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Summary: Past overlies present for The Reader and for Germany
Review: For the three hours it takes to read this short book, the outside world disappears. When it reappears at the book's conclusion, the reader's view of the behavior of some "ordinary" Germans during and after World War II is changed. Schlink sweeps up the reader and totally immerses him/her in dramatic tension, quick narrative pace, and thought-provoking views of the German past by creating a unique love story involving singular characters and spanning several decades. The book would have had a longer lasting effect for me, however, if an important "secret," one which, in fact, impels Hanna's actions, had not been obvious to me from the start. Her behavior as the book progresses simply confirmed my early suspicions, preventing the suspense from developing fully. By the time the author formally reveals Hanna's secret, almost 2/3 of the book has passed. Additionally, I am not sure that protecting this secret is sufficient motivation to rationalize the full extent of Hanna's self-destruction. Michael's philosophical questioning, which adds immeasurably both to the thematic scope and pleasure of this book, does not fully explain his motivations, his actions, or his inactions, at least on the human level. Nevertheless, this is a totally absorbing, memorable novel with unusual characters in unusual conflicts, one which will reverberate long after you close its covers.
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Summary: A quietly haunting morality tale.
Review: In less than 200 pages, Bernhard Schlink manages to get the reader(no pun intended) thinking about very critical life issues. While the book begins as a rites of passage novel it takes very interesting turns into the behaviors of seemingly ordinary people and what motivates them. I find myself thinking about Hannah and her actions daily. This is a powerful, philosophical gem of a book.
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Summary: Touchingly poignant!
Review: This is not an easy book to read and some may even think it's depressing. One might glibly describe it as another 'rite of passage book' or toss off Hanna as a 'German Mrs. Robinson'. But to dismiss either as such is to be facetious. What this book does is to make one think of one's own prejudices; to reconsider youth's idealism and how this sometimes turns into unintended cruelties. It questions the notions of love and forgiveness, of loyalty and betrayal. The prose is poetic without being mawkish; there is pathos but no bathos! This is a quiet little book that echoes and reverberates in ones mind long after one has closed its covers.
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Summary: Excellent
Review: I thought this book was wonderful.. A little heavy on the philosophizing at times, and someimes I wondered about the faithfulness of the translation, but I would recommend it to anyone. The twists and turns in the plot truly took me by surprise, and it was a good thing that I hadn't read either the dust jacket or the reviews that give away the first half of the book
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Summary: I think hopeful is the most positive thing you could say.
Review: Even though this book is written in a very simplistic style, it took me two weeks to get through the book because I did not enjoy it. Character development was poor, you can finish the book and not know much about any of the characters, their motivations or goals. The plot was shallow and unbelievable. This book did not effectively convey any message, or story. I would not recommend this book to any of my friends
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Summary: a magical experience
Review: It is so rare that I come away from a book almost in a state of speechlessness. The Reader is that rare kind of book. One wants to just sit quietly and meditate on the experience. If you should decide tom read the book, I urge you not to read the dust jacket. Flow with the experience without know what is going to occur. It will add to the magic of this extroadinary book.From memory, it is the story of a 14 year old boy who through circumstances to lengthy to go into has an affair with a 36 years old, of all things, a street car conductor, in Germany. The story twists and turns until one day for no apparent reason, the woman dissappears. Years go by. The boy grows up and we are introduced to the womans background.She is brought up on horrendous charges which I don't want to go into, for the reader's sake, and there is a trial.The book gets it's name from the fact that when she was having her affair with the boy she has him read to her.Read it. Savor it. The author of all things is a prize winning detective story writer in Germany. This book is an experience that makes reading such a joy
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Summary: Great Read!
Review: I really loved this book. It has so many different levels that it can leave one pondering the issues over and over in their mind a week after they have read it.
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Summary: COMPELLING...COMPLEX...PROFOUND...
Review: Winner of the Boston Review's Fisk Fiction Prize, this thematically complex story is written in clear, simple, lucid prose. It is a straightforward telling of an encounter that was to mark fifteen year old Michael Berg for life. The book, written as if it were a memoir, is divided into three parts. The first part of the book deals with that encounter. While on his way home from school one day in post-war Germany, Michael becomes ill. He is aided by a beautiful and buxom, thirty six year old blonde named Hanna Schmitz. When he recovers from his illness, he goes to Frau Schmitz's home to thank her and eventually finds himself seduced by her and engaged in a sexual encounter. They become lovers for a period of time, and a component of their relationship was that Michael would read aloud to her. Michael romanticizes their affair, which is a cornerstone of his young life. They even go away on a trip together. Then, one day, as suddenly as she appeared in his life, she disappears, having inexplicably moved with no forwarding address. The second part of the book deals with Michael's chance encounter with Hanna again. He is now a law student in a seminar that is focused on Germany's Nazi past and the related war trials. The students are young and eager to condemn all who, after the end of the war, had tolerated the Nazis in their midst. Even Michael's parents do not escape his personal condemnation. The seminar is to be an exploration of the collective guilt of the German people, and Michael embraces the opportunity, as do others of his generation, to philosophically condemn the older generation for having sat silently by. Then, he is assigned to take notes on a trial of some camp guards. To his total amazement, one of the accused is Hanna, his Hanna. He stoically remains throughout the trial, realizing as he hears the evidence that she is refusing to divulge the one piece of evidence that could possibly absolve her or, at least, mitigate her complicity in the crimes with which she is charged. It is as if she considers her secret, that of her inability to read and write, more shameful than that of which she is accused. Yet, Michael, too, remains mute on the fact that would throw her legal, if not her moral, guilt into question. Consequently, Hanna finds herself bearing the legal guilt of all those involved in the crime of which she is accused and is condemned accordingly. The third part of the book is really the way Michael deals with having found Hanna, again. He removes himself from further demonstration and discussion on the issue of Germany's Nazi past. It affects his decisions as to his career in the law, eventually choosing a legal career that is isolating. He marries and has a child but finds that he cannot be free of Hanna. He cannot be free of the pain of having loved Hanna. It is as if Hanna has marked him for life. He divorces and never remarries. It is as if he cannot love another, as he loved Hanna. Michael then reaches out to Hanna in prison, indirectly, through the secret they share of what she seems to be most ashamed. Yet, he carefully never personalizes the contact. The end, when it comes, is almost anti-climatic. The relationship between Michael and Hanna really seems to be analogous to the relationship between the generations of Germans in post-war Germany. The affair between Michael and Hanna is representational of the affair that Germany had with the Nazi movement. The eroticism of the book is a necessary component for the collective guilt and shame that the Germans bear for the Holocaust, as well as for the moral divide that seemingly exists between the generations. Yet, the book also shows that such is not always a black and white issue, that there are sometimes gray areas when one discusses one's actions in the context of the forces of good and evil. There is also the issue of legal and moral responsibility. One would think that the two are synonymous, but they are not always so. It also philosophizes on the ability to love another/a nation who/that was complicit in war crimes. This is an insightful, allegorical book that defies categorizing. It is also a book that is a wonderful selection for a reading circle, as it has a wealth of issues that are ripe for discussion. This is simply a superlative book. Bravo!
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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.
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Summary: Sad, compelling, and compellingly sad.
Review: I am a slow, methodical reader. For me to sit down and consume an entire novel in "one go" is something that is quite rare, but that is exactly what happened yesterday with The Reader.
It is a testament to the writer's ability to keep me entranced and involved with the story that once I started, I could not stop.
The Reader is a first person narration of the life, from fifteen years onward, of one Michael Berg, in post-war Germany. As a fifteen year old he meets the vivacious 36-year old Frau Schmitz (Hanna), and he will never be the same.
Everything about her affects him for a lifetime, in ways that he could never have imagined.
In short pithy chapters and an economic style that never bogs down, Schlink separates the major phases of Michael's involvement with Hanna into three Parts.
Part 1 is where we learn of Michael's sexual initiation and subsequent emotional attachment to Hanna. Serious page-flipping stuff!
In Part 2 we are drawn into a courtroom situation (Michael is a law student) in which he is as shocked as the reader (us) to learn of the horrific nature of Hanna's secrets.
Part 3 outlines the way in which Michael attempts to bury the past, as best he can. But it is not possible. It is not possible. Michael's past is exhumed. There were moments in this section that I found gut-wrenchingly sad, yet, presented in a beautiful way. (How does one say it?) It is brutal. Brutal sad and shockingly so.
I will not go into WHY the book is called The Reader. That would be saying too much, I think.
I enjoyed this book. You will sink into it quickly. But not as though into quicksand. You will walk away from it, perhaps with a heavy heart (that is one thing I should say. There is nothing humorous about this book)... your heart may be heavy afterwards, but only because it will carry the weight of knowing that there are beautiful things to be felt towards those who have done even the most atrocious things imaginable.
Love is love.
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