Anyway, I found a battered, old copy at the library and had the above mentioned epiphany. How could I have never read this?
Most of you know the story of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who goes into hiding during the war with her parents, sister, another family, and a dentist.
The diary is full of Anne's thoughts about life, her youth, war, boys, her parents, her sister, etc. It reads like most any diary with the exception of the destruction around them in the form of a raging war and the possibility of being found and carted off with other Jewish members of her community.
Reading her girlish thoughts and chuckling to myself, I realized how sad it really is. She wrote these things, she felt these things. She didn't have a chance to become a woman, to grow and prosper, and find happiness in the world. She represents so many poor souls who were tormented and killed.
I'm enjoying the book because it lets me glimpse into her world, but it's also difficult to read because it's constantly in the back of my mind that I know what happened to Anne after it ends.
I think most 'normal' high schools require this reading, but I don't remember reading more than five books in my entire high school career. Sad but true. I had to read this in college and it was a wonderful read. Sad and touching while uplifting and spirited. In so many ways, I felt Anne was beyond her years. It was very sad that she never had the chance to live beyond childhood. Pretty sure I cried like a little girl reading this and we had to watch the play by the drama department at the college so I sobbed there as well!
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