Before reading this graphic adaptation, I hadn’t read any part of Anne Frank’s diary since I was in middle school. Yet, t took no time at all for me to remember the family’s initial fears and eventual life within the factory’s annex.
Yes, the illustrations are captivating, but I kept thinking, why. Why does this book need a graphic adaptation? (And I know the diary has been made into two films. I have issues with those as well.) Some books are just waiting to be turned into graphic form, but for me, this diary might be best on its own. Folman discusses this in his afterward. He admits that he was very much conflicted with the ideas of representing her words correctly through the artwork and also editing out so much of the her writing. I guess on this one, I just land in the camp of when in doubt, don’t do it. Sure, cut out a soliloquy in Hamlet, or a scene with the Duke and the King in Huck Finn to turn those classics into a graphic novel, but cut out diary entries?
While it may be beautifully drawn and a good option to reach a reluctant readers, I feel it is best to leave Anne Frank’s words on paper and in the form she originally put them in.
Paul's Picks 
I really appreciate your take on this. When I first heard about it I was excited to see how it might enhance the story but apprehensive for exactly the reasons you mention. When in doubt, don’t do it is such a good maxim for reworking classics in this way!
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Right? I read the To Kill a Mockingbird adaptation late last year and it was great. It was very close to the original and so well done. But it also is not nonfiction, which is my main issue with this one.
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That’s what I was thinking, it gets tricky with nonfiction in adaptation projects like this. It just doesn’t seem like something that needs doing.
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Agreed!
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I don’t think this should have been made into a graphic novel at all. I didn’t know it had been. Excellent review and points made matey.
x The Captain
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Thank you! It well done for what it is, but that doesn’t take away the original decision to make it.
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I saw it at the bookstore and I was a little thrown: it just felt odd to me that it had been turned into a graphic novel.
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I agree. How does one edit this for adaptation?
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I would not want to be the person to have that task!
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I think Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe would be a very grim graphic novel or film.
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Thank you so much for stopping by! Oh yes, I know that one. Whoa, it would not make for a good adaptation.
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“What books shouldn’t be turned into movies and comics?”
All of them. Asshat lazy b4st4rd frakking, flipping, frelling creators/directors are what ruin it for everyone.
As you might notice, I’m mightily against adapting books into other mediums.
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Ha!!!! Get your own stories!!!
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Exactly…
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I really don’t think I’d want to read an illustrated version of her diary, I mean….that just seems an odd choice to me. Thanks for the review!
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Some nonfiction is ok… but this one just struck me as unnecessary.
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I feel the same on the graphic adaptation. It’s almost like it has too much to live up to.
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That’s a great way of putting it!
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Hahahah I like your position on this. Some stories definitely shouldn’t be adapted, especially if it’s near-impossible to capture the essence of the book in another medium. I still need to read the diary though. 😮
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Definitely worth a read. Amazing that it survived.
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