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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
It’s been said that you never forget your first time, but what if you found that your lover had a secret? What if her past harbored not only an unforgiveable crime, but a character flaw considered “more shameful than murder” by her?
In Bernhard Schlink’s stirring novel “The Reader”, the audience becomes enthralled by a tale of forbidden love and the secrets that confine us in postwar Germany.
When fifteen-year-old Michael Berg becomes ill with hepatitis, a mysterious older woman, Hanna Schmitz, comes to his aid in bringing him home from school. During the time of his recovery, he finds her apartment in order to thank her and soon becomes intrigued by her. As the allure that she has over young Michael begins to bloom, he anxiously returns to her apartment where she is successful in seducing him.
In spite of their age difference, they become lovers, though both an air of ambiguity and emotional distance continuously remains between them. One memorable aspect of the relationship that puzzles Michael into his adult years is her frequently asking him to read aloud to her; nevertheless, Michael agrees to read her everything he can in order to please her.
Their relationship proves to be a turbulent one, as Hanna is often elusive in revealing any part of herself to her young lover and has a tendency to lash out at him as she claims the dominant role in their affair. After a final summer encounter, she then disappears out of the blue, leaving Michael a veil of confusion to sort through.
In a matter of years, Michael decides to go into law school where he is enrolled in a war crimes study alongside his fellow scholars. During one trial in particular, a group of S.S. guards has been charged with allowing over 300 Jewish women locked inside a church to perish in a fire.
Much to his complete bewilderment, it is there that young Michael becomes reacquainted with his former lover as she is found guilty as one of the main guards involved in the crime. Over the course of the trial, he finds himself facing the guilt in “having loved a criminal” as he becomes aware of another side of his beloved Hanna, particularly as she refuses to defend herself when named the prime culprit.
However, as Michael begins to realize over time, the secrets of his lover revealed in the courtroom are minute in comparison to the one that has brought her life the most shame.
The writing that Schlink has crafted in order to voice the words of a young man lost in the barracks between love and morality is depicted in a way as to reveal a great deal and bewilder its readers all the same. Though the affair between the reader and the mysterious Hanna lasted a finite amount of time, the story itself continues to write with the same elusiveness as one hesitant to reveal the truth behind a guise kept hidden for an even longer time. The story of “The Reader” is indeed a poignant coming-of-age tale set at a time where the world is only just beginning to analyze the crimes of a devastating era in Germany.
In Bernhard Schlink’s stirring novel “The Reader”, the audience becomes enthralled by a tale of forbidden love and the secrets that confine us in postwar Germany.
When fifteen-year-old Michael Berg becomes ill with hepatitis, a mysterious older woman, Hanna Schmitz, comes to his aid in bringing him home from school. During the time of his recovery, he finds her apartment in order to thank her and soon becomes intrigued by her. As the allure that she has over young Michael begins to bloom, he anxiously returns to her apartment where she is successful in seducing him.
In spite of their age difference, they become lovers, though both an air of ambiguity and emotional distance continuously remains between them. One memorable aspect of the relationship that puzzles Michael into his adult years is her frequently asking him to read aloud to her; nevertheless, Michael agrees to read her everything he can in order to please her.
Their relationship proves to be a turbulent one, as Hanna is often elusive in revealing any part of herself to her young lover and has a tendency to lash out at him as she claims the dominant role in their affair. After a final summer encounter, she then disappears out of the blue, leaving Michael a veil of confusion to sort through.
In a matter of years, Michael decides to go into law school where he is enrolled in a war crimes study alongside his fellow scholars. During one trial in particular, a group of S.S. guards has been charged with allowing over 300 Jewish women locked inside a church to perish in a fire.
Much to his complete bewilderment, it is there that young Michael becomes reacquainted with his former lover as she is found guilty as one of the main guards involved in the crime. Over the course of the trial, he finds himself facing the guilt in “having loved a criminal” as he becomes aware of another side of his beloved Hanna, particularly as she refuses to defend herself when named the prime culprit.
However, as Michael begins to realize over time, the secrets of his lover revealed in the courtroom are minute in comparison to the one that has brought her life the most shame.
The writing that Schlink has crafted in order to voice the words of a young man lost in the barracks between love and morality is depicted in a way as to reveal a great deal and bewilder its readers all the same. Though the affair between the reader and the mysterious Hanna lasted a finite amount of time, the story itself continues to write with the same elusiveness as one hesitant to reveal the truth behind a guise kept hidden for an even longer time. The story of “The Reader” is indeed a poignant coming-of-age tale set at a time where the world is only just beginning to analyze the crimes of a devastating era in Germany.
Kann schon verstehen, dass das ein (moderner) Klassiker ist.
Spoiler
Denke es ist möglich das Buch aus verschiedenen Perspektiven zu lesen und sich auf unterschiedliche Faktoren zu konzentrieren. Die Lesweise mit Michael als Opfer von Missbrauch jedoch hat sich für mich am deutlichsten herauskristallisiert und dem Werk die wichtigsten Nuancen verliehen
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Slow to start but really quite engaging once you get into it. The ending was a surprise too, which I liked a lot.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
The Reader is often described as "erotic," but I did not find it so--whether because I'm female or because the relationship was too distasteful to my morality to be erotic, I can't say.
While the title "The Reader" refers literally to the narrator's role reading aloud to his much-older lover, it could also describe his role as the reader or interpreter of the story. His bourgeois little life of scholarship, marriage and divorce, is really not particularly interesting. It is Hanna's force of character that drew me in. Her clawing determination, her fierce pride highlighted by the cravenness of her co-defendants, her character arc from one who only takes and reacts to one struggling with what she might have to give, are what I'll remember the most.
It's not exactly the kind of book one "enjoys" so much as the kind one is affected by.
While the title "The Reader" refers literally to the narrator's role reading aloud to his much-older lover, it could also describe his role as the reader or interpreter of the story. His bourgeois little life of scholarship, marriage and divorce, is really not particularly interesting. It is Hanna's force of character that drew me in. Her clawing determination, her fierce pride highlighted by the cravenness of her co-defendants, her character arc from one who only takes and reacts to one struggling with what she might have to give, are what I'll remember the most.
It's not exactly the kind of book one "enjoys" so much as the kind one is affected by.
Very complex themes in this one, centring around post-holocaust Germany and the issues the younger generation experience when dealing with that topic. The prose is straightforward and almost casual, with the protagonist constantly asking rhetorical questions to the readers. Quick read too; which I like.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes