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Description
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • 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. "A formally beautiful, disturbing and finally morally devastating novel." —Los Angeles Times When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover—then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder. Read more
Publisher : Vintage
Publication date : January 1, 1997
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 218 pages
ISBN-10 : 1
ISBN-13 : 71
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.14 x 0.6 x 7.99 inches
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Top Amazon Reviews
This is one of the shortest, easiest reads I have ever encountered, yet it manages in those few short pages to wretch from your soul some of the heaviest emotions imaginable. `The Reader' is one of those novels that moves you, and one that never leaves. The story follows young Michael Berg as he starts an illicit affair with an older woman at the ripe old age of fifteen. Hanna is different from anyone he has ever known. She is beautiful and illusive and guarded, but all of these facets of her make her all the more intriguing to Michael. Hanna is drawn to Michael and it becomes apparent that she needs him almost as much as he believes he needs her. They know very little about one another but the love between them continues to grow stronger as they bond over passion, both for each other and for the printed page. Then one day Hanna is gone, and Michael fears he will never see her again. A few years later though, Michael does see Hanna again, but the circumstances surrounding their reunion are less than desirable. Soon Michael is faced with a new perception of his one-time lover and as the years pass his feelings for her and his feelings towards his own actions begin to twist and turn and infect his very being. The one thing that touches me so deeply about `The Reader' is the way the novel slowly unravels and creeps up on you until you're crying uncontrollably and you aren't really aware why until moments later. Yes, there is a subtle calm surrounding the words recorded in Bernhard Schlick's tragic tale of love and loss and that calm makes for one of the most devastating yet honest reads I have experienced in a long time. The novel raises questions of guilt and consequence, of forgiveness and understanding, of loneliness and desperation. `The Reader' brilliantly weaves a breathtaking web of circumstance that permeates each and every page, each and ever word, and takes the reader to a whole new level of emotional understanding. As the final moments are revealed to the reader and he is faced with the same feelings that Michael is battling we are forced to try and comprehend what he must be feeling, and we thus find ourselves ravaged of our emotions as we lay bare and broken on the floor. `The Reader' brought me to tears as I connected Michael and Hanna's story to one of my own and I saw how my actions may have inadvertently caused harm to someone I genuinely care about. That is the last thing that ran through my mind as I closed the novel, and it is the first thing I ponder whenever this novel comes up among friends. `The Reader' causes us to take a step back and weight out our actions and our interactions with others because everything we do has an effect, positive or negative, on the ones we love.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2008 by Andrew Ellington
In the book The Reader, Bernhard Schlink narrates the story of Michael, a fifteen year old boy who has a love affair with Hanna, a woman over twice his age. Schlink's novel follows Michael through adulthood as his life intermittently intertwines with that of Hanna. Set over the backdrop of Nazi and post-World War II Germany, The Reader offers more than a fictional tale of one man's struggle to come to terms with his past. Through the characters of Michael and Hanna, the author provides his audience with insight into German society and its attitude toward the past. Although Schlink's novel appears incredulous at times, his metaphoric approach to Michael and Hanna's relationship illustrates the difficulties modern Germany has faced in acknowledging and overcoming its Nazi past. Schlink's characters have a metaphoric quality. Michael represents modern Germany while Hanna's character is symbolic of old Germany. The relationship of two Germanies is expressed in that of the characters. In the book Michael asks himself "Why does it make me so sad when I think back to that time... Is it the knowledge of what came later, and that what came out afterwards had been there all along?" Michael is referring to the knowledge he gains later in life when he discovers that Hanna was employed as a guard in a Nazi work camp. Michael's reaction of sadness or even a sense of disappointment can be seen as symbolic of the reaction of Germany's modern youth to the involvement of their parents in the Nazi regime. Schlink's generation in Germany finds disappointment in their parent's acceptance or lack of resistance to the Nazis. By questioning how involved their parents were, Schlink's generation can no longer look back on their youth in the same way. It has become polluted by knowledge. Michael's relationship with his father further serves to metaphorical express that of old and new Germany, as does many of the other relationships throughout the book. If the audience wishes to examine the content of the book through a metaphorical analysis, they might also imagine Michael and his ex-wife, Gertrude, as symbolic of East and West Germany. His daughter, Julia, "who swam like a fish in water" when he and Gertrude were together, yet seemed out of her element when they were separated could be seen as the German people. Numerous metaphors exist or could be imagined within the text. Instead of focusing on who or what is represented by this or that person, it might be more helpful to analyze the behavior of the characters to better understand West German society. Three events within the book stand out to me as revealing of attitudes, both of the old and the post-World War II West Germany. All of these events occur in the last chapters of the novel. First, I found it interesting that Hanna refuses to acknowledge her illiteracy even though it might spare her harsh sentencing for her crimes. Her unwillingness to admit her inability to read seems prideful. This act suggests that in a society in which the literacy rate is above 90% an individual who is illiterate might be ostracized. Hanna's refusal to allow anyone to know that she is unable to read also implies that being illiterate is worse than admitting you were a member of a party that killed innocent people. It is worse to steal than it was to kill an individual. By suggesting that killing an enemy of the state (Jewish or foreign worker) was better than illiteracy or theft implied that old Germany had no remorse for its actions. That being indifferent to murder of such `enemies' was just part of doing your job and no one should be held accountable for these actions. In addition to the nonchalant reaction of old Germany to murder as portrayed by Hanna, I also felt that Michael's resuming his reading to Hanna provided insight into West German society. Although Schlink's generation was saddened by their parent's involvement or lack of revolt against the Nazi regime, it seems that they ultimately forgave them. Michael's reading to Hanna is symbolic of this forgiveness. His initial reaction with Hanna is to be accusatory. After Michael moves beyond his desire to accuse he does not altogether forgive. Instead, his reconciliation with Hanna occurs in steps. He begins to send tape recordings of various books to Hanna while she is in prison. However, this is the only contact he allows. After some time, Michael agrees to see Hanna and assist her in the process of assimilation into modern society. Michael's actions seem to represent new or modern Germany's forgiveness of their parent's or their country's past actions. Although they might not agree with these actions, it is necessary to acknowledge the past in order to precede forward. Regardless if the audience approaches the book from a metaphorical analysis or just as general fiction, the book seems to be speaking about acknowledgement and forgiveness. Not that one must agree with what has happened, rather forgiveness in the sense that what has happened is our past. We must accept some responsibility or ownership for this past in order to move forward. The book is extremely open for interpretation. I do not feel that my perception of the overall message is the only possibility. This lack of absoluteness and the length of the book might be its most interesting aspects. Although the novel is only 218 pages, it speaks volumes.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2007 by Nitchy McPoopypants