Rating: 
Summary: All in All
Review: Schlink does a good job of keeping the reader, in "The Reader" interested from the get go. From the beginning of the novel he talks about sex. Then he craftifully transforms to the more serious topics of love, war, death, the holocost, and court room actions to name a few. The novel has everything you need in todays Hollywood movie. I am actually surprised that it has not been made yet. I also like the shorter chapters to make it seem like the book is going along fast in time. This is another way Schlimk keeps the reader involved. When I read his novel I think of Anne Frank and all her turbulations she went through. I actully think that Schlink makes reference to her in his novel during the court room chapters. I love this novel and reccomend it for not only the novice reader like myself, but for more educated readers as well.
Rating:
Summary: reading is FUNdamental
Review: When reading The Reader, the person reading the book is drawn into the story through the excessive use of sex, intrigue and sickness. How the author uses the vast age difference between the main charater and his "lover" in addition to the mode in which the two meet, leaves the audience mystified. after the intial shock, the pages begin to calm down, and things, like the main charater, micheal, grow distant yet closer still to his surroundings. As Micheal grows older and more mature, the audience, too, grows. In all, this is a very fast and easy read, any person mature and/or willing to see from a new perspective will greatly enjoy this book. The history used as a backdrop in the main plot will offer other books to be explored. Or, it will trigger the audience to discover more about the underlying subject. So, in a nut shell, I believe that I would recommend this book to all of my friends and associates to read for enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: The Reader
Review: The Reader is a well-written, simple and easy to follow read. Through the first person narrator, Michael, the reader travels through post-World War II Germany to give us insight into the decisions, thoughts, behaviors, and the way moral values can be challenged in life. We journey through three phases in Michael's life. In many ways each of us can find a little Michael in ourselves. He is at first vulnerable and dependent. Then he is growing and learning by trial and error to formulate his own identity. In the third and final phase Michael is grown man, with ideas, morals, feelings, and beliefs of his own. The Reader will force the audience to determine right from wrong and bring back a painful time in history. Michael gives us a glimpse into how a fifteen year old boy still longs for adult attention. His relationship with a thirty-six year old woman may be viewed as a warning to adults that they have a responsibility to protect the young and not trespass or allow anyone else to trespass on their weaknesses and innocence.
Rating: 
Summary: The Reader has it all covered
Review: The Reader grabbed my interest from the begining. It dealt with controversial topics but presented them in a way that made it hard to determine if they were right or wrong. The Reader covered all its bases by having sex, scandals, coming of age, love, and courtroom drama. It is easy to see how it could grab ones interest. I did, from time to time, have a hard time understanding what Micheal was feeling. He is the narrator of the story, but he tends to be quite withdrawn. Right when I started to feel like I knew him the story would skip to a later time in his life and change his character. The story seems to shift focus a couple of times, but it does come back to the torn relationship between a younger man and an older women. It shows how shame can be so strong that it could cause someone to end there own life, rather than admit to it. It is shocking at times, but can also get dull. Over all it is a good book and an easy read. It's not one of my favorites, but I would suggest to others.
Rating:
Summary: The Reader
Review: This book began has all of the basics that often catch a readers attention, but the plot seems to fade in and out. The Reader begins with a twist of irony which continues on throughout the plot. Michael, a young 15 year old boy with Hepatitis, is drawn in by a 36 year old woman, Hanna. One would not see a homely, sick individual falling into the sexual desires of another person, but after a short period of time, the two of them develop a relationship, that eventually falls apart. The story unfolds with the consequences that Michael and Hanna must deal with. A lack of communication and understanding destroy their relationship and cause a gap to develop between them. Despite attempts to atone her actions, Hanna fails which culminates in suicide. As I read, the Reader appeared inconsistent in its portrayal of characters. We develop an understanding of Michael in the beginning, but the story later shifts to a focus on Hanna, who we know very little about. This does not allow us to see her thoughts or actions, but it does allow us to ponder questions of why she does what she does. I was empathetic towards Hanna's weaknesses, but Schlink did not allow us to completely understand her reason for concealing troubles such as illiteracy. The story also lacks a solid historical background. It is set in a post World War II setting, but it does not appear to impact the characters, other than Hanna's previous life. The Reader started out a a well written book, but a shift in focus and a poor conclusion allowed me to drift away. I recommend it to others, but it is not very interesting or moving.
Rating:
Summary: Oprah's opposable opuscle; Bernhard's benign bereavement
Review: What do I think of this book? My immediate impulse is to say "Throw it away!" because it is stamped on the cover with "Oprah's Book Club." I think that to have anything stamped with such fraudulent officiousness is silly. I don't care what Oprah, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, or George Steiner have to say. They may consider themselves critics of literature, and have their opinions marked flagrantly across the cover--this merely serves as an obstacle in the reader's attempt to see the book their own way. In trying to make the book perhaps more marketable (for all the Oprah fans), the book loses my genuine appreciation. With this in mind, and attempting to see the book without any Oprahian, Steiner, or LA/NY Times propaganda, I find the book to be only slightly amusing. The author uses chapter divisions every 3-5 pages, which provides some feeling of accomplishment as the reader is spurred forward through childish reasoning and shallow intellect in first person. The author does bring to light something interesting to consider, and that is how the German youth may have reacted to the parents and grandparents previously involved with the Third Reich.
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Summary: It's not just a title
Review: I enjoyed The Reader because of Schlink's use of point-of-view. This novel, written in the first person, allows the reader to slip into the shoes of the characters.In places, the imagery and detail are somewhat lacking, and the reader finds him/herself a bit confused and yet unable to do anything about it. At the same time the reader sees Michael's inability to affect what's going on around him, and so the title has more significance as we relate that feeling to our own lives. It's not a difficult read, you could probably do the whole thing in one sitting. It's got sex, mystery, dirty little secrets, desire, and everything that we want to see now days.
Rating:
Summary: Quick and easy read.
Review: I found Schlink's book fun and easy to read. The beginning was a good attention grabber with the sex scenes and the it ended with some thoughtful insights on life. Michael, the main character, becomes fixed on a much older woman when he is young and can not seem to shake her for the rest of his life until she dies. The middle of the book was kind of boring, but necessary for the end, which I thought was well done.
Rating:
Summary: Review
Review: This novel was enjoyable to read. The reason why it was so enjoyable was because it was easy to read. I liked the method in which the author employs historical context to the story. The Holocaust was a dark time in our world's history. However, Bernard Schlink makes the pain of this grim time in history, more bearable because he does not entirely base his novel on the war. This novel opens with eroticism which automatically grabs the reader's attention. But, it is not the erotic confrontations between the boy and the woman in the book that makes this novel interesting. Schlink is also able to make moral claims on the reader leaving them questioning the actions of Hanna, the 36 year old woman who has an affair with Michael Berg. In my opinion, this book was worth the time to read. One of the things that I really liked about this novel was the way in which Schlink makes the story progress through time. It is the reflection of a man who reminisces about his past from the age of fifteen to the present time. His views change as he gets older and more mature. The focus of this novel in my opinion is the story of a man growing up and ultimately realizing that one should act on his intuition and should not hold back on his feelings. If one does this, it may lead to regrets when that person passes away.
Rating:
Summary: Atonement
Review: The Reader questions humanity, how do such atrocities in history occur? What can future generations do about problems concerning the past? Should mankind forget its troubled past? All these questions come into play in The Reader. Simple and to the point, The Reader appeals to the senses by encompassing love, war and sex that finally tie into the big picture of the Holacaust itself. Shortened chapters glide the audience through the events that unfold in the story as the withdrawn hepatitis stricken boy meets the two-sided seemingly flawless older women Mrs. Schmitz who is later charged with being a member of the German war machine in the concentration camps. Schlink gets the point across when dealing with the questions that surround the concentration camps in a manner that does not need to be of your typical grotesque scenes of death and annilation. He looks at the characters and does not resort to sheer violence to describe the horror.
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