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Summary: Stays with you
Review: I felt this book very interesting in that Hanna's illeteracy was evident from the very beginning however the other issues were not,including the ending which quite surprized me.The guilt that the main characters felt has stayed in mind and made me realize that one never knows how one will react or feel until being put in a particular situation. Every one should read this book with the knowledge that Hanna cannot read but really that is not the sole or main "story" in this book.
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Summary: This book did not take me anywhere.
Review: While I was captured by the beginning of The Reader, I soon found myself longing to put it down, and had to force myself to finish. When I did, I realized why. When finished, the reader hasn't learned any lessons, there was nothing to take with you. I wasn't sure what the story's moral was, nor was I sure that I wanted to know.
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Summary: A simple surface masks remarkably profound depths
Review: I am stunned to see reviewers here use words such a "totally devoid of emotion and character development... shallow... simplistic and trite" to describe The Reader. But then this is America, where few have an appreciation for anything subtle or understated. For too many people here, "If it ain't in your face, it ain't there." Just compare, for example, French films and American films.Bravo, Oprah... keep challenging the depressing status quo of the average American. If anyone really stops to THINK for a few minutes, they might realize what a tragic, profound, heartbreaking story this book paints. There is a complex universe beneath the surface simplicity.
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Summary: Disappointing
Review: I had great expectations for this book, as it was an Oprah book selection and dealt with a subject that I find intriguing--the Holocaust and the concentration camps. However, I could not get into this book. I didn't think Hanna's character was developed enough, and I just couldn't get into the main character at all. It was mildly entertaining, but that's the most I can say for it.
Rating:
Summary: Sharply Exquisite.
Review: This is a book that will bite into your heart and not let go. It will drag you, bewildered and yet mesmerized, into its intricate world of tortured betrayal, obsessive love, and layer upon layer of gripping moral conflicts. I was torn between adoration and loathing, finally succumbing to the absolute magic of the story.
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Summary: Story is vehicle for important message
Review: The author makes important points about responsibility to other people. However, the story and characters seem to be tools to deliver his message. The book reads well, but the characters are not convincing. However, it is more interesting than reading a philosophy book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Fool; Or you'll feel that way after reading this loser.
Review: I found The Reader to be unusually trite and effortlessly transparent. Apparently, the reasons for us to even care about this story get lost in the translation about 40 pages into the plot. The novel is but a pathetic attempt to shock the audience of readers into a page turning frenzy. However, it doesn't work. The plot is so apparent that within the first 75 pages you will find yourself belaboringly turning each page, just waiting for the author to admit truths that you've known for at least 40 pages. Unless you just have a dull afternoon to waste, don't bother! Instead, may I suggest that root canal that you've been putting off? I'm sure it will prove to be far more entertaining than this novel. I wish someone had warned me before I wasted my time. It's the last time I'll ever listen to Oprah!
Rating:
Summary: Could have been much better
Review: This book has an intriguing premise, but it underdelivers. Example: The main character gets married in one paragraph and divorced in the next. It certainly didn't pull on my heartstrings.
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Summary: This Book Has Changed My Mind About Reading Fiction
Review: I am normally a non-fiction reader. This novel may bring me back to fiction. I basically agree with all the 4-5 star reviews, so I won't repeat. This novel is divided into three books. Book 1 was what I deem a typical novel with alot of sex. Book 2 explored some important moral issues (predominantly Germany during and after WWII). Book 3 completely overwhelmed me, and is the reason I am submitting my comments. Although I would rate the first two books three stars, the third book was a strong 5.
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Summary: the most significant moral issues in post war germany
Review: Let me comment on four issues raised in this outstanding novel: The position of women in post WW2 Germany, where many men had died in the war, is described by the example of Hanna, a middle aged woman, who reached out for romance to a 15-year-old boy. Romances and marriages between older women and younger men were quite common then. Hanna's illiteracy: The reader of the book should be aware that illiteracy was virtually nonexistent in Germany, and Hanna was certainly an oddity. Discussion of the holocaust since WW2 in Germany has been the touchiest of issues among large segments of the German population. While the young man in the book represents attitudes about the holocaust among liberal groups of people, this view is by no means the national norm, where antisemitic feelings tend to outweigh these conflicts of conscience. Finally, let me say that I believe the issue of guilt as regards the holocaust is not alone a German one as many reviewers seem to suggest. While our own parents were, of course, not the perpetrators, were they not in a position to rescue many of the victims of the holocaust? One may look, for example, to the ill fated Saint Louis. Do we in the United States have intergenerational discussions about this?
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