The Reader in Challenge: 50 Books

Mar 24, 2009 Paula rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book poses more moral questions than it answers, but because of that it's probably the closest to representing what most Germans today feel towards the Holocaust. The edition I read actually is a translation of the book published in 1995, which is pretty evident considering the cadence of the sentences and way they sometimes read, but I wonder if that doesn't also, inadvertently perhaps, give even more meaning to the ambiguity and distance emphasized in the book.

The story is divided into th This book poses more moral questions than it answers, but because of that it's probably the closest to representing what most Germans today feel towards the Holocaust. The edition I read actually is a translation of the book published in 1995, which is pretty evident considering the cadence of the sentences and way they sometimes read, but I wonder if that doesn't also, inadvertently perhaps, give even more meaning to the ambiguity and distance emphasized in the book.

The story is divided into three parts. The first focuses on Michael Berg (the first-person narrator) and his affair with the much-older Hanna Schmitz. He knows little about her and, amid the passionate moments of their affair, he reads to her. Then Hanna suddenly leaves, and Michael moves on with the next part of his life.

This part is what is given in part two of the book, as Michael is in law school and watching the court proceedings as Hanna is on trial with four other women for Nazi war crimes. Hanna bears the brunt of the burden and some of the secrets she kept from Michael begin to leak out during those proceedings; Hanna's illiteracy is what keeps her from exonerating herself, and Michael suffers a moral dilemma as to whether or not to tell the judge about it even though she refuses to admit it in court. He says nothing, though, and she is sent to prison.

The third part of the book talks about Michael's life while Hanna is imprisoned, his failed marriage and the books he reads (and records on tape) to send to Hanna while she's imprisoned. We find out that he's the only person to communicate with Hanna during her incarceration, and she even learns to read and write so as to send him notes of thanks. Upon her release date, Michael finds a place for Hanna to live and a job for her to have once she's released, and his visit to her is one of repulsion that he tries to hide. The night before he's to pick her up, Hanna hangs herself.

The majority of this book is devoted to Michael's musings over Hanna, his relationship over her, why he is attracted to someone who could be guilty of Nazi atrocities (and what that says about himself), and wondering where blame should be placed, in the end, for all of this. But that's the thing: there are no real answers for this, and this is what Michael has to come to deal with. The complexity of the position of the Germans during WWII is brought out in all of its many layers (I suspect this might be why some people would be angry with this book, because it shies away from accusation when there is so much that was wrong that occurred during the war), and it also points out that the feelings today are just as mixed as they were fifty and more years ago.

A few times I wondered just how Michael was able to talk his way out of his questionable position (so to speak) with Hanna, which ultimately is why I gave this four instead of five stars; I can't attribute all of it to Michael being an unreliable narrator (which he is and essentially claims to be at the beginning of the book), so the moments that he took to explain his position weren't satisfying enough for me to overlook them.

Overall, this is a complex book on a complex matter that doesn't shy away from difficult questions even if it doesn't really answer them. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2009 Leslie rated it liked it

Hmmm....I wonder why this isn't one of the first books to come up when I type in The Reader? Strange.

Well, this was interesting. I found myself being disturbed by the fact that Michael, the male main character, was only 15 while Hanna is 37. It's surprising that not that many people I've talked to about the book really dwell on that (maybe it's because I have a son!) Hanna was a preditor! The fact that her illiteracy and not dealing with it lead to her downfall could make for a powerful 'read' c ...more

Like · see review

Aug 04, 2009 Joanie rated it liked it

Shelves: from-the-library, audio-book, bookclub, next-best-bookclub

I still feel torn on this one-I'll probably come back and edit this again soon. I liked the whole notion of how you can walk around for years with one perception of a situation in your head and then find out you had it all wrong but I guess the idea of going so far to hide a secret just didn't sit right with me. Still feel like I need to think this one over some more. ...more

Like · see review

Aug 04, 2009 Monica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow! What a great book. Very few books do I read non-stop that are so overwhelming with raw emotions.
From the first page, I was sucked into his world, and couldn't put it down. What a great read! ...more

Like · see review