Der Vorleser

To me, this was a stunning and thought-provoking mediation on morality and the conscious of a nation. Schlink achieves with fascinating effectiveness to make the reader complicit in a moral dilemma, the likes of which we do not seem to like to ponder much nowadays.

I did not expect for this novel to engage me quite like it did and for that experience, I am grateful.

*Note: My apologies. Medium-sized spoilers throughout.* Time for the next installment of Really Good Books That Make You Wanna Fucking Die. This time, I'll be talking about The Reader, a German book written in the nineties that reminds us the Holocaust really sucked. To be honest, I haven't read much literature dealing with this subject. None before now, actually. I'm not sure how, since Elie Wiesel has been on my to-read list for a while (the list in my head, not the one on goodreads. I refuse to start a "to read" folder, because it would be ridiculously huge). This is a beautifully written book and is nearly impossible to put down. I totally don't feel like writing a plot synopsis, so I'll make this fast: fifteen year old falls in love with a thirty-something woman, and they have a passionate fling of fairly long duration. Then, she disappears from his life. Later, he witnesses her on trial for being a soldier at a concentration camp. That's all I'm sayin. This book forces you to empathize with someone it would be much easier to demonize. Who, other than Hitler, would be easier to dismiss as an evil fuckwad than soldiers at concentration camps? Yet, through the few lines of dialogue Hanna has at her trial, you see that she was always just doing her job, and was always trying to maintain order, trying to keep the situation from becoming chaotic. Schlink portrays the children of the Nazis as being unable to understand how the previous generation had acted the way they did. This is, for us growing up so long after the fact, still an impossible thing to wrap your head around. But Hanna simply had a job and did it. (Saying this now, I'm not making it clear why we as readers empathize with her character. But, we meet her and know her in an intimate setting before we discover the part she played in the deaths of many people. You DO empathize, and you want the judge to stop being so mean, and you want lying liars to stop lying.) If these characters weren't so full and believable, a book with the exact same pretense and plot twists could've fallen flat on its ass and seemed more inconsiderate than thoughtful. Because it's easier to deal with something like the Holocaust when you feel it was brought about by EVIL NAZIS. Just like its easier to deal with any atrocity when you simply dismiss the criminal as operating without logic, without sanity, when you make them something entirely different from yourself. But, to Schlink's credit, this book works, and it is amazing. I was enthralled, and I highly recommend it. I would give it a 5, but star ratings are stupid anyway, so I'll just say it's a 4.86 on a 5-point scale: although amazing, I've read books that amazed me oh-so-slightly more. Still, I recommend you read The Reader.

Wow! I have never read such an amazing book..

شاهدت الفلم مرتين وقرأت الرواية .. لا أستطيع أن أخفي إعجابي بها ، وتذكرت المرة الأولى التي أنهيتُ فيها الفلم/ ولَم أكن أعلم حينها أنه مقتبس عن رواية / نفس المشاعر والتوتر والقلق والدهشة عادت كلها في لحظة .. بمعزل عن السياق التاريخي للرواية، فأنا معجب بها !

I am really surprised at how much I loved this book. I didn't think I would enjoy it because books about The Holocaust usually tend to depress me. I love both Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, and Night by Elie Wiesel but they both made me so incredibly sad that I usually avoid reading Holocaust related books, especially if there is no one to hug afterward. The Reader is written in simple and clean prose without major amounts of dialogue or imagery. It is told in first person point of view of Michael Berg, who at 15 met and became intimate with a woman twice his age named Hanna Schmitz. Their relationship is tumultuous and confusing to Michael as Hanna requires much of him without giving any of herself in return. She asks him to read to her, and their relationship becomes a pattern of showering, sex, and reading with unexplainable outbursts from Hanna at different intervals that puzzle Michael and make him completely willing to do or say whatever will make her happy. Then one day Hanna disappears without warning and the relationship is over. Michael does not see Hanna again until he is in law school following a trial on Nazi war criminals and Hanna is one of the defendants as a former SS Officer. I won't spoil the ending but it's definitely a powerful look into the themes of shame, remorse, action and reaction, and even obsession, since I think that Michael's obsession with Hanna is the driving force behind the entire story. I initially was disgusted that Hanna pulled a Mary Kay Letourneau and emotionally scarred Michael for life, but after finishing I actually felt sympathetic towards her, she obviously led such a sad and lonely life, maybe Michael was the only bit of love and affection she could allow herself to experience. Also I'm a big believer in not judging people, especially if you haven't walked in their shoes. A question that is frequently raised during the trial is "what would you have done?" None of us can say for sure, and I'm sure we'd all love to be able to go back and fix every bad decision but life is meant to be lived, not erased and done over. The Reader is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I probably never would have read it if Kate Winslet (my favorite actress) had not starred in the film adaptation I've yet to see because I'm kind of a freak show when it comes to seeing movies adapted from books before reading the actual book. I am eagerly anticipating seeing her portrayal of Hanna, she won an Oscar for her role, and after reading this book, I can definitely understand why.

Boring. Boring. BORING. Probably one of the most tasteless books I've read. He had so much lust and then, what? Like it's all over? But not in an interesting way or anyway that could even make any bit of sense. Idk. Just dont recommend at all.

This book really makes you question the relativity in all situations, and wonder what reasons people have for their actions.

El libro me encantó, me hizo sentir mucho y ponerme en los zapatos de ambos personajes. Me gustan los libros sobre segunda guerra que nos ponen a trabajar la empatía en personas que vivieron trabajando para los Nazi o siendo Nazi. Su visión y perspectiva, no todos eran completamente malos, es como se pregunta en el libro ¿vos que hubieras hecho? ufffff en ese contexto y con ese conocimiento ¿yo que hubiera hecho? También el preguntarme ¿qué tanto conocemos a las personas que nos rodean? ¿cómo reaccionaría si descubro secretos muy oscuros?

Viste cuando una historia es super interesante pero está narrada de la manera más aburrida posible? Eso me pasó con este libro. Me costó horrores, no terminé de entender a los protagonistas... pero si le tienen paciencia es una buena historia.

A bit too descriptive for my taste, but it was a good thought provoking book. The plot twists were surprising to say the least. I liked the book and thought ti myself that maybe if I watched the movie I’d be able to understand it better? Well no, the movie was even more confusing. A good read after all! Nice plot.

I watched this movie many years ago and loved it. When finally getting around to reading the book, I actually listened to the audiobook instead. I wanted to feel it the same way Hanna does, through the voice of another. I loved it. Their relationship is so complicated yet so simple. A very good read (or listen!)

I waffled slightly...3 or 4 stars? The narrator of this book, a young German man telling of his relationship with an older German woman with a secret past, keeps you at an emotional distance. While this bothered me at first (I love to become entrenched in the characters and story of the book that I'm reading), by the end I realized it was the author's intent to write in a style that perfectly matched the mindset of both characters. Neither character was very endearing to me...in fact, they ranged from irritating to very dysfunctional throughout most of the book. However, I eventually realized that what was bothering me was their authentic humanity...they were not idealized fictional characters, but real human beings handling their lives, their struggles, in a very realistic manner. In the end, this book impacted me, earning it the 4-star rating.