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shachargannot 's review for:
The Reader
by Bernhard Schlink
The 81st Academy Awards back in 2009 was one of the first times I had committed to watching as many films nominated as possible. I remember being particularly drawn to the Best Leading Actress category, as two of my favorite actresses – Kate Winslet and Angelina Jolie – both scored nominations.
Somehow, despite not having seen the film since I first watched it during the 2008-2009 academic year, this particular film has stayed with me. The character of Hannah seemed so well to give color to one of the main questions of Holocaust historiography – “How did the Holocaust happen?” In particular, to this day I recall echoes from the scene where Hannah simply does not understand what she should have done when the church catches fire and hundreds of women are burned to death. She received the order, she would not be able to control a crowd of women running out of a burning church. What on earth should she have done? What would the judge have done?
Fourteen years later, I decided to delve into the book. Schlink’s writing took a bit getting used to. There were pages-upon-pages of descriptions that I simply did not care about. A lot of internal monologuing that I usually sigh at. But then Part II started. Perhaps because I’m training to become a legal historian of Holocaust trials. Perhaps because questions of relating to the Shoah have occupied my mind for a decade. But all of the descriptions and internal monologues worked. I found myself earmarking countless pages, thinking about the different German generations and their relationship with the Third Reich. Thinking of judicial justice in the face of abhorrent tragedy. Thinking about the main actors within the courtroom and their relationship to the previous regime.
I am extremely liberally-minded when it comes to criminality and prison time. For one, the American criminal justice system imposes sentences that are too severe. Second, following a person serving his or her sentence, reintegration into society is warranted, and we should not keep holding someone’s crime against them for the rest of their lives. But I find it difficult to hold these same views with regards to Nazis responsible for mass murder. I didn’t want to feel sympathy for Hannah. The fact that she was about to get out made me uneasy. The fact that I shed tears when I saw that she had collected books written by survivors made me uncomfortable. What would I have wanted done differently about this story? Or is the uneasiness and uncomfortableness part of dealing with this era?
I don’t know. And I suppose I have the rest of my career to figure these questions out. But it is unclear if I ever will.
Somehow, despite not having seen the film since I first watched it during the 2008-2009 academic year, this particular film has stayed with me. The character of Hannah seemed so well to give color to one of the main questions of Holocaust historiography – “How did the Holocaust happen?” In particular, to this day I recall echoes from the scene where Hannah simply does not understand what she should have done when the church catches fire and hundreds of women are burned to death. She received the order, she would not be able to control a crowd of women running out of a burning church. What on earth should she have done? What would the judge have done?
Fourteen years later, I decided to delve into the book. Schlink’s writing took a bit getting used to. There were pages-upon-pages of descriptions that I simply did not care about. A lot of internal monologuing that I usually sigh at. But then Part II started. Perhaps because I’m training to become a legal historian of Holocaust trials. Perhaps because questions of relating to the Shoah have occupied my mind for a decade. But all of the descriptions and internal monologues worked. I found myself earmarking countless pages, thinking about the different German generations and their relationship with the Third Reich. Thinking of judicial justice in the face of abhorrent tragedy. Thinking about the main actors within the courtroom and their relationship to the previous regime.
I am extremely liberally-minded when it comes to criminality and prison time. For one, the American criminal justice system imposes sentences that are too severe. Second, following a person serving his or her sentence, reintegration into society is warranted, and we should not keep holding someone’s crime against them for the rest of their lives. But I find it difficult to hold these same views with regards to Nazis responsible for mass murder. I didn’t want to feel sympathy for Hannah. The fact that she was about to get out made me uneasy. The fact that I shed tears when I saw that she had collected books written by survivors made me uncomfortable. What would I have wanted done differently about this story? Or is the uneasiness and uncomfortableness part of dealing with this era?
I don’t know. And I suppose I have the rest of my career to figure these questions out. But it is unclear if I ever will.