The Reader (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

I came to Bernard Schlink's novel, The Reader, as a result of the publicity surrounding the film of the book. The story is told by Michael Berg who looks back at a relationship he had at 15 with an older woman, Hanna Schmitz. It is a story of unrequited love set in Germany in the context of the post second world war years. Underlying the pains of a love story are huge universal moral themes such as guilt, betrayal, whether or not the burden of responsibility can and should be passed from one generation to another, the issue of being responsible for ones action and the willingness to be held accountable.

It is reasonable to say that The Reader is a novel of ideas. Along with the themes mentioned above, another area of exploration is memory. For Michael his personal identity is built on memory. I found this issue very engaging as I was reminded that it is the joys and pains of memory that at least partly shapes our character.

But such esoteric ideas, if one could call them that, should not deter prospective readers. The Reader is a very accessible novel. On one level it is a story of childhood that charmed and drew me into its world. Yet in another way it is an erotic story that captures the spirit of many teenage boys who desire the older woman - the forbidden fruit. Michael gets the forbidden fruit but at a cost - namely unrequited love and anguish into adulthood that strained further relationships he had with women.

The sombre tone of the narrative fits very well with Michael's anguish. But the tone is sombre not only for that reason, not only because of the illicit liaison, not only because of Hanna's mysterious pasts but more because of Michael's betrayal of Hanna in more than one way. Part of Schlink's great achievement is that through these issues he manages to shed light on how we sometimes bear the burden of guilt. It's an acknowledgement of how we allow ourselves to be constrained by the prevailing social circumstances, and later suffer because of it.

Schlink draws a complex character in Hanna. She is dowdy, moody and unpredictable to some extent. But he also does something more with Hanna. Through her inaction that is alleged to have led to the burning to death of a number of Jews in a church, Schlink makes Hanna a symbol that represents the mob and its heard instinct. In the socio-political milieu she finds herself in, like most of her peers Hanna easily comes to believe that it is her responsibility to carry out duties requested of her. She is certainly no existentialist; she cannot think outside the box and do what is right. Through Hanna Schlink shakes us out of our own complacency and confronts us with the question what would you have done in similar circumstances.

A word about the translation, at times it feels clumsy. For example, after planning a bicycle holiday, part of Michael's thoughts is translated thus: "Strange that this idea and suggesting it were not embarrassing to me" However, overall, although I don't read German, I sense that the translator, Carol Brown Janeway, captured the tone of the original novel - full praise to her.

This is a very short novel that could be quickly read through. However, I urge the prospective reader not to rush through it. Because it is cram-full of ideas, it commands a slow and careful read. I found myself re-reading passage simply to make sure I had grasped the idea being explored.

For all its profound philosophical questions and huge universal themes, The Reader never deviates from being a gripping story. I was emotional stirred and intellectually stimulated by this novel. The fact that such a short novel had a huge impact on me it must be considered a tour de force.

I loved this novel. It's narrative is simple; easy to read and could be described as plain but I felt it fit with the style and pace of the book really well.

Hanna is a complex character - while knowing, from her first encounter with Michael and the nature of this, that we should dislike her - I found Michael's utter obsession with her, and particularly as the book progressed, forced me to see past those initial instincts.

She can further be demonised by her acts and then her behaviours when attempting to defend herself and what she has alleged to have done while working in Concentration Camps across Nazi Germany, but again, it was Michaels depth of feeling for her - the fact that thoughout all three parts of the tale, when you see how Hanna morphs from teenage obsession to an object of love lost through to pitiless captor capable of all evil and on to an aged woman - he never loses his addiction to her.

His entire life has revolved around his love for such a woman and that, for me, was pivotal in my enjoyment of this novel and why I will recommend it to others. This was the latest offering at my book club and the reason why I go - I'm not sure I would have picked it up otherwise.

'The Reader' is the fictional memoir of Michael Berg, written straightforwardly in sparse, unemotional, highly readable language. The novel is simply yet effectively structured into three parts that progress chronologically. Broadly speaking, 'The Reader' opens with a beautifully told love story between the narrator, then aged fifteen, and a thirty-six year old female tram conductor, Hannah Schmitz. Michael attends Hanna's entire trial on war crime charges in Part II, whilst the final Part explores the aftermath of the trial for both Michael and Hanna.

In 'The Reader' legal and philosophical issues take centre stage. Schlink avoids making authorial judgments, opening up grey areas between the dichotomy of good and evil, and allowing readers full reign to ponder the various questions that are raised. Whilst Schlink's overall approach has much to recommend it, there is the danger that on key issues a range of interpretations could be taken and that 'The Reader' can be read as meaning all things to all readers.

The first issue raised in 'The Reader' concerns the appropriateness of Hanna and Michael's sexual relationship. Whilst it is impossible to comment accurately on the legality of their relationship in the hundred-and-ninety-odd countries of the world, particularly as some federated nations themselves consist of multiple criminal jurisdictions, it is suggested that their sexual relations would be illegal in many parts of the world and be subject to potentially heavy penalties. Hanna and Michael's relationship is portrayed simply as a love story through Part One, and it is entirely possible that Schlink - author, jurist and lawyer - is seeking to question sexual offences legislation in many parts of the world. Interestingly, this issue has received comparatively little attention in reviews of 'The Reader', arguably suggesting that existing criminal laws are out of step with the thoughts of the readership of this popular and critically-acclaimed novel. Despite the treatment of their relationship in Part One, there are nevertheless some indications in the novel that Michael's relationship with Hanna had negative effects on his emotional development, such as his estrangement from his family and peers, and his difficulties in forming stable relationships with women later in his life.

Secondly, the novel explores issues concerning the Holocaust, in particular the degree of Hanna's culpability for war crimes, and the attitudes of post-Nazi generations of Germans towards Germans, collectively and individually, that were adults during the Nazi era. In general terms, it is a strength of the book that Hanna gets a sympathetic airing of her wartime acts and omissions - largely because we see her through Michael's eyes and he remains in love with her. Schlink's successful examination of wartime issues can be seen as part of the process of Germany and Germans coming to terms with their past, although it has to be stressed that this has been happening for many years now in Germany. Indeed, Germany's recent sensitive handling of the sixtieth anniversaries of the liberation of a number of Nazi concentration camps, and the appointment of a German Archbishop to lead the global Catholic Church both suggest that the international community fully recognises Germany's atonement for its wartime acts.

Despite enjoying the storyline and treatment of issues in 'The Reader', a number of reservations exist. Firstly, whilst appreciating the generally sympathetic treatment accorded Hanna, she is never really given a voice to explain her actions - either in relation to her wartime activity or her relationship with Michael - and I thought this could have been achieved, either directly or indirectly, in Part Three. Secondly, I felt that characterisation development was sacrificed somewhat in order to make the story clear-cut and keep issues to the fore. Thirdly, I found a number of points of the plot fairly implausible, such as Hanna's illiteracy not being evident prior to the trial; Michael studying to become a lawyer; Michael chancing upon Hanna's trial and Hanna's lack of adequate legal representation given the gravity of the charges (consider, for example, the difficulty that Milosevic, a trained lawyer, had in dismissing his counsel).

The praise lavished upon this novel has been quite extraordinary - it's even a bit overwhelming and daunting to plough through selected comments on the way to page one! Whilst 'The Reader' may not fully meet all the hype, I would nevertheless heartily recommend it as an entertaining and thought-provoking look into contemporary attitudes to Germany's Nazi past. Furthermore, for those particularly interested in this issue, Gunter Grass's exceptional recent novel 'Crabwalk' would make a perfect companion novel to 'The Reader'.