Review: The Diary of a Young Girl

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"... keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and what I could be, if... there weren't other people living in the world" is the lyrical ending to an engrossing account of teenaged Jewish girl, living in hiding, during World War II.

The book is surprisingly engaging. Anne's voice is distinct of her era, with idioms such as "get all het up", and frequent use of the word "darling" as a pet name for someone. Her emotions appear to be very truthful, and there is a blushingly honest recollection of her desire for 'something unknown' and wishing she could have a girlfriend or boyfriend to love. The story starts out sweetly enough, as a birthday present, in which she makes her diary her confidant. She is a faithful writer about the news of the war, as she hears it, and this makes for a very interesting component of the book. After the middle, the book kind of veers about, her teenaged angst and emotions over her developing but uncertain crush on Peter, a boy who is also in hiding with her family, and we get to see the inner workings of the teenaged girl's mind: does he love me? Do I love him? What is love? Will I love someone else one day?

Then it ends abruptly.

The Afterword is also extremely interesting. It fills in missing details such as the German invasion of Holland and actually sheds light on the origin of WWII, which stems from the Treaty of Versaille from WWI. I knew this prior to the book, but I thought, what a great way to truly enlighten anyone about the connection between those two wars.

Although very dated - in language and some ideas - Anne's struggle within, about herself becoming respected within her family, and the universality of the awkward and sometimes painful path toward adulthood may be an astonishingly insightful read for young people about her same age. The details, the history and the honesty in her account will draw sympathetic appreciation from readers of almost any age.

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Review: Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Be warned that this is NOT my kind of book - I don't enjoy (that much) stories of women who recover from personal tragedy. Therefore, I gave it a modest score. I had to force myself to finish it because the story is sorrowful and draining.

However, for those who enjoy these types of personal journeys, this is a beautifully written memoir and has engaging, poetic language. The writing is what kept me going, as well as my incessant need to know, "Then what happened?". This is a very raw, very emotional, open and honest story about a widow who learns of her husband's affairs several months after his death. She is frank in her recount of her hatred toward the other women, she is unashamedly honest about her conflicted emotions. I was almost shy about how honest she was; kudos to her. I am certain she has blessed many readers with feelings of relief, community and opened doors toward an understanding of how we see ourselves and each other, and how we gauge our relationships.

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