The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Look at me. Sticking to my promises! Here is my second review in as many days (and get ready for number three tomorrow).

It only occurs to me as I type this in the semi- darkness of my room hunched over my laptop what depressing subjects the books deal with that I have been reading lately. If you care enough to scroll down, you will see my review of The Invention Of Wings, which dealt with the issue of slavery. Tonight's review involves the Holocaust and the Second World War. Such happy, uplifting topics. But as I said yesterday with slavery, it is vitally important people write about these topics so we never forget the suffering that people had to suffer.

I already knew about the story of The Reader having watched the film adaptation of the novels a few years back. But I always find that the original text of any adaptation has an extra spark and atmosphere about it. So as soon as I put this at the bottom of my to read pile, I was looking forward to it. As it is a translated text, I do worry sometimes if something is lost in the English version, but I can't say I even noticed that it was originally written in English.

Kate Winslet in the film adaptation

The Reader is written from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy called Michael Berg. We as the reader (please ignore the intended pun) are thrown straight into the dramatic tension throughout when he runs into Hanna Schmidt when he is taken ill. He later goes back to thank her once he is better. As with many things, one thing leads to another. And so begins their affair. I should just add here how there is a huge age difference between them. So not your typical summer affair story.

Schlink writes with such craft about how they fall into a daily routine of sleeping together, bathing each other and then Michael reading to the illiterate Hanna. This illiteracy later comes to play a vital role in the novel when Hanna is taken to court for her SS past. Obviously back then illiteracy was much more common, but it is scary how in the Western wold, there were still and still are today people who could not even read or write. That means people who can't read and learn about history the way that we can; reading novels such as this.

The novel follows Michael as he grows up, and how their affair effects him at every stage of his life. There is a constant sense of heartbreak throughout, something Schlink seamlessly writes into Michael's narrative. He can't seem to let go of Hanna, she herself being an extremely complex, distant and cold character. But with her background, you could hardly blame her for being as she is. This runs right up to the end, where she eventually kills herself when she is due to be released from prison. In a way, despite being quite an unlikable character, you do feel sympathy for her by the end.

Bernhard Schlink

And of course there is the serious issue of the Holocaust. Schlink brings a new angle to looking at the terrible slaughtering that occurred by looking at the convictions, and personally for me, experiencing looking into the violence of female soldiers running worker camps. I found it extremely uncomfortable to read, especially when she seems to be just as callous throughout, in the way she treats Michael included. The Holocaust is never an easy subject to read about, but Schlink manages such a matter of fact style about it, it makes it that little more horrific. And not just because of the act that Hanna has committed during the war.

Whilst it could be easy to sympathise with Hanna's character due to her illiteracy, her coolness and shrewd attitude give The Reader an air of depression. But I couldn't put it down. Michael's narrative and attachment to Hanna at his young age, along with the constant reminders of the tragedies that have occurred, all bring to the forefront the history of Germany, and how it has effected generations after.

The Reader is published by various publishers. The version I read (above) is published by Orion Books.