue. People criticize her father for making some edits prior to publication, but Anne already desired to use her diary to aid in writing a book someday, and had carefully revised it with an audience in mind.
Overall, this book was a fascinating read, and had lots of new information. I would not necessarily recommend it to every Anne Frank fan, but to anyone interested in her as a writer, this is an excellent resource.
08151991j's review against another edition
4.0
This is book that describes all the information about Anne Frank, her diary and how it was published after her death.
mepresley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I loved The Diary Anne Frank as a kid, so I was excited to read this and it did not disappoint. Prose’s work here is so readable/accessible and so well researched. For me, even though it’s essentially an academic study, Prose’s work was emotionally evocative, a love letter to both Anne Frank and Het Achterhaus (The Secret Annex, Anne’s intended title for her memoir).
lizabethstucker's review against another edition
5.0
The Diary of Anne Frank. Some readers had this book assigned by their teachers. Others found it through recommendations by friends or librarians. Almost all those readers are children or preteens. Some schools ban it, for so many reasons. I believe that everyone should read it, at least twice. It is an extraordinary work, more so by a child from the ages of 13 to 15.
Prose delves into Anne Frank's oft ignored talents. While the diary is non-fiction, it is as tightly structured as a great work of fiction. The diary wasn't the careless scribblings of a child, it was the work of a driven and talented writer. Sadly, Frank's talent has been overlooked or dismissed until fairly recently.
The book resonates across the world, despite not being the only diary, the only memoir of that time. Still Anne and her diary have become iconic. Prose is taking a literary viewpoint, as well as encompassing all the history and controversy and afterlife of that little diary.
My biggest problem with the diary is that too many young readers are unaware of the history surrounding the events that caused the Franks to hide for over two years. As time moves on, fewer and fewer teachers are allowed to teach the history of Nazi Germany, of the Holocaust, of the events in those concentration camps. To be honest, this book was the first one that I've read that gave what happened to all eight of the people who hid there. I only knew that Otto Frank survived and his family didn't. And I was more aware of the events of that time than many, coming from a family that allowed me to read whatever I wanted. Sadly, I never received the history of that time in school, not in my private elementary or junior or high schools. My high school history class didn't even make it to the Civil War, much less World War II. I did have an English teacher who told me of that time and what she endured during the bombing of London when she was a young girl.
We're shown the problems with both the publication of the diary as well as the play and movie. I've seen the film. Frankly, I find it embarrassing. I can just imagine how the play ruined the book. And then there is Meyer Levin. I'd come across some mutterings about his obsession, but this is the first time that I saw the details.
I was lucky enough to get this as a free book from Sony Book Store, but it got lost in my TBR pile for a long time before I realized it was past time to read. I highly recommend it to everyone. In fact, I personally think this should also be required reading for high school and college immediately after the students read the diary. 5 out of 5.
Prose delves into Anne Frank's oft ignored talents. While the diary is non-fiction, it is as tightly structured as a great work of fiction. The diary wasn't the careless scribblings of a child, it was the work of a driven and talented writer. Sadly, Frank's talent has been overlooked or dismissed until fairly recently.
The book resonates across the world, despite not being the only diary, the only memoir of that time. Still Anne and her diary have become iconic. Prose is taking a literary viewpoint, as well as encompassing all the history and controversy and afterlife of that little diary.
My biggest problem with the diary is that too many young readers are unaware of the history surrounding the events that caused the Franks to hide for over two years. As time moves on, fewer and fewer teachers are allowed to teach the history of Nazi Germany, of the Holocaust, of the events in those concentration camps. To be honest, this book was the first one that I've read that gave what happened to all eight of the people who hid there. I only knew that Otto Frank survived and his family didn't. And I was more aware of the events of that time than many, coming from a family that allowed me to read whatever I wanted. Sadly, I never received the history of that time in school, not in my private elementary or junior or high schools. My high school history class didn't even make it to the Civil War, much less World War II. I did have an English teacher who told me of that time and what she endured during the bombing of London when she was a young girl.
We're shown the problems with both the publication of the diary as well as the play and movie. I've seen the film. Frankly, I find it embarrassing. I can just imagine how the play ruined the book. And then there is Meyer Levin. I'd come across some mutterings about his obsession, but this is the first time that I saw the details.
I was lucky enough to get this as a free book from Sony Book Store, but it got lost in my TBR pile for a long time before I realized it was past time to read. I highly recommend it to everyone. In fact, I personally think this should also be required reading for high school and college immediately after the students read the diary. 5 out of 5.
nwhyte's review against another edition
4.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2421391.html
Has a lot of useful detail on how the Diary came to be written and published, and also some unedifying details about the creation of the Broadway play, the movie, and its use by revisionists, but I recommend it as a book anyway.
Has a lot of useful detail on how the Diary came to be written and published, and also some unedifying details about the creation of the Broadway play, the movie, and its use by revisionists, but I recommend it as a book anyway.
librarianonparade's review against another edition
4.0
It's been a few years since I last read The Diary of Anne Frank but I think I might revisit it after reading this book. The Diary is such a seminal work, such an important part of how we remember the Holocaust; for many young people it serves as their first introduction to the horrors of World War Two and the Nazi genocide. And yet somewhere along the way, many of us have lost sight of the truth at the heart of The Diary, of the truth of Anne's nature, her talent, her outlook on life.
Francine Prose explores how over the years since its first publication in 1947 The Diary has been interpreted and misinterpreted, presented and misrepresented, lauded as an historical document and dismissed for its literary value, accused of fraud and historical distortion. Anne's father Otto Frank has been accused of almost everything from creating The Diary as a hoax to being the one who betrayed his family and the others in the Secret Annexe. The Diary has been at the centre of court cases, libel suits; it has been portrayed on both stage and screen, and is taught in innumerable classrooms around the world.
Yet as Prose shows, there was nothing inevitable about the success of Anne's diary. Even with its 'universal' themes of war, fear, hope, love, adolescent angst, if it wasn't for the sheer power and eloquence of Anne's words the diary would have languished in some historical archive, of interest perhaps only to a niche audience. Prose shows how Anne revised and polished her words, how she intended her diary for future publication, for a much wider audience than just herself. She argues that dismissing Anne's diary as simply an historical document, albeit an intensely moving and poignant one, serves to disguise just how much literary talent, even genius, went into its composition. Anne deserves recognition for her gifts as a writer, even as much as her status as a victim of the Nazis.
Francine Prose explores how over the years since its first publication in 1947 The Diary has been interpreted and misinterpreted, presented and misrepresented, lauded as an historical document and dismissed for its literary value, accused of fraud and historical distortion. Anne's father Otto Frank has been accused of almost everything from creating The Diary as a hoax to being the one who betrayed his family and the others in the Secret Annexe. The Diary has been at the centre of court cases, libel suits; it has been portrayed on both stage and screen, and is taught in innumerable classrooms around the world.
Yet as Prose shows, there was nothing inevitable about the success of Anne's diary. Even with its 'universal' themes of war, fear, hope, love, adolescent angst, if it wasn't for the sheer power and eloquence of Anne's words the diary would have languished in some historical archive, of interest perhaps only to a niche audience. Prose shows how Anne revised and polished her words, how she intended her diary for future publication, for a much wider audience than just herself. She argues that dismissing Anne's diary as simply an historical document, albeit an intensely moving and poignant one, serves to disguise just how much literary talent, even genius, went into its composition. Anne deserves recognition for her gifts as a writer, even as much as her status as a victim of the Nazis.
purnima22's review against another edition
4.0
WW2 is what got me started on non fiction. In a slightly different universe, I could be the person who covers their walls with maps and collects memorabilia of the time. But I have always been fascinated with the micro level of the war- how individuals handled it, how families got through the war,how everyday life was affected. I read Anne Frank’s diary when I was 10 years old. It blew my mind to say the least. The peculiar thing about this book is that I have never owned a copy of this book for more than a few days. I was always so eager to share it that I gave away multiple copies as gifts to my friends.
Francine Prose does an admirable job of evoking the emotions that we experience the first time we read it. The book is a fascinating description of all the struggles over to movie, play and other treatments and the struggles the estate had to preserve the sanctity of the prose. I really enjoyed this book.
Francine Prose does an admirable job of evoking the emotions that we experience the first time we read it. The book is a fascinating description of all the struggles over to movie, play and other treatments and the struggles the estate had to preserve the sanctity of the prose. I really enjoyed this book.