The Diary of a Young Girl

This is a tough book to rate, but how can I give it less than 4 stars for what it represents?

As pure entertainment goes, I don’t recommend it. The diary of a rapidly maturing girl from 13 to 15 years of age, confined to an annex and restricted to relationships with a small group of people. Constantly bickering with her mother – annoying - falling in love with the only boy in the annex - cringeworthy and predictable - and repeatedly talking about her teenage emotions instead of more pressing topics such as war, oppression and the collective fear and panic.

I yearned for Anne to view things from a third-party perspective and to stop being so naive and personal, but that's the remarkable thing about this book: the literary maturity and presence of the mind of such a young person, who was able to express herself as a brilliant, vivid and forward-thinking individual at such a young age. For Nazi Germany to strip that life away at 15 and rob the world of her light and talent is the darkest message of this literature. She could have been an incredible author, politician, ambassador and inspirational leader, but society decided otherwise. She was exterminated like an insect by a cruel military regime that had no idea what it was doing, which is still baffling to understand.

Yes, the material she writes is often trite, repetitive and boring, but what it represents is incredible. How society can simply wipe out such a vivacious and alive human being is beyond my comprehension.