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Feb 01, 2011

Lavinia rated it:

I have the feeling there's more than one way of looking at this book. On one hand it can be viewed as a bildungsroman, it follows Michael Berg since the age of 15 till full maturity. On the other hand, it's the post-war German generation coming to terms with their past, the Nazi crimes and their parents' guilt. Guilt, actually, is a recurring theme in the novel: Hanna is guilty of war crimes, Michael is guilty for betrayal (plus he feels guilty for having loved Hanna and asks himself if that ma More...

1 comment like (32 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2009

Chandra rated it:

I picked this up on a whim while traveling this past weekend. I’d finished one novel on the plane and needed something to occupy my time. It was my only purchase at the bookstore that diverged from my to-read list and ended up being the most satisfying. I had zero preconceived ideas about this book and only a small inkling of the plot (based on the movie previews). And I just learned that Kate Winslet won the Best Actress award so odds are most people are aware of the plot so I’ll spare the More...

26 comments like (75 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

karen rated it:

booring. is that a review?? this was just very flat to me. i wasnt offended by the subject matter - i could care less about the "scandalous" elements. but the writing was so clinical and thin. at one point, i blamed the translation, but c'mon - its not that hard to translate german to english (i cant do it, of course, but its supposed to be one of the easiest translations) i have nothing helpful to say about this except i was bored bored bored. the characters were unapplealing, the " More...

11 comments like (32 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2008

Stewart rated it:

Whenever a film is coming out that is based on an acclaimed book, I try to read the book first (knowing that the reverse order almost never happens for me). The Reader is the latest such circumstance, and I'm glad I made the time for this quick read. The book centers on the reflections of a man who, as a teenager in post WW-II Germany, had a passionate love affair with a reticent and mysterious older woman. Mere months later, she disappears from his life. The rest of the book explains why, a More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

This book just fell short with me, on oh so many levels. One thing that did intrigue me and that I have not yet seen much of is the perspective of Germans after the Holocaust and their views on the Third Reich and Hitler's agenda, especially of the younger generation of that time. That was really the only thing that struck me about this book. The rest was just not enough. For one, the affair between MIchael and Hanna was deplorable. Is it supposed to not be as bothersome because it is an older w More...

4 comments like (16 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2009

Aerin rated it:

I had a very hard time with this book. In my opinion it's a masterpiece: a quick, unputdownable read, with stark prose, multifaceted characters, and a story I'm not likely to ever forget. I highly recommend it to anyone.

However, I repeat: I had a very hard time with this book. I finished it a month ago, and I'm still having a hard time with it. It asks so many important moral questions, and none of them have easy answers. I'm beginning to wonder whether they have any answers at More...

17 comments like (61 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2011

Malak rated it:

I realised that my previous review contained lots of spoilers and very little opinions, so I deleted the whole thing, I may re-write another one, and I might not. However, for now the book has a very touching story, it's also well-written and philosophically interesting because it raises questions about: right and wrong, laws and ignorance. Definitely worth the reading!

5 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2009

jzhunagev rated it:

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 received.

The Holocaust is a difficult, though much covered, subject matter, and this novel has a sure touch and an appealing lack of judgment with it. The story begins in the world of almost-childhood of fifteen-year-old Michael Berg, r More...

5 comments like (17 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2010

Hayes rated it:

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9 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

bookczuk rated it:

I admit it. This book sat on my shelf a while, and was almost doomed to obscurity when I found out it had been chosen as one for the club by Oprah. But once I picked it up, I whizzed through it.

At first, I wondered if the style of writing- distant, reserved- was a function of the translation from the original German. But in retrospect, I don't think so. The reserve that Michael and Hannah have through much of their relationship- the withholding of information from each other- and the More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2009

Becky rated it:

When I first saw this book at the thrift-store months ago, I thought to myself that it had to be amazing. The cover image intrigued me, I'm interested in reading books that pertain to the Holocaust, and at only 218 pages, it's short so I felt sure that it would pack a punch.

The first part interested me, due to the fact that I felt the book was leading up to something really dramatic and exciting, but I never felt that spark that makes a book great. Everything felt a bit rushed, and More...

4 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2009

Michael rated it:

In his thought-provoking exploration of Vergangenheitsbewaeltigung Schlink presents the reader with a number of moral conundrums as well as with compelling portraits of the two principal characters. Since the reader comes to know the characters and experience the conundrums from the point of view of the narrating character only, the reader must decide both the accuracy and the completeness of the assessments given. Called to judge the actions of both characters, the reader experiences the diffic More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2008

Mary rated it:

A fast read. Germany post-WWII when they are just coming to terms with their Nazi past, "the reader", a teenage boy of 15 is awakened sexually by a woman twice his age with a secret past. Besides sex, a large part of their time together is spent with him reading literature to her. After an intense affair she vanishes, leaving him devastated and emotionally numb as he moves through the next few years. In college, he encounters her again as a law student at her trial for war crimes as More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2011

Joana added it

A história é narrada na primeira pessoa por um homem que, em adolescente, se apaixonou por uma mulher mais velha e com ela viveu uma relação amorosa e que, misteriosa e repentinamente, desapareceu. O narrador volta a encontrá-la anos mais tarde, num tribunal, como ré num processo de acusação de ex-guardas de campos de concentração nazis.
Talvez tudo que se segue pretenda reflectir sobre o sentido da vida ou a falta dele. O Leitor é um dos livros mais desconcertantes que conheço. Apesar de se More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 24, 2011

Aleksandra rated it:

Our Slovene teacher gave our class a list of books from 20th Century and we all had to pick one, read it and then analyze it. I immediately picked The Reader. Why? I always wanted to read the book, because I was familiar with the movie and I find the topic interesting, controversial even. After that, I watched the movie and now I finished the book. Reading was quick, it flows very well when you read. I marked quite a lot of quotes from it and some parts really fascinated me. The story is centere More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2011

Paula rated it:

I've read Le Liseur twice now in its French translation from the German. The film The Reader tracks the novel quite closely, with the only significant change one that comes at the very end, when Michael visits Hanna's grave. In the film he is accompanied by his daughter. In the novel, he goes alone. The story is a disturbing one, with its ultimately unanswered questions regarding guilt, shame, betrayal and responsibility. The novel can be read as the personal story of Michael Berg and Hanna Sch More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 04, 2009

Shannon rated it:

I haven't seen the movie yet, only a preview on a DVD a few weeks ago* (which reminded me I had the book on my shelf), but I have to say: while reading this I kept thinking God this would make a great film! And Kate Winslet would be great as Hanna! I like to think that if the movie hadn't already been made and put the idea in my head, it would have been a prophetic thought.

When Michael Berg was fifteen he became sick with Hepatitis; several months of convalescence later, he goes back More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2009

Kelly Jo rated it:

I was intrigued with the concept of a book about a Nazi camp worker surviving the war, becoming a productive citizen, then facing the consequences later. In my history studies I wondered about those people who worked in Nazi Germany, people like Hanna, those who were at heart "good" people caught in a nightmare situation but not willfull enough to sacrifice their lives in protest.

I had high expectations for this story. From the first pages, I felt the writing was weak. The More...

8 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 29, 2009

Susan rated it:

I'll start my review by telling you that I have not seen the movie based on this book - I thought I wanted to, but now I don't really see the appeal.

15 year-old Michael Berg becomes ill on his way home from school one day and is rescued by Hanna Schmitz, a streetcar conductor more than twice his age. When he is well again, he seeks out Frau Schmitz and becomes her lover. Michael eventually spends more time with friends from school and feels as if he is betraying his relationship with More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 28, 2008

Emily rated it:

It took me more then one try to get into this one but once i made it past the first sex scene i was hooked. This story begins with an affair between a fifteen year old boy and a thirty something year old women and then doubles back to matters more serious and complex. If I knew this book was about the Holocaust at all, I wouldn't have picked it up. But then I also went to Berlin without going to the Holocaust museum. And I've never seen Schindler's List.

The Reader is able to ad More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 25, 2009

Hannah rated it:

This lady who sells books gave me a copy of this yesterday and it's a super fast and mostly good read . . . the lady said she hated it and it was one of the stupidest books she's ever read, which, I don't know, I didn't feel that way. But now I want to read reviews to see what the hell, coz I thought it was fine--not the best thing I've ever read, but not the worst.

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2010

Charles rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2009

Gayle rated it:

What a haunting book. At first I didn't think I'd like this novel, fresh on the heels of my reading Zusak's lyrical, tightly constructed flow (The Book Thief). This novel has a lot more exposition, which suits its more philosophical purpose. I now have a reading hangover, because I started one night (couldn't sleep once I started it) and had to finish it the next (couldn't sleep until I finished it).

Schlink poses difficult questions that tie into the plot, like what ultimately motiva More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2009

Stephanie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 31, 2009

booklady rated it:

As a general rule, I consider the word “erotic” in any book publicist lingo a euphemism for soft porn, so when I perused the description of Bernhard Schlink’s novel I wasn’t sure if it would be worth bothering with despite its intriguing (to a booklady such as myself) title. The first half of the book did indeed seem to fit my expectations of little more than titillation under the guise of literary searching. However, if the reader (small “R”) can overlook the blatant sexuality inherent in a More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2009

Meghan rated it:

When the movie came out there was a lot of press and at some point I heard or read a review that basically gave this story away and I think if this wouldn't have happened, I may have liked the book just a little more.
Chandra requested that I read this book so she had someone to discuss it with as she read it while on a recent flight. I am not sure she will ever ask me to read a book again after my criticism.
Bernhard definitely didn't win me over with his writing style. Perhaps somet More...

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 14, 2009

Simika rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

7 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2010

Kristy rated it:

"At first I wanted to write our story in order to be free of it. But the memories wouldn't come back for that. Then I realized our story was slipping away from me and i wanted to recapture it by writing, but that didn't coax up the memories either. For the last few years I've left our story alone. I've made peace with it. And it came back, detail for detail and in such a fully rounded fashion, with it's own direction and it's own sense of completion, that is no longer makes me sad. What a s More...

9 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2009

Nyamka rated it:

All I want to say is that I'm happy that I read it.
This is kind of book that would never be forgotten. Story is just so good that I'm actually in love with it. While I was reading I was tried to understand Hanna and Michael throughout the book. At some point Hanna's decisions made me angry and made me want to understand her continuously. What would I do if was her?......
And also the things Michael did for Hanna sometimes make me upset and sometimes happy! It was really nice to feel More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2008

Dianna rated it:

I started this on audio and picked it up in print. I realized after I finished that half of the riveting nature of the plot was the artfulness of the reader Campbell Scott. It must have been very difficult to pick a reader for "The Reader", but they did a fantastic job. When I picked the book back up in print with the idea that I'd be better able to pick up on nuance in plot and writing, I was disappointed. Frankly, the writing wasn't as good as I'd thought (though I rarely claim to be More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)