Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

By: Anne Frank

Narrated by: Selma Blair

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

More than 50 years after its first publication, Doubleday's definitive edition of Anne Frank's famous diary generated an extraordinary amount of excitement when it was published in early 1995. Enthusiastically received by critics and readers alike, it reigned for nine weeks on The New York Times best-seller list and will remain for all time the version that millions of readers will cherish.

©2010 Random House

Critic Reviews

"The new edition reveals a new depth to Anne's dreams, irritations, hardship, and passions....There may be no better way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II than to reread The Diary of a Young Girl, a testament to an indestructive nobility of spirit in the face of pure evil." ( Chicago Tribune)

First review I've written - Had to write it

I have enjoyed many audible books before, but I've never felt compelled to write a review.

I had never read Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl. I assumed that I knew what it was about and that her diary entries would not hold my attention. I was mistaken on both accounts.

I looked forward every day for a chance to listen to the book. Anne Frank wrote with such emotional candor, eye for detail, and ear for conversations that I found myself wondering many times what she could have written if she had lived. I never grew tired of listening.

Selma Blair's reading is superb. Other readers might have just conveyed the intelligence and the eye of Ms. Frank - Ms. Blair goes further. She captures the adolescence quality of Anne Frank, the "young girl" - the petulance, the exasperation with the adults in the annex - through well-timed pauses.sighs, laughs.

In Los Angeles, where I live, The Museum of Tolerance has a letter that Anne Frank wrote to a pen-pal in the United States. It is a tribute to Audible and Ms. Blair that when I read the words of the letter, I heard Ms. Blair's voice reading them in my mind.

61 of 63 people found this review helpful

I Finally Read It!!!...and have been given a gift.

In my ignorance I thought I knew this story without having read it. Even though I have read many books on WWII, I swept by this assuming it was what it seemed to be...people hiding from the Nazis. However, there is so much depth and humanity to this work that it truly deserves its recognition. How one young girl could give us all so much is testiment to its honesty and innocence. If you have not read it and said someday you would...now is the time. There is no reviewing it as it stands apart from any criticism. This is an experience and a human journey that will live with you well past closing the book...hopefully for the rest of your life.

Selma's performance is fitting.

28 of 30 people found this review helpful

Deeply Moving

If you haven't read Anne Frank's diary, written over a two year period by a girl in her early teens in hiding from the Nazis, the time is now! I will warn you that this is the entire diary, not the abridged version her father initially published. She talks about sex, her body, and the tension between herself and her mother. Anne gives us a glimpse into the stresses and struggles her family, and the four others in hiding with them, faced as they lived above Mr. Frank's business. Yet, it's not just a WWII story; Anne gives us a well-painted picture of a girl going through the normal conflicts of growing up. This was a book that stayed with me for days after I had finished listening.

I found the reader irritating at first because her voice wasn't the one I heard in my head for Anne, but she did a good job of expressing Anne's feelings in a teenager's voice.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

OMG

Where does Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Number one !

What was one of the most memorable moments of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl?

Her thankfulness for where she was! Falling in puppy love and having hope even when the adults were losing it!

What does Selma Blair bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She spoke to me as Ann! I felt like I was inside Ann's thoughts emotions wishes dreams! I know she is a fully grown woman but her voice gave the innocence Ann deserved to be given! She did Ann justice. I have heard many but none as hauntingly portrayed as she. Although we know the end was horrific. She broke it to use sympathetically as a family member would! Chilling!!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Her last passage! That's all I can say!

Any additional comments?

I read the children's version as mandatory reading as a child! I wanted to know all there was left. I heard there were other versions but never had the time to read them. Now on my commute to school or cleaning or cooking I can listen and its just awesome!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Wow

This story is so shocking and amazing at the same time. I love learning about Anne & her family. The horror they went through breaks my heart. I will read this book again for sure!!

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

First time

I had never read this before, and was a little leery because I normally like fiction and didn't know if it would keep my interest. This was a very enjoyable listen, often funny, and often tear-jerking. Selma Blair does a great job of capturing the innocence, and insight, of the young Anne Frank. Even if you've read it before, give this one a listen!

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

You made a grown man cry

When reading history there is no shortage of dry text that will give the you the facts and dates. What you get with this diary is one real human story against the weight of a ideology bent on killing people like her. I like the style of the narrator, it made me feel like I was hearing the words right from a teenage girl. Anne seems to have been a smart intuitive girl who knew the situation she was in. She also was a teenage girl and her story is not just about hiding from Nazi thugs. It's about her relationship to her mother and father, and about a boy and working out her feelings around all those things. The world would have been a better place with Anne Frank still around. When it got to the part that explained this is where the diary ended tears erupted and would not stop.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A great read.....

Heart breaking yet amazing. Educational and a must read for future generations so we never forget.
Loss of great writer

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

The Diary of a Young Girl

A really great reader for this book...

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

Selma is the perfect narrator

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I weep for the loss of a great talent in Anne Frank, but Selma brings her to life in a magical way.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful