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The Reader

By Bernhard Schlink, Carol Brown Janeway (Translator)

(395)

| Paperback | 9780375707971

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Book Description

Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany.

When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael BergContinue

Critics

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink and Carol Brown Janeway

It's West Germany, 1958. A 15-year-old schoolboy, Michael Berg, is suffering a long bout of hepatitis. When he recovers he returns to the flat of a tram conductor, 36-year-old Hanna Schmitz, to thank her for taking care of him the day he fell sick. T ... (read full critics)

thebookbag published on Mon, 24 Jan 2011

The Reader

There are some books you know will stay with you forever, and Bernhard Schlink's The Reader is definitely one of them. It has been highly critically acclaimed, winning the Boston Book Review's Fisk Fiction Prize, and it deserves all the praise it has ... (read full critics)

bookotron published on Mon, 13 Sep 2010

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21 Reviews

6 people find this helpful

Emotion Undercurrent

I felt sad reaching the end. When he saw her sitting on the bench, when he called to tell her he had found a place for her, I knew something was wrong. Maybe that’s because I’ve seen the movie and known the ending before I finished the book, still there were hints, lying there in between each word ... (continue)

I felt sad reaching the end. When he saw her sitting on the bench, when he called to tell her he had found a place for her, I knew something was wrong. Maybe that’s because I’ve seen the movie and known the ending before I finished the book, still there were hints, lying there in between each word and every paragraph, in the ways of Michael’s narrative and point of view. It wasn’t obvious, but it was there subtle and subdued. I felt for him for his anger and confusion when Hanna left him, felt for him when he was pushing Hanna away unknowingly. Their memory and feelings for each other had changed and deformed through the story. The reality and what happened afterward made it hard and almost painful to recall or rewind. They had been happy. Not always, but in some quiet transient moment they truly were.
The setting and burden of history left their time together nameless. And when time went on and Hanna left him, he was not sure anymore. Everything an untouchable mess, it’s done and he didn’t now how to take it for anymore. This also happened when concerned with history about Third Reich. It’s already done. And he and people at his age and generations after them all tried to see through it, decode it. They tried to find meanings in it, pin a name to it, or to condemn it. However, as Michael stated, there was no way they could both understand and condemn. So either them were against it, or they were petrified and still against it. There was no way they could understand, because to tell the truth, who could sympathize with a person who had had hundreds of women burn to death? People may try but would never understand. So everything happened in the past was left a miserable mystery.
My favorite parts would be where Hanna whipped him with the belt, where the warden asked him why he didn’t write to say anything to Hanna. That’s where she showed her weakness and helplessness and where he found out that it’s all too late. I didn’t expect finish reading so fast, usually I’m slow at reading English books, perhaps the repressed way of writing and the simplicity had helped. Love this book.
2010/03/25

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Beast said on Mar 25, 2010 | Add your feedback

3 people find this helpful

The book once again reconfirmed my impressions on books and movies - the latter are often very good at handling plots but they're so often handicapped in dealing with complicated inner-feelings. The only reason the movie The Reader was made, I think, was to make the book more well-known and reach re ... (continue)

The book once again reconfirmed my impressions on books and movies - the latter are often very good at handling plots but they're so often handicapped in dealing with complicated inner-feelings. The only reason the movie The Reader was made, I think, was to make the book more well-known and reach readers like me - who otherwise would have no chance to come across it.

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fruit said on Sep 19, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | 2 feedbacks

2 people find this helpful

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

Will be read again

When I read this, I was far too young to fully appreciate the novel. One of the main characters, Hanna, took full responsibility for atrocities she took part in as a concentration camp guard during WWII in order to cover up something she was even more ashamed of. I am confused about why the author c ... (continue)

When I read this, I was far too young to fully appreciate the novel. One of the main characters, Hanna, took full responsibility for atrocities she took part in as a concentration camp guard during WWII in order to cover up something she was even more ashamed of. I am confused about why the author chose "Hanna," a Jewish name, for the character who sent Jewish women to the gas chamber during the Holocaust. I am also confused as to why Hanna felt so much remorse at the end that she killed herself when she barely displayed any remorse during her tryst with her 16 year old lover. I don't recall the story indicating that her remorse was a result of her stay in prison or because she learned to read and read the works of Elie Wiesel and other Holocaust survivors. Was it not until then that she truly realized the travesties of the war? How would that be possible, since she was there to witness it? The majority of the book was confusing, but most of it tied together at the end. Overall, this is definitely a book I would recommend. Bernhard Schlink is an awesome writer. His work is lyrical and flows like a melody. I loved it.

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Nicole said on Dec 9, 2008 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

This book is like... freaking wow. This is one of the greatest novels of all time.

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Vale said on Nov 11, 2011 | Add your feedback

What remains puzzled is what provokes the thought. I enjoyed reading this book.

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Sophie Su said on Aug 4, 2011 | Add your feedback

Never watch the movie before reading the book...

...every time there is a huge turning point in the plot. I can't really say that I appreciate the book because I read it knowing Hannah's Secret. Hence, once you know the ending, it's hard to like the story unless it's really well written. Further, the movie was terrific and I enjoyed watching Kate ... (continue)

...every time there is a huge turning point in the plot. I can't really say that I appreciate the book because I read it knowing Hannah's Secret. Hence, once you know the ending, it's hard to like the story unless it's really well written. Further, the movie was terrific and I enjoyed watching Kate Winslet playing Hannah. The problem is that I envisioned the movie when I went through the book and characters’ description doesn't stand out at all as they were portrayed on the screen.

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Dariangel said on Mar 20, 2011 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback