The Reader

Hardcover

Published Sept. 11, 2009 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

ISBN:
978-0-297-85932-1
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3 stars (30 reviews)

The Reader (German: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations have had comprehending the Holocaust; Ruth Franklin writes that it was aimed specifically at the generation Bertolt Brecht called the Nachgeborenen, those who came after. Like other novels in the genre of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, the struggle to come to terms with the past, The Reader explores how the post-war generations should approach the generation that took part in, or witnessed, the atrocities. These are the questions at the heart of Holocaust literature in the late 20th and early 21st century, as the victims and witnesses die and living memory fades.Schlink's book was well received in his native country and elsewhere, winning several awards. Der Spiegel wrote that it was one of …

31 editions

Review of 'The Reader' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

This book was ok. It is about a young boy that meets and older woman and they have a relationship. yrs later she is tried for criminal acts at concentration camps while he is a law student. and then they meet again later on when she is out of prison.It wasnt exactly my type of book but I read it just the same.

Review of 'The Reader' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink, takes place in postwar Germany.

Michael Berg's high school year is interrupted by hepititis. The last day he managed to stumble into school, he didn't make it home on his own. He'd thrown up on Banhofstrasse, where a brusque, determined woman cleaned him up, carried his school books, and walked him home.Months later, when Michael was well again, he bought flowers, returned to Banhofstrasse, introduced himself, and thanked this woman, as he was expected to do. That is how Michael comes to meet Hanna again. What follows is an affair between the 15-year-old Michael and the thirty-something Hanna, in which Hanna has the upper hand.

An important part of their time together involves her insistence that Michael read to her, which he does, reluctantly at first, and then with enthusiasm. During this period, Michael is consumed with this affair, arranges his social life around it, …

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