Customer Reviews

Der Vorleser

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Winner of the Boston Review's Fisk Fiction Prize, this thematically complex story is written in clear, simple, lucid prose. It is a straightforward telling of an encounter that was to mark fifteen year old Michael Berg for life. The book, written as if it were a memoir, is divided into three parts. The first part of the book deals with that encounter.

While on his way home from school one day in post-war Germany, Michael becomes ill. He is aided by a beautiful and buxom, thirty six year old blonde named Hanna Schmitz. When he recovers from his illness, he goes to Frau Schmitz's home to thank her and eventually finds himself seduced by her and engaged in a sexual encounter. They become lovers for a period of time, and a component of their relationship was that Michael would read aloud to her. Michael romanticizes their affair, which is a cornerstone of his young life. They even go away on a trip together. Then, one day, as suddenly as she appeared in his life, she disappears, having inexplicably moved with no forwarding address.

The second part of the book deals with Michael's chance encounter with Hanna again. He is now a law student in a seminar that is focused on Germany's Nazi past and the related war trials. The students are young and eager to condemn all who, after the end of the war, had tolerated the Nazis in their midst. Even Michael's parents do not escape his personal condemnation. The seminar is to be an exploration of the collective guilt of the German people, and Michael embraces the opportunity, as do others of his generation, to philosophically condemn the older generation for having sat silently by. Then, he is assigned to take notes on a trial of some camp guards.

To his total amazement, one of the accused is Hanna, his Hanna. He stoically remains throughout the trial, realizing as he hears the evidence that she is refusing to divulge the one piece of evidence that could possibly absolve her or, at least, mitigate her complicity in the crimes with which she is charged. It is as if she considers her secret, that of her inability to read and write, more shameful than that of which she is accused. Yet, Michael, too, remains mute on the fact that would throw her legal, if not her moral, guilt into question. Consequently, Hanna finds herself bearing the legal guilt of all those involved in the crime of which she is accused and is condemned accordingly.

The third part of the book is really the way Michael deals with having found Hanna, again. He removes himself from further demonstration and discussion on the issue of Germany's Nazi past. It affects his decisions as to his career in the law, eventually choosing a legal career that is isolating. He marries and has a child but finds that he cannot be free of Hanna. He cannot be free of the pain of having loved Hanna. It is as if Hanna has marked him for life. He divorces and never remarries. It is as if he cannot love another, as he loved Hanna. Michael then reaches out to Hanna in prison, indirectly, through the secret they share of what she seems to be most ashamed. Yet, he carefully never personalizes the contact. The end, when it comes, is almost anti-climatic.

The relationship between Michael and Hanna really seems to be analogous to the relationship between the generations of Germans in post-war Germany. The affair between Michael and Hanna is representational of the affair that Germany had with the Nazi movement. The eroticism of the book is a necessary component for the collective guilt and shame that the Germans bear for the Holocaust, as well as for the moral divide that seemingly exists between the generations. Yet, the book also shows that such is not always a black and white issue, that there are sometimes gray areas when one discusses one's actions in the context of the forces of good and evil. There is also the issue of legal and moral responsibility. One would think that the two are synonymous, but they are not always so. It also philosophizes on the ability to love another/a nation who/that was complicit in war crimes. This is the German text edition of "The Reader", an insightful, allegorical book that defies categorizing. It is also a book that is a wonderful selection for a reading circle, as it has a wealth of issues that are ripe for discussion. This is simply a superlative book. Bravo!

This book is worth the read; if not for the story itself, then for the situation it puts the reader in: "What would I do if...?" The author has written the book in mainly the first person, like a memoir, so there is very little actual dialogue between the characters. I find this aspect rather apealling. The author takes the reader on a journey with the 15 year old Michael Berg & his 36 year old lover, Hanna. One day Hanna disappears and Michael has to wrestle with the question of "why?". He goes on to become a law student & unexpectedly discovers that Hanna is now on trial for a Nazi war crime. What happens after that is a series of unanswerable questions that Michael has to deal with and he doesn't seem to get any satisfaction one way or the other. The ending is both bittersweet and sad. The German version of this book is not extremely difficult to understand, but German students will probably want a dictionary just in case.

Ein wunderbares Buch mit vielen Höhepunkten und überraschenden Momenten, das es verdient hat, auch in Amerika die Bestsellerlisten zu stürmen. In Deutschland bezeichnete Der Spiegel den Roman bei der Veröffentlichung im Jahr 1995 als ein literarisches Ereignis. Dem kann man nur zustimmen, denn selten kommt ein kurzes Buch, mit rund 200 Seiten, das derart fesselt.

Bernhard Schlink hat drei Themen (Holocaust, Analphabetismus und Liebe zu einer wesentlich älteren Frau) wirklich gut miteinander verknüpft. Ferner hat der Autor eine vorzügliche Balance zwischen nüchterner Analytik und malerischer, ausschmückender Poesie gefunden. Ein überaus unterhaltsames und fesselndes Werk.

Und für alle, die vielleicht nicht perfekt Deutsch können: Der Roman liest sich recht flott und leicht (kurze Sätze, prägnanter Ausdruck, weitestgehend lineare Erzählung, wenige Figuren). Neben den beiden Büchern von David Bergmann Der, die, was? mein Lieblingsbuch in deutscher Sprache!

I saw the second part of the film "the reader" on television while doing some channel hopping and got stuck in the absorbing story. I decided to read the book in the original German, in stead of watching the beginning of the film (the part that I have missed) on the following day. I was also eager to know whether I would be able to understand the German text, as it is my third language and I have not used it for a long time. So I ordered the book from Amazon and it arrived a week or so later in perfect condition. (The outside box was, however, secured by the SA post office authorities, as it was found open and damaged. Fortunately the book was securely packaged inside the box.)

I found the first part easy to read and could not put it down. I was fascinated by the boy's behaviour. I tried to understand Hannah's reasons for behaving the way she did. I enjoyed the part where they traveled by train for their holiday. It was such an impossible situation and yet the author made one believe it is perfectly normal. In the end I was sad for the way life often turns out.

I also became quite interested in the philosophical undercurrent in this book - it adds to the value of the novel - not merely a simple story. (this part was more difficult to read, however.)

It was a good experience to read the book. In fact, I do not think I want to see the first part of the film any more.

Having read 'Der Vorleser' both in German and in English, my full review has been posted for the English version, which is an excellent translation from the original. The Reader (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Vintage International).

Schlink's German language is very suited to the harsh realities that the novel explores: dry and sparse and unemotional. In some ways it even increases the intensity of the emotional drama that the protagonist experiences. Michael, while not refuting guilt, shame, and atonement, is being led to examine and dissect the complexity of inter-generational conflicts brought out by the recent past in the context of his personal experiences. Schlink shows him grappling with the fundamental problem of the relationships between these two generations. It has meaning far beyond that time and the German context. [Friederike Knabe]

Ein wunderbares Buch mit vielen Höhepunkten und überraschenden Momenten, das es verdient hat, auch in Amerika die Bestsellerlisten zu stürmen. In Deutschland bezeichnete Der Spiegel den Roman bei der Veröffentlichung im Jahr 1995 als ein literarisches Ereignis. Dem kann man nur zustimmen, denn selten kommt ein kurzes Buch, mit rund 200 Seiten, das derart fesselt.

Bernhard Schlink hat drei Themen (Holocaust, Analphabetismus und Liebe zu einer wesentlich älteren Frau) wirklich gut miteinander verknüpft. Ferner hat der Autor eine vorzügliche Balance zwischen nüchterner Analytik und malerischer, ausschmückender Poesie gefunden. Ein überaus unterhaltsames und fesselndes Werk.

Und für alle, die vielleicht nicht perfekt Deutsch können: Der Roman liest sich recht flott und leicht (kurze Sätze, prägnanter Ausdruck, weitestgehend lineare Erzählung, wenige Figuren). Neben den beiden Büchern von David Bergmann Der, die, was?mein Lieblingsbuch in deutscher Sprache!

This is a good read, although it is very bleak. Be prepared to have your dictionary in tow, as Schlink uses some esoteric words. I read the English translation and it is rather free. If you can, stick to the better: auf Deutsch.

"Der Vorleser" braids two themes into one complex novel. Part I narrates the love affair between a clever young man of good family and an uneducated woman twenty years his senior. Somerset Maugham explores the same topic in "Of Human Bondage", as does J W Goethe in "Die Leiden des jungen Werther." Schlink adds his own twist by making Michael only 15-years-old at the start of the affair, two years younger than he tells 36-year-old Hanna and several years younger than he behaves.

Michael's youth emphasizes his innocence in the affair, his seduction by an older woman, and allows a light-hearted, romantic introduction: Michael and Hanna bicycling through the German countryside; Michael and Hanna making tender love; Michael reading the classics to an enthralled Hanna.

Fast-forward seven years to Part II, when law-student Michael attends a Nazi war crime trial as part of his studies. There is Hanna again: Hannah as a former prison guard at the concentration camp in Krakow; Hanna making the prisoners read classics to her before "selecting" them for extermination at Auschwitz; Hanna letting prisoners burn to death in a locked church, because "otherwise they might have escaped."

Schlink lets the action slow as Michael holds a prolonged conversation with himself about the morality of the situation. Should he tell the judges of Hanna's lack of education, not to mention apparent complete lack of human intelligence, as a mitigating factor to lessen her sentence? Was he right to condemn all members of that generation equally, even those who were not actively supportive of the Nazi regime, such as his father?

The final section of the trilogy provides a satisfying solution to the paradox, at least as far as Michael is concerned: Hanna nobly enduring her punishment; Hanna painfully teaching herself to read; Hanna educating herself about the role of women as prisoners and guards; Hanna saving her meager pay as "restitution." Finally, and most necessary for justice, there is Hanna hanging herself so that she does not become a burden on Michael.

Bernhard Schlink has written extensively on the subject of justice and the third Reich. "Der Vorleser" assumes knowledge of those times, as well as of the conflict between the Nazi and post-Nazi generations in Germany. His unadorned German prose leaves it to the reader to distinguish truth from irony.

it is very good to purchased this item at Amazon.com.
I like the book, it is nearly brand now, thanks.

I waited for four week when i paid the overnight delivery. This was for my german class. Thank you amazon