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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Quick, easy read. Good story! Broke my heart a bit.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I hate abridged books, but in the brief time I pushed play and realized the time of the book could not be the entire book, and then double checked on amazon to make sure that yes indeed this was abridged, I was too enthralled in the story to shut it off.
This is better than the movie, so I assume the full version would be fantastic when compared to the abridged version.
A large portion of the novel discusses the distance between how we feel and how we act. It also deals with how we detach ourselves from how we feel in order not to be moved to any sort of action.
The novel deals with an affair between a young boy and an older woman and it deals with the holocaust. There is plenty to look at and discuss. The biggest thing that surprised me about this book is how you feel sympathy for people and parties that one normally does not feel for.
There are so many things that are interesting in the book that were left out of the movie, the detachment that Michael has towards every part of his life, down to the type of law that he will practice, is all about keeping him from feeling. The ideas of literacy and the liberation one can feel when they become literate is a beautiful theme. The ways we betray those close to us and even ourselves is another prevalent theme.
Detachment is one of the most striking themes in the book by far.
Michael becomes entirely distant from his family once he begins his affair with Hannah. The little ways that Michael betrays Hannah, when he does not say hello to her at the beach.
The book that the survivor writes creates a sort of distance in it from the event. In the novel the book is described as being detached and that the author did it purposefully.
Hannah's trial is so alarming because in it she does not detach from what she did. She does not disengage, to save herself. She tells the truth, and you know that it will not help her. She does however refuse to help herself by not admitting she is illiterate.
Watching Michael sit through the entire trial is equally heartbreaking.
The locked church filled with women and everyone's participation in their death by their refusal to unlock the doors is a powerful image for the predicament of those involved in the Holocaust. The towns people did not unlock the door when they probably could have, the guards didn't and instead everyone allowed it to burn, but no one wanted to take the blame for the event.
Isn't that so often the predicament we find ourselves in? We see an injustice and we decide to shut our eyes to it, or assume that someone else should take care of it. That is what is so beautiful about this book. Hannah makes it clear the reasons she did not open the church's doors, and she asks those in the court 'What would you have done?'
One of the other things that really stuck out to me was a grown up Michael having to meet with a woman who only knew him when he was 15. It might be my embarrassment at my former selves, but to face someone who only knew me when I was 15...slightly horrifying.
It was a magnificent (abridged) book.
This is better than the movie, so I assume the full version would be fantastic when compared to the abridged version.
A large portion of the novel discusses the distance between how we feel and how we act. It also deals with how we detach ourselves from how we feel in order not to be moved to any sort of action.
The novel deals with an affair between a young boy and an older woman and it deals with the holocaust. There is plenty to look at and discuss. The biggest thing that surprised me about this book is how you feel sympathy for people and parties that one normally does not feel for.
There are so many things that are interesting in the book that were left out of the movie, the detachment that Michael has towards every part of his life, down to the type of law that he will practice, is all about keeping him from feeling. The ideas of literacy and the liberation one can feel when they become literate is a beautiful theme. The ways we betray those close to us and even ourselves is another prevalent theme.
Detachment is one of the most striking themes in the book by far.
Michael becomes entirely distant from his family once he begins his affair with Hannah. The little ways that Michael betrays Hannah, when he does not say hello to her at the beach.
The book that the survivor writes creates a sort of distance in it from the event. In the novel the book is described as being detached and that the author did it purposefully.
Hannah's trial is so alarming because in it she does not detach from what she did. She does not disengage, to save herself. She tells the truth, and you know that it will not help her. She does however refuse to help herself by not admitting she is illiterate.
Watching Michael sit through the entire trial is equally heartbreaking.
The locked church filled with women and everyone's participation in their death by their refusal to unlock the doors is a powerful image for the predicament of those involved in the Holocaust. The towns people did not unlock the door when they probably could have, the guards didn't and instead everyone allowed it to burn, but no one wanted to take the blame for the event.
Isn't that so often the predicament we find ourselves in? We see an injustice and we decide to shut our eyes to it, or assume that someone else should take care of it. That is what is so beautiful about this book. Hannah makes it clear the reasons she did not open the church's doors, and she asks those in the court 'What would you have done?'
One of the other things that really stuck out to me was a grown up Michael having to meet with a woman who only knew him when he was 15. It might be my embarrassment at my former selves, but to face someone who only knew me when I was 15...slightly horrifying.
It was a magnificent (abridged) book.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No