UPDATE - 5 Famous Overrated Diaries

If you haven't already read it, begin by clicking the link below, then come back to this

5. Adolph Hitler

4. Anne Frank

Let me start by making it clear that I don’t condone the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews in the mid-20th Century. In fact, I think everyone will agree that, in retrospect, it was perhaps a little bit over the top. I just want to you keep in mind that ALL Jews were in a similar situation at the time so why do the scribblings of this particular girl stand out?

For those of you that don’t know who Anne Frank is, she came in third place in the International Hide-n-Seek Championships shortly behind Madeleine McCann and Elizabeth Fritzl. She was a Dutch Jew who at the mere age of 13 was forced to go into hiding due to persecution from the Nazis. When we hear that she spent 2 years locked up in the ‘Secret Annexe’, our collective heart immediately bleeds for this young girl, incarcerated in cramped, squalid conditions. However, as it turns out, this prison was in fact the back half of a three story building, with bedrooms, a bathroom, and living areas. I bet those chaps form the beginning of Inglourious Basterds feel like they befriended the wrong Gentiles. 

Furthermore, it is worth noting that one of the other people she was in hiding with, was the young, handsome, and presumably hormone-filled Peter Van Pels, with whom she began a relationship. She did eventually cut off this romance after tiring of him which must have made things awkward in the Annexe. Moreover, given her present situation, beggars can’t be choosers, and young Anne wasn’t exactly a looker.

Ms Frank also aspired to be an author, and was known by her family to fastidiously edit and refine her diary as she fully intended to submit her work as part of a public record of the Dutch oppression. Since we can assume that Ms Frank had a lot of time on her hands, what with not being allowed to leave the confines of her new home and everything, one would have hoped that her diary would have ended up so word-perfect that people would be clambering over one another to publish that shit. Right?

Alas, it was not to be. Otto Frank, Anne’s Dad, gave the diary to a famed writer and historian who was unable to get to published. 5 years and several publication rejections later, it was released in Europe. However, it was not even released in England until 1952, where it finally got the recognition it deserved...

...By going out of print less than a year later due to lack of interest.