The Reader

Rating:
Summary: horrible, horrible book!
Review: yay! another amazing (yeah right?!?!) book that operah "recommends" to be good. stay away from this bad writing! should get 0 stars, but there is no option for it.

Rating:
Summary: A great story written without wasting a word.
Review: I read this book on trip between Sydney and Seoul in November 1997 and it has stayed with me since. It is the best book I have read for some time. It is memorable for its emotion, intelligence and the spareness of the writing. The nearest comparison I can recall would be Annie Proulx ("The Shipping News" and "Postcards"). It packs a great deal to consider into its modest length and deals with the issues of war crimes at very personal and human level. I am surprised that it has not, to my knowledge, won any major awards because I consider that it outranks many of the recent Booker and Pulitzer winners.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: This is a terrible book! I wouldn't reccomend any of Oprah's books. It's very poorly written. The worst $15 I ever spent.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful writing, transparent ending
Review: I read The Reader last year on the recommendation of a friend in Germany, where this was the No. 1 best-selling novel for many months. This book helped open up discussions of the Holocaust and the impact it had on ordinary people in Germany. I found the writing beautiful, at times breathtaking. I would have to put the book down occasionally because I was so moved. So, I was disappointed when the climax of the book became clear to me pages before it actually happened. As this is a short book, that happens fairly quickly since I think most people will try to read this in one or two sittings. Also, I'd like to warn people that they may not be comfortable with the relationship between the older woman and the young boy. It is justified in the context of the book, but some might object. In all, this would have been a perfect script for Marlene Dietrich 40 years ago. Now, I suppose we'll see Meryl Streep do it, and she will be great.

Rating:
Summary: If this book didn't say Oprah Book Club...
Review: Nobody would read it. I found the plot quite slow and boring. I wonder how much Bernie and Carol paid Oprah to recommend this book. I will no longer read her selections because it's obvious that she's getting paid to pick this slop. The main characters are shallow, and I didn't believe them. I would have been better off watching Springer!

Rating:
Summary: Brings to the surface interesting issues...
Review: This book opened up some very interesting questions for me concerning German war guilt, which, as in immediate post-war period of "The Reader," is also very much a part of modern Germany. How does one come to terms with the mistakes of one's forefathers? And how does one begin to speak about the unspeakable? Though it doesn't specifically answer these questions, the book provides an insight into the attitudes of a generation which didn't experience WWII directly, but was nonetheless greatly affected by its legacy. Not surprisingly, this is also Schlink's own generation. Though I read the book in its original German (Der Vorleser), and am consequently unsure as to the effectiveness of the translation, the book was written in a direct style which seemed appropriate to the issues it addressed. I found "The Reader" entertaining, clear, and most of all incredibly interesting in the issues it addresses. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Prose
Review: Okay, maybe "nice" is too weak to describe this book, but that's what comes to mind. I really couldn't feel any impact after finishing this book. The story was nice, but the only thing is that this one didn't linger in my thoughts and mind as much as WHERE THE HEART IS or SHE'S COME UNDONE.

Rating:
Summary: Such Powerful Stuff
Review: This book is one of the most powerful I have ever read. Who knew that such a small bokk could throw such a power punch.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting book with elegant prose and disturbing plot.
Review: This is an interesting book with elegant but concise prose. The plot could be disturbing to some readers yet I found the both the narrator and his subject fascinating. This book is highly believable and well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful read
Review: While in the beginning it's a bit difficult to really get interested in the storyline and it all seems to be going nowhere, the involvement comes suddenly and I couldn't put it down. And when I finished I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about it. It's one of the few books that stay with you because of the impression they make.