Publication
Distribooks Inc (1999), Edition: 6, 206 pages
Collections
Subjects
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Shortlist — 1999)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 1997)
Salon Book Award (Fiction — 1997)
Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (Winner — 1999)
Prix des libraires du Québec (1997)
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany. When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover�??then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murd
User reviews
LibraryThing member mrstreme
I picked up The Reader from a Borders closeout sale. It was cheap, and the cover with Kate Winslet on it reminded me that people liked the novel and movie. I had no idea what it was about, but who could give up a bargain?
What I didn't bargain for was to be completely moved by this story. How I wish
I won't give too much away because I think discovering the plot twists are part of the book's appeal. In short, at the age of 15, Michael Berg falls in love with a woman more than twice his age. Hanna was mysterious and sensual - a adolescent's dream. When she took off one day without notice, Michael was heartbroken and never fully recovered from the loss of Hanna from his life. Their paths cross again, though, and Michael learns about Hanna's secrets - many of which are deplorable. How can this be the same Hanna he fell in love with as a teenager?
From a historical fiction perspective, The Reader exposes the moral dilemmas of the German generation whose parents were involved in the Third Reich, which is a viewpoint I had never considered before. Mix this with compelling characters and ethical questions, and you have The Reader. If you love historical fiction and thought-provoking stories, The Reader will leave you very satisfied.
What I didn't bargain for was to be completely moved by this story. How I wish
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I could have read The Reader with a lively book group or in a college class! The Reader has so many ethical layers that it left me thinking about the book long after I finished the last page. And, for me, that's the hallmark of a provocative story.I won't give too much away because I think discovering the plot twists are part of the book's appeal. In short, at the age of 15, Michael Berg falls in love with a woman more than twice his age. Hanna was mysterious and sensual - a adolescent's dream. When she took off one day without notice, Michael was heartbroken and never fully recovered from the loss of Hanna from his life. Their paths cross again, though, and Michael learns about Hanna's secrets - many of which are deplorable. How can this be the same Hanna he fell in love with as a teenager?
From a historical fiction perspective, The Reader exposes the moral dilemmas of the German generation whose parents were involved in the Third Reich, which is a viewpoint I had never considered before. Mix this with compelling characters and ethical questions, and you have The Reader. If you love historical fiction and thought-provoking stories, The Reader will leave you very satisfied.
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LibraryThing member writestuff
It is post-War Germany. Fifteen year old Michael Berg falls ill to hepatitis and meets Hanna, a woman who is more than twice his age. They become lovers. Michael reads to her. Later she disappears, only to resurface as a defendent in a trial - accused of horrific crimes against humanity. Michael
That’s the book, in a nutshell. The problem was I never felt a thing for either Michael nor Hanna, and was never emotionally engaged in their story. Michael narrates this short novel and repeatedly tells us that he feels nothing. Sadly, Schlink left this reader the same way.
Bernhard Schlink’s style is one which tells the story instead of showing it. The courtroom scenes could have been dramatic, emotional, and revealing had Schlink used dialogue to show us what was happening. Instead he simply tells the reader what is going on - a dry recitation of facts which left me oddly detached.
The Reader is a story about illiteracy which falls flat perhaps, in part, because it is paralleled with the horror of the Nazi atrocities. Schlink wants the reader to believe that illiteracy is somehow more appalling than a Nazi guard’s role in the deaths of thousands. It is a rather ludicrous position.
At one point in the novel, Michael tells us about a book written by a concentration camp survivor:
'Years later I reread it and discovered that it is the book that creates distance. It does not invite one to identify with it and makes no one sympathetic, neither the mother nor the daughter, nor those who shared their fate in the various camps and finally in Auschwitz and the satellite camp near Cracow.' -from The Reader, page 118-
And this was exactly how I felt about The Reader. Unconnected. Distanced from the characters. Unsympathetic toward either of the protagonists.
The Reader was a best seller in the United States and Germany and an Oprah pick, as well as a NYT Most Notable Book and Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. With those kind of credentials, I expected to love it. I did not.
Not recommended.
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remains obsessed with Hanna and later uncovers another of her secrets.That’s the book, in a nutshell. The problem was I never felt a thing for either Michael nor Hanna, and was never emotionally engaged in their story. Michael narrates this short novel and repeatedly tells us that he feels nothing. Sadly, Schlink left this reader the same way.
Bernhard Schlink’s style is one which tells the story instead of showing it. The courtroom scenes could have been dramatic, emotional, and revealing had Schlink used dialogue to show us what was happening. Instead he simply tells the reader what is going on - a dry recitation of facts which left me oddly detached.
The Reader is a story about illiteracy which falls flat perhaps, in part, because it is paralleled with the horror of the Nazi atrocities. Schlink wants the reader to believe that illiteracy is somehow more appalling than a Nazi guard’s role in the deaths of thousands. It is a rather ludicrous position.
At one point in the novel, Michael tells us about a book written by a concentration camp survivor:
'Years later I reread it and discovered that it is the book that creates distance. It does not invite one to identify with it and makes no one sympathetic, neither the mother nor the daughter, nor those who shared their fate in the various camps and finally in Auschwitz and the satellite camp near Cracow.' -from The Reader, page 118-
And this was exactly how I felt about The Reader. Unconnected. Distanced from the characters. Unsympathetic toward either of the protagonists.
The Reader was a best seller in the United States and Germany and an Oprah pick, as well as a NYT Most Notable Book and Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. With those kind of credentials, I expected to love it. I did not.
Not recommended.
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LibraryThing member Lman
At once haunting and provocative, there is no easy way to describe The Reader, just as there is no easy way to rationalise, or reconcile, certain actions of our fellow-kind. Circumventing a spiral into dogmatic analysis of a thorny moral dilemma by crafting a frank and forthright exposition, the
Purposely compartmentalised into three discrete sections this is, primarily, the tale of Michael Berg and Hanna Schmitz – from the intense, but odd, relationship of Michael, aged 15, with a much older Hanna; through the seminal revelation by Michael, many years later, in the trials of war atrocities, and of Hannah’s involvement; to the bitter-sweet resolution and disclosure of the far-reaching circumstances of their lives. Told entirely from Michael’s perspective and underscored by his coming of age, this progression, and thus maturity, brings to Michael, and the reader, a semblance of understanding and a modicum of comprehension into, seemingly, almost incomprehensible historical events.
In this styled, chronological memoir narrated by Michael, from his pubescent to maturity, the story, in essence, parallels pathways taken by many citizens of post-war Nazi Germany; Michael’s experiences, and his relationships analogous, somewhat, to the whole nation’s psyche in dealing with the traumatic, and lingering, consequences of the considerable impact of this era. By concentrating on the minutiae of growing up in this time, and connecting the reader with the individual particulars and perceptions of Michael alone, an overall impression of commonality is actually communicated – delivering a widespread awareness of community sentiment and sensitivity; though the incessant sense of foreboding belies any impression of ease within this world. And by detailing the emotional entanglements, within responses and reactions to the momentous incidents at play, this underscores the difficulties in evaluating such a situation ourselves.
What Bernhard Schlink concisely and precisely conveys, within this thought-provoking portrait, is that there really are no straight-forward solutions, no uncomplicated answers, and no simple black-and-white explanations to these predicaments. In the muddy, murky extremes of a nation in crisis, amidst an overwhelming measure of guilt and grief, and with an inability to fathom a satisfactory response, resolution and retribution can be just as misguided, just as imprecise, as the actions being penalised. There is a very grey area between legality and morality – and who is able to judge clearly between the two? After finishing this superbly-articulated rendering of such a complex account I, for one, will forgo any such reckoning – with the hope that one day it becomes superfluous to our needs!
(July 24, 2009)
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simple elegance of this narrative cannot be overstated; the beauty of the writing in stark contrast to the horrors inevitably revealed.Purposely compartmentalised into three discrete sections this is, primarily, the tale of Michael Berg and Hanna Schmitz – from the intense, but odd, relationship of Michael, aged 15, with a much older Hanna; through the seminal revelation by Michael, many years later, in the trials of war atrocities, and of Hannah’s involvement; to the bitter-sweet resolution and disclosure of the far-reaching circumstances of their lives. Told entirely from Michael’s perspective and underscored by his coming of age, this progression, and thus maturity, brings to Michael, and the reader, a semblance of understanding and a modicum of comprehension into, seemingly, almost incomprehensible historical events.
In this styled, chronological memoir narrated by Michael, from his pubescent to maturity, the story, in essence, parallels pathways taken by many citizens of post-war Nazi Germany; Michael’s experiences, and his relationships analogous, somewhat, to the whole nation’s psyche in dealing with the traumatic, and lingering, consequences of the considerable impact of this era. By concentrating on the minutiae of growing up in this time, and connecting the reader with the individual particulars and perceptions of Michael alone, an overall impression of commonality is actually communicated – delivering a widespread awareness of community sentiment and sensitivity; though the incessant sense of foreboding belies any impression of ease within this world. And by detailing the emotional entanglements, within responses and reactions to the momentous incidents at play, this underscores the difficulties in evaluating such a situation ourselves.
What Bernhard Schlink concisely and precisely conveys, within this thought-provoking portrait, is that there really are no straight-forward solutions, no uncomplicated answers, and no simple black-and-white explanations to these predicaments. In the muddy, murky extremes of a nation in crisis, amidst an overwhelming measure of guilt and grief, and with an inability to fathom a satisfactory response, resolution and retribution can be just as misguided, just as imprecise, as the actions being penalised. There is a very grey area between legality and morality – and who is able to judge clearly between the two? After finishing this superbly-articulated rendering of such a complex account I, for one, will forgo any such reckoning – with the hope that one day it becomes superfluous to our needs!
(July 24, 2009)
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LibraryThing member kambrogi
This is a story about first love and the marks it leaves. However, this first love is complicated by many factors. Michael was only fifteen when he met Hannah, the 35-year old woman he would fall in love with. Only years later would he discover not one but two astonishing secrets she had carried
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with her during the brief period of their romance, and almost two more decades would pass before he could begin to understand the ways in which his early love enhanced, muted and encoded his life. Entwining this personal story with the greater and often incomprehensible historical narrative of the Holocaust brings both events into sharper focus. The story digs deep into the nature and results of betrayal, and shows how a lie can complicate itself into a sin. In only 218 pages, Schlink manages to tell a stunning and painful story that will grab your heart and twist it, leaving you with a great deal to ponder. Show Less
LibraryThing member sross008
Finally, an existential literary piece that explains collective German guilt and shame and answers the question, "Why didn't you do anything?" The whole book is about numbness, and there's a slow tug of inevitability, mirroring how the Nazis craftily staged their era of persecution. In the end, the
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narrator's failure to act allows him to achieve culpable solidarity with the national identity of the Nazi Generation. Show Less
LibraryThing member CarolsNotebook
I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. I didn't feel emotionally connected to either of the characters, but at the same time, I couldn't stop reading it. I think it brings up a lot of interesting topics- guilt, love, choices we make, the aftermath of the Holocaust- but allows the reader to
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come to his/her own opinions on them. Show Less
LibraryThing member susanbevans
I'll start my review by telling you that I have not seen the movie based on this book - I thought I wanted to, but now I don't really see the appeal.
15 year-old Michael Berg becomes ill on his way home from school one day and is rescued by Hanna Schmitz, a streetcar conductor more than twice his
I was on a wait-list for weeks at my library to get my hands on this book. I had high hopes when I began reading, but in the end, I was disappointed. The writing fell extremely flat, and it simply failed to engage me in the story. The entire novel read like a story outline - what happened to the meat? The plot was full of promise that was never delivered. It was so dry and thin, it's only real virtue being the fact that I was able to read it really quickly.
I felt nothing for the characters - they were shallow, and I did not care at all what happened to them. There was no development of any of the characters, and they seemed as flat as cardboard cut-outs. The relationship between Michael and Hanna that so many people call "erotic" and "romantic", I found to be superficial at best. I felt no emotional pull between the main characters - they were cold and unfeeling on the pages, and left me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I really wish I had chosen another book for my reading challenge. I feel cheated by The Reader, as if it was a complete waste of my time. It was very simplistic and redundant. I kept waiting for the plot to thicken, and SPOILER ALERT - it never did! I cannot recommend this one to anyone, so read at your own risk.
15 year-old Michael Berg becomes ill on his way home from school one day and is rescued by Hanna Schmitz, a streetcar conductor more than twice his
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age. When he is well again, he seeks out Frau Schmitz and becomes her lover. Michael eventually spends more time with friends from school and feels as if he is betraying his relationship with Hanna, and they understandably begin to drift apart. Then one day, Hanna completely disappears from his life. The next time he sees her, he is a young law student, and Hanna is on trial for crimes she committed as a prison guard at Auschwitz. As Hanna attempts to defend herself (badly,) Michael realizes that see is harboring a secret she feels is even more shameful than her crimes as part of the Third Reich.I was on a wait-list for weeks at my library to get my hands on this book. I had high hopes when I began reading, but in the end, I was disappointed. The writing fell extremely flat, and it simply failed to engage me in the story. The entire novel read like a story outline - what happened to the meat? The plot was full of promise that was never delivered. It was so dry and thin, it's only real virtue being the fact that I was able to read it really quickly.
I felt nothing for the characters - they were shallow, and I did not care at all what happened to them. There was no development of any of the characters, and they seemed as flat as cardboard cut-outs. The relationship between Michael and Hanna that so many people call "erotic" and "romantic", I found to be superficial at best. I felt no emotional pull between the main characters - they were cold and unfeeling on the pages, and left me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I really wish I had chosen another book for my reading challenge. I feel cheated by The Reader, as if it was a complete waste of my time. It was very simplistic and redundant. I kept waiting for the plot to thicken, and SPOILER ALERT - it never did! I cannot recommend this one to anyone, so read at your own risk.
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LibraryThing member Linus_Linus
Amidst all the post modernism floating about , it is nice to see Europe still finding room to explore the fundamental unit of human life ie the relationship between two human beings.The content has been done with a million times, yet the charecters are fresh. And by that I do not mean they are
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rib-tickingly funny or unpretentiously perverse( sadly in my experience , when people use the word fresh for a character has been either of the two)The other recent European book I can think of , which also explores very unique relationship between two people as a unit is L'Élégance du hérisson by Muriel barbery . Curiously both Muriel barbery and Bernhard schlink are not writers per se , both of them being professors of philosophy and law respectively.So the good thing about The reader is, translated from a different language, the writing is unique. You don’t get creative writing workshop manufactured sentences, which is welcome bonus if you are ODing on contemporary American prose. It is easy and light read in terms of flow, so guess what ? you could finish it off in a bath or have it read to you. As regards the content, i guess it has been done with many a times. And , in my edition, Schlink has put in a few questions at the end , which clearly defines the purpose of the book. I guess, the answers are to be found for oneself.But I think the best advantage of the book is to read it before watching the movie and if you are a cinema enthusiast like I am, you can make a movie for yourself imagining all the settings described like eg the triumphal parade of brown, yellow, orange, tawny red and chestnut trees between New York and Boston, or the fire that destroyed the church.. first the steeple burned, then the roof; then the blazing rafters collapsed into the nave and the pews caught fire .... and see how much the actual movie fits into the auteur within you. Show Less
LibraryThing member DebbieMcCauley
The post-reunification generation, faced with a legacy of collective guilt and shame, has attempted to come to terms with the horror and guilt of Nazism. By exploring responsibility for the genocidal horror of the Holocaust they sought to construct a new identity. This seeking to come to terms with
The Reader moves from the past to the present in an intimate retelling of narrator Michael Berg’s experiences. As a fifteen year old, Michael is struck down by hepatitis. After throwing up in the street he is helped home by Frau Schmitz, a stranger from a nearby neighbourhood, ‘when rescue came it was almost an assault’ (p. 2). After a lengthy illness he visits her with flowers to thank her for her assistance (p. 8).
Hanna Schmitz is an inscrutable streetcar conductor more than twice his age. Michael is fascinated by her and on their third encounter they begin an affair. He is swept up by his infatuation whilst also noticing her idiosyncrasies which include insecurity, emotional closure and fits of temper. Hanna, the dominant one in the relationship, demands that Michael keep up his studies if he wants to keep seeing her (pp. 33-34). She asks Michael to read aloud to her, which becomes an integral part of their time together (pp. 39-41). As time moves on Michael finds their relationship increasingly difficult as his school and social life begin taking up more of his time, but when Hanna unexpectedly leaves the city without a forwarding address he is devastated (p. 80).
When Michael next sees Hanna, he is a law student sitting in on the case of six women accused of being Nazi guards at Cracow, a satellite camp for Auschwitz (p. 88). To Michael’s shock, Hanna is one of those accused. They are charged with not only selecting inmates to be sent to Auschwitz, but also for failing to rescue Jewish women prisoners burning alive in a church after a bombing raid (p. 106). The book serves to ‘remind us how ordinary people can turn into the slayers of those of their compatriots who become identified as different’ (Walder, 2003, p. 97). During the trial Hanna’s poignant inquiry of the court judge; ‘What would you have done?’ (p. 127) seems directed to everyone. According to Walder (2003), ‘The novel has been credited with providing a richer, more nuanced account than before of the perpetrators and bystanders of this past, going beyond the usual outright condemnation of the older generation’ (p. 70).
Michael is part of a post-war generation trying to come to terms with the Nazis and the predicament of their parents and relatives roles in the war. ‘We all condemned our parents to shame, even if the only charge we could bring was that after 1945 they had tolerated the perpetrators in their midst’ (p. 90). The infatuation that Michael had with Hanna intensifies once again, along with his self condemnation and mental persecution as he realises how intertwined their lives are; ‘the finger I pointed at her turned back to me. I had loved her’ (p. 168). Narrated is a complex situation full of emotion as Michael battles with numbness at the details of the accusations and at being personally entangled with one of the perpetrators. He asks ‘some few would be convicted and punished while we of the second generation were silenced by revulsion, shame, and guilt – was that all there was to it now?’ (p. 102).
Michael explores his sense of having betrayed Hanna, firstly in his youth by keeping their relationship a secret, and then by not speaking up at her trial about her illiteracy which could have well reduced her sentence and offered an explanation for some of her actions. ‘She was guilty, but not as guilty as it appeared’ (p. 136). According to Schlink, ‘Hanna’s illiteracy is symptomatic of those who had forgotten their moral alphabet during the war’ (as quoted in Anton, 2007, p. 109). Instead of declaring her illiteracy, Hanna accepts sole responsibility for a written report (p. 134) and is sentenced to life imprisonment (p.160). Walder (2003) wonders that ‘when the narrator accuses himself as a boy in such harsh terms for denying his lover, do we understand this as comparable in any way to the German denial of their country’s secret past, their inextricable involvement with those who carried out the dreadful crimes of the Nazi era?’ (p. 94). After the trial ends Michael is still fixated on Hanna; ‘my love for Hanna was, in a way, the fate of my generation, a German fate’ (p. 169). He carries the burden of his knowledge about her throughout his life, until he eventually realises a way to continue having a relationship with Hanna and try to put the past to rest (p. 181).
Michael is part of the generation who had ‘dissociated themselves from their parent’s and thus from the entire generation of perpetrators, voyeurs, and the wilfully blind, accommodators and accepters, thereby overcoming perhaps not their shame, but at least their suffering because of the shame’ (p. 169). This novel allows the reader to ponder the impact of the World War 2 on the lives of the generation after the Nazi’s. It is a valuable and insightful work, a ‘morally sensitive and profound attempt by a German writer to plumb the legacy of the holocaust’ (Walder, 2003, p. 96).
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the war can be seen in a German literary text, Bernhard Schlink’s (1944- ) novel The Reader (published in English in 1997). This fictional work explores the issue of German national identity. It provides a good insight into how powerful a work of fiction can be, ‘how a literary text may engage with the problems faced by a European people still questioning their national identity as a result of a traumatic past’ (Walder, 2003, p. 70).The Reader moves from the past to the present in an intimate retelling of narrator Michael Berg’s experiences. As a fifteen year old, Michael is struck down by hepatitis. After throwing up in the street he is helped home by Frau Schmitz, a stranger from a nearby neighbourhood, ‘when rescue came it was almost an assault’ (p. 2). After a lengthy illness he visits her with flowers to thank her for her assistance (p. 8).
Hanna Schmitz is an inscrutable streetcar conductor more than twice his age. Michael is fascinated by her and on their third encounter they begin an affair. He is swept up by his infatuation whilst also noticing her idiosyncrasies which include insecurity, emotional closure and fits of temper. Hanna, the dominant one in the relationship, demands that Michael keep up his studies if he wants to keep seeing her (pp. 33-34). She asks Michael to read aloud to her, which becomes an integral part of their time together (pp. 39-41). As time moves on Michael finds their relationship increasingly difficult as his school and social life begin taking up more of his time, but when Hanna unexpectedly leaves the city without a forwarding address he is devastated (p. 80).
When Michael next sees Hanna, he is a law student sitting in on the case of six women accused of being Nazi guards at Cracow, a satellite camp for Auschwitz (p. 88). To Michael’s shock, Hanna is one of those accused. They are charged with not only selecting inmates to be sent to Auschwitz, but also for failing to rescue Jewish women prisoners burning alive in a church after a bombing raid (p. 106). The book serves to ‘remind us how ordinary people can turn into the slayers of those of their compatriots who become identified as different’ (Walder, 2003, p. 97). During the trial Hanna’s poignant inquiry of the court judge; ‘What would you have done?’ (p. 127) seems directed to everyone. According to Walder (2003), ‘The novel has been credited with providing a richer, more nuanced account than before of the perpetrators and bystanders of this past, going beyond the usual outright condemnation of the older generation’ (p. 70).
Michael is part of a post-war generation trying to come to terms with the Nazis and the predicament of their parents and relatives roles in the war. ‘We all condemned our parents to shame, even if the only charge we could bring was that after 1945 they had tolerated the perpetrators in their midst’ (p. 90). The infatuation that Michael had with Hanna intensifies once again, along with his self condemnation and mental persecution as he realises how intertwined their lives are; ‘the finger I pointed at her turned back to me. I had loved her’ (p. 168). Narrated is a complex situation full of emotion as Michael battles with numbness at the details of the accusations and at being personally entangled with one of the perpetrators. He asks ‘some few would be convicted and punished while we of the second generation were silenced by revulsion, shame, and guilt – was that all there was to it now?’ (p. 102).
Michael explores his sense of having betrayed Hanna, firstly in his youth by keeping their relationship a secret, and then by not speaking up at her trial about her illiteracy which could have well reduced her sentence and offered an explanation for some of her actions. ‘She was guilty, but not as guilty as it appeared’ (p. 136). According to Schlink, ‘Hanna’s illiteracy is symptomatic of those who had forgotten their moral alphabet during the war’ (as quoted in Anton, 2007, p. 109). Instead of declaring her illiteracy, Hanna accepts sole responsibility for a written report (p. 134) and is sentenced to life imprisonment (p.160). Walder (2003) wonders that ‘when the narrator accuses himself as a boy in such harsh terms for denying his lover, do we understand this as comparable in any way to the German denial of their country’s secret past, their inextricable involvement with those who carried out the dreadful crimes of the Nazi era?’ (p. 94). After the trial ends Michael is still fixated on Hanna; ‘my love for Hanna was, in a way, the fate of my generation, a German fate’ (p. 169). He carries the burden of his knowledge about her throughout his life, until he eventually realises a way to continue having a relationship with Hanna and try to put the past to rest (p. 181).
Michael is part of the generation who had ‘dissociated themselves from their parent’s and thus from the entire generation of perpetrators, voyeurs, and the wilfully blind, accommodators and accepters, thereby overcoming perhaps not their shame, but at least their suffering because of the shame’ (p. 169). This novel allows the reader to ponder the impact of the World War 2 on the lives of the generation after the Nazi’s. It is a valuable and insightful work, a ‘morally sensitive and profound attempt by a German writer to plumb the legacy of the holocaust’ (Walder, 2003, p. 96).
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LibraryThing member jadestar31
In The Reader, we see the world through the eyes of a man reflecting on his experiences in postwar Germany. Whether the Reader is a character in the novel or anyone who has had the experience of reading aloud, this is a bittersweet story of a boy who grows up at the age of fifteen. Though this book
Michael Berg, a young student, falls sick on his way home from school and is assisted by Hanna Schmitz, a woman old enough to be his mother. Almost immediately, he is captivated by her beauty, grace, and seductiveness. Before long, they become lovers and spend each day together. Their days are spent in a comfortable ritual of Michael reading aloud to Hanna, showering with her, making love to her, and lying by her side afterwards. For a while, Michael's life is blissful, but eventually, he sees a fury in Hanna he never has before. Then, Hanna disappears. Michael believes this to be due to his betrayal. Years later, Michael sees Hanna again and realizes she is on trial for a gruesome crime. As he watched the trial take place, Michael realizes Hanna is hiding a bigger secret than anybody could have guessed.
Though this novel challenges the known ideas of the Holocaust, it forces us to see the other side of the spectrum. The novel is shaped to prove that there are shades of grey to every situation and a person can't be judged, sentenced, and written off as easily as we believe. Throughout the novel, there are undercurrents of collective guilt and shame that the protagonist, Michael, is battling with. He feels an incessant need to condemn his parents for their turning a blind eye to the perpetrators in their midst. However, later on, it is obvious that Michael does not fully belong to the second generation since he is unable to condemn Hanna. He is still searching for answers through his numbness at what he has realized about her.
At the heart of this novel is the love that Michael feels for Hanna. Even though their relationship changes in many ways by the end of the novel, it is this alteration that shapes Michael. He is completely changed by the guilt that both Hanna and the first generation have left him with. Schlink manages to create a book that is gripping and leaves us with an unnerving look into the depths of Germany's history.
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deals with taboo concepts, it is full of candor and entirely unapologetic.Michael Berg, a young student, falls sick on his way home from school and is assisted by Hanna Schmitz, a woman old enough to be his mother. Almost immediately, he is captivated by her beauty, grace, and seductiveness. Before long, they become lovers and spend each day together. Their days are spent in a comfortable ritual of Michael reading aloud to Hanna, showering with her, making love to her, and lying by her side afterwards. For a while, Michael's life is blissful, but eventually, he sees a fury in Hanna he never has before. Then, Hanna disappears. Michael believes this to be due to his betrayal. Years later, Michael sees Hanna again and realizes she is on trial for a gruesome crime. As he watched the trial take place, Michael realizes Hanna is hiding a bigger secret than anybody could have guessed.
Though this novel challenges the known ideas of the Holocaust, it forces us to see the other side of the spectrum. The novel is shaped to prove that there are shades of grey to every situation and a person can't be judged, sentenced, and written off as easily as we believe. Throughout the novel, there are undercurrents of collective guilt and shame that the protagonist, Michael, is battling with. He feels an incessant need to condemn his parents for their turning a blind eye to the perpetrators in their midst. However, later on, it is obvious that Michael does not fully belong to the second generation since he is unable to condemn Hanna. He is still searching for answers through his numbness at what he has realized about her.
At the heart of this novel is the love that Michael feels for Hanna. Even though their relationship changes in many ways by the end of the novel, it is this alteration that shapes Michael. He is completely changed by the guilt that both Hanna and the first generation have left him with. Schlink manages to create a book that is gripping and leaves us with an unnerving look into the depths of Germany's history.
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LibraryThing member GlebtheDancer
I've been reading a lot of holocaust literature recently. 'The Reader' is one of the more recent, more popular and, in my opinion, more forgettable additions to the canon. It gives a post-war German perspective on responsibility, via the protagonist, a student who embarks on an affair with an older
Although occasionally thought provoking, 'The Reader' takes an admittedly complex issue, simplifies it, wraps it round a narrative that is as subtle as a brick and proceeds to smash you in the face with it. What should be an examination of the forces that result in ordinary people becoming involved in acts that appear atrocious, instead becomes an evaluation of the woman's single excuse for her actions. I agree wholeheartedly with Schlink's perspective, and his attempt to re-examine the role of ordinary Germans in the Holocaust is laudible, but his narrative really lets this book down.
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woman only to find that she is a Nazi war criminal. As he begins to understand her life he begins to see what motivated her actions, which initially appear reprehensible, and challenges his own concepts of evil and guilt.Although occasionally thought provoking, 'The Reader' takes an admittedly complex issue, simplifies it, wraps it round a narrative that is as subtle as a brick and proceeds to smash you in the face with it. What should be an examination of the forces that result in ordinary people becoming involved in acts that appear atrocious, instead becomes an evaluation of the woman's single excuse for her actions. I agree wholeheartedly with Schlink's perspective, and his attempt to re-examine the role of ordinary Germans in the Holocaust is laudible, but his narrative really lets this book down.
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LibraryThing member nicky_too
Yet another book I decided to read after seeing the film.
I was very surprised to find out it is only 216 pages!
Whereas the film was, in my opinion, very good, the book surpasses it with ease.
After watching the film I was left with questions. I wanted to look inside the heads of Michael Berg and
The book does give the answers to these and other questions.
Thankfully it also leaves me with even more questions. Those are the questions I can answer for myself, in time. I'm left wondering why Michael has such contradicting feelings towards Hanna, what the impact of WW II actually was on the 'second generation' Germans, why Hanna was (or seemed?) so incredibly cold and proud.
All in all, this little book grabs you by the throat and won't let go until you have read it from front to back. I could hardly put it down and I will in the future read it again and again.
I was very surprised to find out it is only 216 pages!
Whereas the film was, in my opinion, very good, the book surpasses it with ease.
After watching the film I was left with questions. I wanted to look inside the heads of Michael Berg and
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Hanna Schmitz. I wanted to know why they did what they did in the way they did it.The book does give the answers to these and other questions.
Thankfully it also leaves me with even more questions. Those are the questions I can answer for myself, in time. I'm left wondering why Michael has such contradicting feelings towards Hanna, what the impact of WW II actually was on the 'second generation' Germans, why Hanna was (or seemed?) so incredibly cold and proud.
All in all, this little book grabs you by the throat and won't let go until you have read it from front to back. I could hardly put it down and I will in the future read it again and again.
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LibraryThing member novelcommentary
I was interested in exporing this story since the movie received such praise. It was a very fast read; a plot oriented story told by an author who writes with a kind of detective story background. The chapters are very short and the sentences direct without too much elaboration. the book is divided
"The Reader is a brief tale about sex, love, reading, and shame in postwar Germany. Michael Berg is 15 when he begins a long, obsessive affair with Hanna, an enigmatic older woman. He never learns very much about her, and when she disappears one day, he expects never to see her again. But, to his horror, he does. Hanna is a defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past."
After part one details the affair between Michael and Hanna, the rest of the story is more about the war crimes committed and why Hanna is so willing to be convicted rather that reveal a dreaded secret. Without revealing too much, I am not sure I bought into how much the main character was willing to suffer in order not to reveal her secret. Hanna is one of the more complex characters I can remember and this exploration of her character and her effect on the younger Michael makes for a thoughful conclusion. Some post reading reviews indicated that her charactor was symbolic of the ignorance of the people who carried out horrible crimes without seeming to be personally affected. Certainly Hanna's quest for atonement would support this idea. Another interesting study is Michael's character, his Hamlet like conflict whether to act in her behalf or not . This book is -in the end his way of telling the story and hopefully releasing it.
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into 3 parts and told in 1st person by Michael, a bright German 15 yr old who grows up to be an attorney and historical researcher. I found the novel quite different than I had expected because it quickly was not about an inappropriate affair as much as it was about living with the past sins of post war Germandy. the Amazon summary states: "The Reader is a brief tale about sex, love, reading, and shame in postwar Germany. Michael Berg is 15 when he begins a long, obsessive affair with Hanna, an enigmatic older woman. He never learns very much about her, and when she disappears one day, he expects never to see her again. But, to his horror, he does. Hanna is a defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past."
After part one details the affair between Michael and Hanna, the rest of the story is more about the war crimes committed and why Hanna is so willing to be convicted rather that reveal a dreaded secret. Without revealing too much, I am not sure I bought into how much the main character was willing to suffer in order not to reveal her secret. Hanna is one of the more complex characters I can remember and this exploration of her character and her effect on the younger Michael makes for a thoughful conclusion. Some post reading reviews indicated that her charactor was symbolic of the ignorance of the people who carried out horrible crimes without seeming to be personally affected. Certainly Hanna's quest for atonement would support this idea. Another interesting study is Michael's character, his Hamlet like conflict whether to act in her behalf or not . This book is -in the end his way of telling the story and hopefully releasing it.
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LibraryThing member Tinwara
This book deals with the dilemma of the post war generation in Germany: how to love the generation that came before you - your parents for example - knowing about the atrocities that took place during the Holocaust? How could they commit these horrific crimes? Or - let them happen? Why did they
In this case the protagonist of the story is confronted with the past of his country as he learns about the past of his ex-lover, Hanna, a woman about 20 years his senior. He faces a moral dilemma, feeling love and understanding for this woman on the one hand, but feeling utter disgust for the crime she committed during the Holocaust on the other.
I read this book about 8 years ago, but now reread it to prepare for the film that I am going to see soon. I didn't remember the story was so good. So well written and thought provoking. I've seen that some other reviewers have called the choices of Hanna amoral. I would say: that is an easy judgement. Of course, amoral, but just try to imagine why. I think the power of this book is in making you contemplate this question. Can someone be 100% evil? Can there be something loveable in a person who has committed a horrific crime? Can you judge a person who has a lack of knowledge? Is it possible to forgive a person who repents? These questions can't be answered with a full yes or no, they are just too complicated, as this book shows.
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accept war criminals back in their midst after the war? In this case the protagonist of the story is confronted with the past of his country as he learns about the past of his ex-lover, Hanna, a woman about 20 years his senior. He faces a moral dilemma, feeling love and understanding for this woman on the one hand, but feeling utter disgust for the crime she committed during the Holocaust on the other.
I read this book about 8 years ago, but now reread it to prepare for the film that I am going to see soon. I didn't remember the story was so good. So well written and thought provoking. I've seen that some other reviewers have called the choices of Hanna amoral. I would say: that is an easy judgement. Of course, amoral, but just try to imagine why. I think the power of this book is in making you contemplate this question. Can someone be 100% evil? Can there be something loveable in a person who has committed a horrific crime? Can you judge a person who has a lack of knowledge? Is it possible to forgive a person who repents? These questions can't be answered with a full yes or no, they are just too complicated, as this book shows.
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LibraryThing member ELCLBookclub
The meeting today was small with only 9 members present. Generally the group thought the book was well written but did not like the story line. Several members expressed concern that a woman could just follow the rules and not have compassion for women and children in dire situations.
A comment was
The group discussed the shame that people feel when they can not read and what extremes they will go to hide this condition.
The book club recommended this reading material and thought that the writer told the story in a very straight forward manner allowing the reader to make their own judgements on several though provoking issues presented in the book.
A comment was
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made about how our society dismisses the effect of older women sleeping with young boys when they are most vulnerable. The lasting impression may haunt that child forever and literally destroyed their chance of a normal relationship with the opposite sex.The group discussed the shame that people feel when they can not read and what extremes they will go to hide this condition.
The book club recommended this reading material and thought that the writer told the story in a very straight forward manner allowing the reader to make their own judgements on several though provoking issues presented in the book.
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LibraryThing member melydia
Though it purports to be about a teenaged boy and his romance with a complicated older woman, this book is more about how the succeeding generations of Germans deal with the horrors of their Third Reich parents and grandparents. Michael Berg is a thoroughly introspective narrator, creating the feel
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of a memoir more than a novel. I found myself thinking about the characters and their choices long after finishing the last page. Recommended for those looking for a thought-provoking read. Show Less
LibraryThing member elmyra
"What's it about?" asked Paul after I'd ignored him for a couple of hours on a prescious Sunday for the sake of finishing The Reader. I had to stop and think.
"The Holocaust," I said eventually. "Being a perpetrator and dealing with it; being a child of the generation of perpetrators, and dealing
A lot ahs been said about the Holocaust, particularly in Germany - a nation still scarred by the horror of it sixty years later. It's been a long time since I was made to deal with it myself. Having gone through some of the Austrian education system, I had to watch my fair share of videos about WW2 and the Holocaust, but I've not lived in Austria for 10 years now, and I don't spend that much time in Germany these days either.
There is a kind of national guilt, in both Austria and Germany, about the Holocaust. It is perpetuated by endless screenings of documentaries in history class, endless repetition of the themes in literature and film. This guilt is absorbed by each new generation, almost automatically, almost without thinking. We did this, look, wasn't it horrible, now let's spend the rest of our lives feeling this low-level guilt without actually ever stopping to think what it all means. Or maybe that's just me. There is a sense, sitting through Austrian history that you are *meant* to feel horrified, that you are *meant* to feel guilty, and thus you do. But does it ever sink in? I'm not sure.
I remember the one and only time the full horror of it sunk in for me, and that was watching a documentary about some of the medical experiments of Dr. Mengele. I felt physically sick. I think my history teacher felt he'd actually accomplished something. And maybe that's exactly what they're trying to do - overwhelm students with all of the available data, all the pictures of emciated corpses, all the eyewitness and surviver accounts, until you find the one small thing among this pile that makes it sink in for you.
What we never did in Austria (I can't speak about the German education system here) was try to understand why and how human beings could do this - how it could happen in the first place. Not really, not in any level of meaningful, emotional, viceral detail. Even when studying totaliatarian politics at university in the UK, we covered the high-level theories people had developed, but there was the emotional connection missing from that. And yeah, I know I'm not supposed to be emotional as an academic, but if you can look at the Holocaust with a purely academic, clinical eye, you get one step closer to being able to repeat it. Again, maybe that's just me.
Anyway, returning from my small aside...
The Reader is the first treatment of the topic that I have seen that acknowledges the distance and numbness that has crept into the way the Holocaust is viewed. The key scene for me is when Michael visits the concentration camp Struthof to try to understand the crimes Hanna is accused of at an emotional level, and he comments on it that he found it difficult afterwards to walk through the neighbouring village in search of lunch, not because of the horror he felt, but rather because he wasn't sure what he was *supposed* to be feeling. That, for me, summarises the feelings of entire generation of Germans and Austrians, unacknowledged but always in the background.
There are other interesting elements about The Reader. For te amount of ground it covers, it's a very short book: 200 pages. It could easily be 500 or longer. The fact that it's not leaves it up to the reader to choose their own level of engagement with the book: you can read the sotry or Hanna and Michael, and leave it at that; or you try to put yourself in Michael's shoes, tease out the emotions he only hints at; or in Hanna's shoes - try to reconstruct her experience which we only see through Michael's eyes, from the concentration camp right through to to prison; or you could follow the tragic/triumphant/tragic story of Hanna's illiteracy. Which of these you choose to do, and to what level of detail, is up to you. This is one of the things I really like about this book.
Overall, I found this an easy and quick read - even in the original German little practice at reading it though I have at the moment. And overall, I think I like it.
"The Holocaust," I said eventually. "Being a perpetrator and dealing with it; being a child of the generation of perpetrators, and dealing
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with it; and illiteracy." The Reader does cover a lot of ground.A lot ahs been said about the Holocaust, particularly in Germany - a nation still scarred by the horror of it sixty years later. It's been a long time since I was made to deal with it myself. Having gone through some of the Austrian education system, I had to watch my fair share of videos about WW2 and the Holocaust, but I've not lived in Austria for 10 years now, and I don't spend that much time in Germany these days either.
There is a kind of national guilt, in both Austria and Germany, about the Holocaust. It is perpetuated by endless screenings of documentaries in history class, endless repetition of the themes in literature and film. This guilt is absorbed by each new generation, almost automatically, almost without thinking. We did this, look, wasn't it horrible, now let's spend the rest of our lives feeling this low-level guilt without actually ever stopping to think what it all means. Or maybe that's just me. There is a sense, sitting through Austrian history that you are *meant* to feel horrified, that you are *meant* to feel guilty, and thus you do. But does it ever sink in? I'm not sure.
I remember the one and only time the full horror of it sunk in for me, and that was watching a documentary about some of the medical experiments of Dr. Mengele. I felt physically sick. I think my history teacher felt he'd actually accomplished something. And maybe that's exactly what they're trying to do - overwhelm students with all of the available data, all the pictures of emciated corpses, all the eyewitness and surviver accounts, until you find the one small thing among this pile that makes it sink in for you.
What we never did in Austria (I can't speak about the German education system here) was try to understand why and how human beings could do this - how it could happen in the first place. Not really, not in any level of meaningful, emotional, viceral detail. Even when studying totaliatarian politics at university in the UK, we covered the high-level theories people had developed, but there was the emotional connection missing from that. And yeah, I know I'm not supposed to be emotional as an academic, but if you can look at the Holocaust with a purely academic, clinical eye, you get one step closer to being able to repeat it. Again, maybe that's just me.
Anyway, returning from my small aside...
The Reader is the first treatment of the topic that I have seen that acknowledges the distance and numbness that has crept into the way the Holocaust is viewed. The key scene for me is when Michael visits the concentration camp Struthof to try to understand the crimes Hanna is accused of at an emotional level, and he comments on it that he found it difficult afterwards to walk through the neighbouring village in search of lunch, not because of the horror he felt, but rather because he wasn't sure what he was *supposed* to be feeling. That, for me, summarises the feelings of entire generation of Germans and Austrians, unacknowledged but always in the background.
There are other interesting elements about The Reader. For te amount of ground it covers, it's a very short book: 200 pages. It could easily be 500 or longer. The fact that it's not leaves it up to the reader to choose their own level of engagement with the book: you can read the sotry or Hanna and Michael, and leave it at that; or you try to put yourself in Michael's shoes, tease out the emotions he only hints at; or in Hanna's shoes - try to reconstruct her experience which we only see through Michael's eyes, from the concentration camp right through to to prison; or you could follow the tragic/triumphant/tragic story of Hanna's illiteracy. Which of these you choose to do, and to what level of detail, is up to you. This is one of the things I really like about this book.
Overall, I found this an easy and quick read - even in the original German little practice at reading it though I have at the moment. And overall, I think I like it.
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LibraryThing member knittingfreak
I admit that the premise for this book made me a little queasy. I'm no prude, but as the mother of two sons, I didn't know if I'd like reading about a relationship between a 15-year old boy and a 30-something year old woman. However, I wanted to see the movie and I always like to read the book
The reader pretty much knows from the beginning that she has a secret. She doesn't want to share anything with Michael. He's young and in love and wants to know everything about her. She ignores most of his questions and never really opens up to him. In fact, he doesn't even know her name until they had already slept together numerous times. Of course, later the reader understand more about why she doesn't share much about her past. For Michael, the romance is extremely intense and ends abruptly. Hannah simply leaves and never contacts him again. By chance, Michael ends up finding out what has happened to Hannah through a seminar class he's taking in college.
The title of the book comes from the fact that eventually their afternoon trysts included him reading aloud to her. In the beginning, he read to her whatever he was reading at the time. She seemed to crave this. She was always very attentive and perceptive. She would make observations and ask lots of questions. This continued throughout their relationship.
I really don't want to say too much more about the plot. I will just say that I really enjoyed this book, and it is definitely one that will make you think about it long after you turn that last page. The book really left me with more questions than answers. Again, I wanted to know more about Hannah and why she made the decisions she did. The reader is led to believe that one thing may have lead her to some of her decisions. But, it doesn't explain everything. Can you ever really fully know a person if they aren't willing to open themselves up to you? Are people who do evil things evil themselves? Does following orders relieve someone of personal responsibility?
If you haven't read this one, I highly recommend it. It's not a happy, feel good kind of book. It's a book that really stops you in your tracks and forces you to think about difficult philosophical questions.
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first. So, I read it, and I'm so glad I did. It's one of those books that hooked me from the first and forced me to keep reading. My only regret is that this wasn't a book group book. I really would have liked to be able to discuss this book with others. There's so much about the book that lends itself to discussion. Of course, above everything else there is the moral quandary of this relationship between Michael and Hannah. The story is told completely from Michael's point of view. I found myself wanting to hear more from Hannah. I wanted her to explain herself and her actions. I know the author did all of this for a reason, but I really wanted to try and understand her. She made such a huge impact on Michael's entire life. She colored every relationship he had from that point on.The reader pretty much knows from the beginning that she has a secret. She doesn't want to share anything with Michael. He's young and in love and wants to know everything about her. She ignores most of his questions and never really opens up to him. In fact, he doesn't even know her name until they had already slept together numerous times. Of course, later the reader understand more about why she doesn't share much about her past. For Michael, the romance is extremely intense and ends abruptly. Hannah simply leaves and never contacts him again. By chance, Michael ends up finding out what has happened to Hannah through a seminar class he's taking in college.
The title of the book comes from the fact that eventually their afternoon trysts included him reading aloud to her. In the beginning, he read to her whatever he was reading at the time. She seemed to crave this. She was always very attentive and perceptive. She would make observations and ask lots of questions. This continued throughout their relationship.
I really don't want to say too much more about the plot. I will just say that I really enjoyed this book, and it is definitely one that will make you think about it long after you turn that last page. The book really left me with more questions than answers. Again, I wanted to know more about Hannah and why she made the decisions she did. The reader is led to believe that one thing may have lead her to some of her decisions. But, it doesn't explain everything. Can you ever really fully know a person if they aren't willing to open themselves up to you? Are people who do evil things evil themselves? Does following orders relieve someone of personal responsibility?
If you haven't read this one, I highly recommend it. It's not a happy, feel good kind of book. It's a book that really stops you in your tracks and forces you to think about difficult philosophical questions.
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LibraryThing member AlisonY
I found this to be a fascinating and thought-provoking read, particularly having recently read Night.
The book centres on the passionate affair between a 15 year old boy and a woman 21 years his senior, and then later his lover's trial for Nazi war crimes. It's the first book I've read that opens
We never really get any satisfactory answer to these questions with regards to Hanna, the narrator's lover, but the story raises very interesting psychological questions as it unfolds. If you love someone and then find out they are guilty of a heinous crime, do you have questionable character for having loved such a person? Was the person you were lovers with the same person or different to the person who carried out the crimes? Is there a black and white reason as to how they came to have carried out the crimes - can mitigating circumstances ever be considered when a crime is so horrendous? Can you still love someone knowing what they've done?
In the general post-war context, the book also opened up thoughts about how the next generation of Germans handled the guilt of what their parents had done, passively or impassively.
I really enjoyed Schlink's style of prose - I felt he kept the story moving at the right pace and kept my attention throughout.
4.5 stars for me - an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
The book centres on the passionate affair between a 15 year old boy and a woman 21 years his senior, and then later his lover's trial for Nazi war crimes. It's the first book I've read that opens
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up questions about the mindset and character of those who worked as German officers in the concentration camps, and given that the author is a German lawyer and judge I found this was handled in a very interesting and balanced way.We never really get any satisfactory answer to these questions with regards to Hanna, the narrator's lover, but the story raises very interesting psychological questions as it unfolds. If you love someone and then find out they are guilty of a heinous crime, do you have questionable character for having loved such a person? Was the person you were lovers with the same person or different to the person who carried out the crimes? Is there a black and white reason as to how they came to have carried out the crimes - can mitigating circumstances ever be considered when a crime is so horrendous? Can you still love someone knowing what they've done?
In the general post-war context, the book also opened up thoughts about how the next generation of Germans handled the guilt of what their parents had done, passively or impassively.
I really enjoyed Schlink's style of prose - I felt he kept the story moving at the right pace and kept my attention throughout.
4.5 stars for me - an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
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LibraryThing member carolcarter
I only recently became aware of The Reader through my favorite (and only) librarian. The film of same is due to open in limited release sometime this month (in time for Oscar contention) and wider in January. I have a feeling the film might be more interesting than the book.
The Reader is a very
The opening section of the book concerns an affair between Michael, the fifteen year old voice of the novel, and Hanna, a mystery woman of thirty-six. Aside from her affair with the young Michael and her job as a tram conductor, Hanna seems to have no life at all. It is apparent that she has a secret however. The affair ends with Hanna's departure for parts unknown and Michael feeling as if he betrayed her somehow. Obviously Michael is too young to understand the bizarre situation he has been put in. It becomes apparent later in the book that Hanna may not understand it either.
The second part of the book concerns a trial which Michael attends as a law student. One of the defendants is Hanna. The trial is one of many post Holocaust trials of camp personnel and we learn that is just what Hanna was, at Auschwitz initially and then a smaller women's camp near the end of the war. The trial itself focuses on a horrifying incident which occurred during one of the forced marches the Nazis undertook in an effort to hide their deeds. Hanna appears in court as extremely naive and/or unintelligent and I have to say I had no pity for her. Even when it becomes apparent that she would rather go to prison than admit something she finds shameful, I still had no feeling for her. It will be interesting to see what Kate Winslet does with this totally unsympathetic woman. Michael comes to the realization of Hanna's secret during the course of the trial but ultimately decides to say nothing.
And then the third and most problematic (for me) section of the book seems to be doing some philosophizing on what subsequent generations of Germans had to do to place the Holocaust in context in the history of their country. Also Hanna will be released from prison into Michael's custody more or less and he is far from enthusiastic. I won't reveal the ending and I did read this book in one sitting but I can't say I was delighted with it. It is an interesting look at how Germans do handle the Holocaust but it lacks the depth of most Holocaust reading.
The film will probably be another thing altogether as films generally are and it could prove to be much more acceptable to me than the book
The Reader is a very
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unusual book in that it seems to be trying to work out some German post Holocaust issues within its pages. Then again, it is fiction, so perhaps I am wrong. The protagonist is certainly trying to deal with the effects of the Holocaust on his generation - this would be the children of adults in Nazi Germany.The opening section of the book concerns an affair between Michael, the fifteen year old voice of the novel, and Hanna, a mystery woman of thirty-six. Aside from her affair with the young Michael and her job as a tram conductor, Hanna seems to have no life at all. It is apparent that she has a secret however. The affair ends with Hanna's departure for parts unknown and Michael feeling as if he betrayed her somehow. Obviously Michael is too young to understand the bizarre situation he has been put in. It becomes apparent later in the book that Hanna may not understand it either.
The second part of the book concerns a trial which Michael attends as a law student. One of the defendants is Hanna. The trial is one of many post Holocaust trials of camp personnel and we learn that is just what Hanna was, at Auschwitz initially and then a smaller women's camp near the end of the war. The trial itself focuses on a horrifying incident which occurred during one of the forced marches the Nazis undertook in an effort to hide their deeds. Hanna appears in court as extremely naive and/or unintelligent and I have to say I had no pity for her. Even when it becomes apparent that she would rather go to prison than admit something she finds shameful, I still had no feeling for her. It will be interesting to see what Kate Winslet does with this totally unsympathetic woman. Michael comes to the realization of Hanna's secret during the course of the trial but ultimately decides to say nothing.
And then the third and most problematic (for me) section of the book seems to be doing some philosophizing on what subsequent generations of Germans had to do to place the Holocaust in context in the history of their country. Also Hanna will be released from prison into Michael's custody more or less and he is far from enthusiastic. I won't reveal the ending and I did read this book in one sitting but I can't say I was delighted with it. It is an interesting look at how Germans do handle the Holocaust but it lacks the depth of most Holocaust reading.
The film will probably be another thing altogether as films generally are and it could prove to be much more acceptable to me than the book
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LibraryThing member deebee1
A story about a 15-year old boy's brief, secret and intense affair with a much older woman, which marked him for life. What started out as a purely physical and obsessive daily encounter goes beyond the animal encounter of possession and subjugation and even acquires an element of romance when the
The story is fascinating and is written in lucid almost unfeeling prose, but i did not find it profound or compelling as many do. There was lack of character development -- one never gets into the skin or the mind of any of them. Also, I would have preferred if the author had explored the "secondary" theme of how the generation of Germans born after the Holocaust "dealt" with the generation of their parents and their collective guilt. There is also some disconnect in the story, such as why the woman would think the "shame" of her being found out to be illiterate justifies her self-destructive behavior. A so-so read for me.
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boy begins to read literature to her. They do not share anything but these couple of blissful hours everyday, they do not share each other's stories. But the boy is 15, and there were other things in life which started to interest him. Yet he clings to her. Then one day she disappears. Devastation and guilt of his "denial" of her haunt him, and her memory relentlessly follows him.They meet again, many years after, he a student lawyer attending a trial, and she, a defendant. He finds out she was an SS guard, guilty of monstrous deeds. The story is fascinating and is written in lucid almost unfeeling prose, but i did not find it profound or compelling as many do. There was lack of character development -- one never gets into the skin or the mind of any of them. Also, I would have preferred if the author had explored the "secondary" theme of how the generation of Germans born after the Holocaust "dealt" with the generation of their parents and their collective guilt. There is also some disconnect in the story, such as why the woman would think the "shame" of her being found out to be illiterate justifies her self-destructive behavior. A so-so read for me.
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LibraryThing member Emma_Manolis
Since the first selection I read from the Oprah Book Club was so awesome, (A Virtuous Woman), I decided to add all of them to my TBR list. The Oprah stamp of approval is pretty much the only reason I picked up this book, however that stamp of approval is starting to mean much less because I really
I enjoyed Mr. Schlink's writing very much, but this novel left me feeling empty. There was no hope to be found. Everyone's life had fallen to pieces. I hate feeling empty, like all the light and hope have been sucked dry. Therefore this novel will receive a 2/5 stars.
I really love the cover of this novel. It's simple yet incredibly inviting. I think it connects to the tale in a few ways. The relationship between Michael and Hanna is complex, especially for a fifteen-year-old. He fulfills multiple needs in Hanna's life, but it seems to me that his needs cannot even begin to be fulfilled by her. She's emotionally vacant. The book and the flowers show the roles Michael plays in Hanna's life. It's saddens me that she is so flat and so checked out of life.
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did not like this book. The only thing keeping me from giving it one star is the fact that talent gleams randomly throughout the pages. The author is really fabulous at capturing and describing moments and emotions that most people experience. (My favorite passage is a paragraph that starts on pg. 38. In it he discusses how awkward he felt growing up and how he had such hope that one day he would be confident and successful. He had all of these unfulfilled big dreams which he sees reflected in the faces of the youth around him. That hope saddens him because he knows that very rarely does life fulfill and exceed your expectations.) I enjoyed Mr. Schlink's writing very much, but this novel left me feeling empty. There was no hope to be found. Everyone's life had fallen to pieces. I hate feeling empty, like all the light and hope have been sucked dry. Therefore this novel will receive a 2/5 stars.
I really love the cover of this novel. It's simple yet incredibly inviting. I think it connects to the tale in a few ways. The relationship between Michael and Hanna is complex, especially for a fifteen-year-old. He fulfills multiple needs in Hanna's life, but it seems to me that his needs cannot even begin to be fulfilled by her. She's emotionally vacant. The book and the flowers show the roles Michael plays in Hanna's life. It's saddens me that she is so flat and so checked out of life.
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LibraryThing member Sorrel
Most of the stories and accounts I’ve been reading lately have been adequately crafted, but The Reader stands out as being really beautifully written. It’s a story about a young boy who has a relationship with an older woman, and about a Nazi war trial, and about contemporary Germans coming to
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terms with Germany’s Nazi past. I was a bit reluctant to get started after I’d decided to read it, as some of the themes are definitely distressing, but this is a thoughtful, well-measured book. I recommend it. Show Less
LibraryThing member minjung
The setting is post-war Germany. Fifteen-year-old Michael and Hanna (a woman twice his age) begin an affair after she helps him when he gets sick in front of his house. The affair lasts several months, and it ends only when Hanna suddenly disappears.
Several years later, Michael is in law school.
I had seen the movie before I read the book, and I will say only that the movie is largely true to the book. There are really only three things that I could identify that differed, and two of them are really minor. The third is not particularly major, and it matters only because it would work better for movie purposes but makes no real difference in terms of the story.
The prose is gorgeous. It's slow and stifling when it should be, and it moves beautifully fast when it should. The story (like the movie) jumps back and forth a little bit, but (unlike the movie) not in a confusing way and not nearly as much. The VERY end of the book/movie are different, but I was very satisfied with the end of the book, as it gave a sense of closure.
Several years later, Michael is in law school.
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His professor for a seminar class takes the class to see some Nazi war criminals being tried. Michael is shocked when he sees that Hanna is one of the women being tried. She has been identified as a concentration camp guard who was also responsible for guarding prisoners on a death march. Although it's above and beyond what is necessary for the class, Michael begins attending the trial every day. And he soon realises that he has information vital to the case.I had seen the movie before I read the book, and I will say only that the movie is largely true to the book. There are really only three things that I could identify that differed, and two of them are really minor. The third is not particularly major, and it matters only because it would work better for movie purposes but makes no real difference in terms of the story.
The prose is gorgeous. It's slow and stifling when it should be, and it moves beautifully fast when it should. The story (like the movie) jumps back and forth a little bit, but (unlike the movie) not in a confusing way and not nearly as much. The VERY end of the book/movie are different, but I was very satisfied with the end of the book, as it gave a sense of closure.
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LibraryThing member bookwormteri
ugh, this book just made me so mad that I wanted to scream
Media reviews
What starts out as a story of sexual awakening, something that Colette might have written, a ''Cherie and the Last of Cherie'' set in Germany after the war, is suddenly darkened by history and tragic secrets. In the end, one is both moved and disturbed, saddened and confused, and, above all,
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powerfully affected by a tale that seems to bear with it the weight of truth. Show Less
Schlink's daring fusion of 19th-century post-romantic, post-fairy-tale models with the awful history of the 20th century makes for a moving, suggestive and ultimately hopeful work, an original contribution to the impossible genre with the questionable name of Vergangenheitsbewaltigung, ''coming to
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terms with the past.'' Show Less
Language
Original language
German
ISBN
9783257229530
Physical description
206 p.; 4.5 inches
Pages
206