Rating: 
Summary: Felt like I missed something, too
Review: Like the review below, I felt as though I must have missed something in the story. Was something essential lost in translation? It was a very quick and easy read - I can't say I lost interest in the story at any time, but nothing every seemed to actually happen in the story itself. When I finished it, I felt as though I'd just read an abridged version of a better novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting, profound and arresting prose
Review: This is a magnificent, thoughtful, lyrical work, one which is utterly unforgettable. The clash of morality and the deepest human love is explored in a way that provokes the most profound thoughts. Obviously, from previous comments, there are some readers who are either offended by the author's honesty or simply didn't "get it". My advice to you obtuse, impervious folks: Stick to Danielle Steele.
Rating: 
Summary: DISTURBING SUPERIOR READ
Review: I could not put this book down and eventhough I was somewhat uncomfortable with the characters' moral values I had to get to the bottom of this strange story. The ever present theme of sin & redemption was very well handled in this book that could have become another sub-tale on the subject of the Holocaust. A story that could have had no other denouement. A superb read....I will suggest to my Reading Group.
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Summary: Did I miss the point??
Review: I found the book interesting and read it easily. Did not find it boring but yet I kept wondering if I had missed something, if there was something lost in the translation. I kept waiting for the plot to go someone more intense but it did not. I'm having a friend read it to be sure I did not miss something. Readable but largely unsatisifying. Don't understand why it is a NY Times notable book!!
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Summary: Powerful, complex and disturbing
Review: Many reviewers announce proudly that they figured out the secret of Hanna's illiteracy before everyone else did. Of course, you were supposed to. It is an obvious secret, just as the Holocaust was an obvious atrocity. But Hanna fooled everyone around her, just as the Nazis did. The point was that the society was wilfully blind, particularly towards the flaws of an attractive young woman. She was not all that bright, but she manages to ask the question that should haunt us all: "What would you have done?" Maybe you are (a saintly) fool enough to have acted without considering the consequences. Maybe you would have taken the minimalist, unemotional actions of the father. Or would you have been the bored SS officer, feet dangling into the execution pit, as he waits for the day's killing to end? I liked the novel very much, simply because of its ambiguity. Probably the best example is when the protagonist agonizes over visiting the judge to tell him of Hanna's illiteracy. He assumes that this will clear her name, since she could not then have written the report that damned her and her co-accused. Does he tell the judge? If he doesn't why does he feel relieved? If he does, why does this have no bearing on the sentencing? Was he worried about moral issues that had no bearing on truth, or just not on the society's reaction to truth? Germany in the first half of the century was as advanced scientifically and socially as any country. Just consider the number of Nobel Prizes won by Germans in the sciences and literature. It was certainly less racist towards its largest minority, the Jews, than America (and Canada) was towards blacks. But something went terribly, inexplicably wrong. This novel, like the German experience, is a challenge to the myth of progress, to the assumption that we can understand something by observing it, and to the smug assumption that we would do the right thing.
Rating: 
Summary: over rated bore
Review: i read this book because of oprah, i had to force myself to finish it, it was beyond boring!!you knew the big secret from the beginning!!!
Rating:
Summary: simple and compelling
Review: at first i kept wondering what the title of the book had todo with the story. it was made clear soon. this is a beautiful book and translted wonderfully. i thought it be longer but the tersity of the style was fantastic. absolutely great read.
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Summary: Never a dull moment
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, It was contemplative and very discerning. For those reviewers who think the book was flat and boring and yearn for something more upbeat, try Dr. Suess. The book was not meant to make you smile it was meant to make you think
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!!!
Review: I was completely disappointed with the story, and all aspects with it. The characters were mediocre at best, and the storyline was soooo boring! I did not see any point in finishing the book, but did just so I could give it the benefit of the doubt. I should have dropped it when I had the chance, then I would not have felt so depressed at the end. If you want a good Oprah book read Where the Heart it, by Billie Letts, and you will not at all be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Snooze.....yawn...zzz....
Review: What a BIG disappointment. Boring, redundant, kept waiting for the plot to thicken...I forced myself to finish it, and was relieved when I turned the last page. No clue as to what all the hype was about...snooze city!
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