Years later, now a law student, Michael recognises Hanna as the defendant in a major war crimes trial, wilfully mishandling her defence and allowing herself to be presented as a ringleader. Although frustrated by the relationship himself, Michael is shocked and feels obscurely guilty when Hannah simply disappears, leaving him with only memories and unanswered questions. From the Back Coverįollowing an accidental meeting, Michael, a schoolboy in post-war Germany, begins a clandestine affair with an older woman, Hanna, but his fascination wanes as she refuses to talk about her past, effectively closing her life to him. The result is as compelling as any thriller ― The Times -This text refers to the paperback edition. He does these things with honesty, restraint and a moral precision both unsettling and rare. He examines the nature if understanding and tests the limits of forgiveness. a moving, suggestive and ultimately hopeful work ― New York Times The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is the German novel I have been waiting for: it objectifies the Holocaust and legitimately makes all mankind responsible - Sir Peter Hall ― Observer For generations to come, people will be reading and marvelling over Bernhard Schlink's The Reader ― Evening Standard Haunting and unforgettable ― Literary Review explores the conflict between generations, wrestling with collective guilt and individual motivation. It has won deserved praise across Europe for the tact and power with which it handles its material, both erotic and philosophical ― Independent Leaps national boundaries and speaks straight to the heart. From the Inside Flapĭeeply moving, sensitive enough to make me wince, a Holocaust novel, but light years away from the common run - Ruth Rendell ― Sunday Telegraph Schlink's extraordinary novel The Reader is a compelling meditation on the connections between Germany's past and its present, dramatised with extreme emotional intelligence as the story of a relationship between the narrator and an older woman. R Ellis, -This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. What remains is an austerely beautiful narrative of the attempt to breach the gap between Germany's pre and post-war generations, between the guilty and the innocent and between words and silence. What does it mean to love those people-parents, grandparents, even lovers-who committed the worst atrocities the world has ever known? And is any atonement possible through literature? Schlink's prose is clean and pared down, stripped of unnecessary imagery, dialogue and excess in any form. The Reader, which won the Boston Book Review's Fisk Fiction Prize, wrestles with many more demons in its few, remarkably lucid pages. Should we only fall silent in revulsion, shame, and guilt? To what purpose?" As Michael follows the trial, he struggles with an overwhelming question: what should his generation do with its knowledge of the Holocaust? "We should not believe we can comprehend the incomprehensible, we may not compare the incomparable. Hanna is a defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past and it soon becomes clear that she is guilty of an unspeakable crime. He never learns very much about her and when she disappears one day, he expects never to see her again. Michael Berg is 15 when he begins a long, obsessive affair with Hanna, an enigmatic older woman. Originally published in Switzerland and gracefully translated into English by Carol Brown Janeway, The Reader is a brief tale about sex, love, reading and shame in post-war Germany. A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of a German conscience' INDEPENDENT 'A tender, horrifying novel that shows blazingly well how the Holocaust should be dealt with in fiction. But then suddenly, and terribly, it does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret. Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realize that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined. An exceptionally powerful novel exploring the themes of betrayal, guilt and memory against the background of the Holocaust.
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