Wednesday 12 May 2010

Anne Frank




You know a book's good when after you're done with it you stop and just think about it or - in my case - you're tempted to search the title up in Google to see what everybody else thought of it too. Another sign is if the book made you think while reading it. By this, I don't mean it has to be extremely challenging, all I mean is that it has to stimulate the mind and make you consider things.

The Diary of a Young Girl definitely did all these for me. It's honestly fantastic - she was a phenomenal writer and it makes you sad when you think of her fate. Sometimes it's hard to imagine such a bright and intelligent, bursting-with-hope character confined in one of those ridiculously horrible concentration camps, but I guess the diary's an icon of those times and a warning of sorts for the future. A warning not to let history repeat itself.

Anne Frank's diary is also, however, an honest-to-God documentation of a teenager's mind: the struggles with pretty much everything the world throws at them, getting used to this (actually, pretty awesome) place we all learn to call home. She seems to represent the typical teenager in a fantastically articulate fashion, yet she also seems to transcend mere adolescence in her thoughts and attitudes. To me, if I met a girl similar to how she was, now, I know I'd fall in love.

From everything: the imagery of having more than one persona, to seeing nature as a beacon of hope, her need for someone to confide in, and her passions/curiosities - she truly seems to have been ... I don't know... someone with potential? Someone who definitely would have followed their dreams and most probably have succeeded. The former, that quality, makes me happy. I hope I'll retain that same quality as I grow and chase all my dreams. I think Anne said it best,
I don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people , even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death!

There are so many other awesome things she wrote, too, but if I wrote them all out, you might as well have just bought the book.

I mean, that's not to say that there aren't some boring, list-y parts about the general goings-on of the Secret Annexe or whatever, but it's a diary, what d'you expect?

Anyway, I just really enjoyed reading it and thought I'd definitely write a post about it, what with the resuscitation of my blog and all. Now, however, onto
Will Grayson, Will Grayson which I've been dying to read for ages now!

Until next time!

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