The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your own heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again.

Whenever you're feeling lonely or sad, try going out to the loft on a beautiful day and looking outside. Not at the houses and rooftops, but at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you'll know that you're pure within and will find happiness once more.

After thirty years, I have re-read this book following my visit to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. The diary has changed since I read it as a teen. Parts of the diary were edited out by her father when they referenced difficulties between Anne and her mother or involved sexuality. Now you can read a completely unedited version. The book was amazing the second time through, especially having walked behind the bookcase and standing in her room with the black-out curtains.

Anne was an excellant writer and talked about pursuing that as a career. I was very impressed with her maturity and the growth in character she developed over the years hidden in the annex. Her study habits were intense and perhaps helped contribute to her optimistic outlook under such difficult circumstances. I was surprised that she expressed so little anger or hatred toward the Nazis. The book is an incredible testiment to the human spirit.

Vanishing Point - David Markson

A seminonfictional semifiction.

Obstinately cross-referential and of cryptic interconnective syntax.
Probably by this point more than apparent-- or surely for the attentive reader.

As should be Author's experiement to see how little of his own presence he can get away with throughout.

At the recent milennium, Sylvia Plath would have been sixty-eight.
Anne Sexton, seventy-two.

Arnold Schoenberg's father was a shoemaker.

I was sure I would enjoy this book after reading 20-30 pages. It first seems to be nothing but a collection of quotes and historical tibbits. While many of the short statements were fascinating, it didn't seem like I was reading a novel. Referred to as an experimental novel, the author has only a few combined pages where he speaks. However, patterns begin to evolve in the statements. There is a focus on art and critics as well as death. Most of the statements refer to artists and it becomes apparent the author is struggling with his art, his death, and the meaning of both.

I enjoyed reading the book, partly for the interesting facts filling each page. Markson is intellectually stimulating and provides plenty to think about.

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan

He stood up from the piano, exhausted, satisfied with the progress he had made but apprehensive: he had brought this massive engine of sound to a point where the real work on the finale could begin, and it could do so now only with an inspired invention--the final melody, in its first and simplest form, badly stated on a solo wind instrument, or perhaps the first violins. He had reached the core, and felt burdened.

This is McEwan's Booker Award winning book, although I like some of his other books better. Like everything I have read by McEwan, this book is extremely well written and a pleasure to read. Some criticize McEwan's works for being thin on plot. Not so with Amsterdam with has a large amount of plots twists and turns.

Two friends, a composer and an editor, are drawn into situations which make each examine their moral values and judgements. Ethical decisions are pondered and interesting repercussions arrise. Throw in deep evaluations of life and death, art, music, and the nature of friendship and you have the makings of a rich novel.