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The Reader

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About this listen

 Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany.

When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover--then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.©2008 Bernhard Schlink; (P)2008 Random House Audio Classics Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Suspense Thriller & Suspense

Critic reviews

"A formally beautiful, disturbing and finally morally devastating novel." --Los Angeles Times

"Moving, suggestive and ultimately hopeful. . . . [The Reader] leaps national boundaries and speaks straight to the heart." --The New York Times Book Review

"Arresting, philosophically elegant, morally complex. . . . Mr. Schlink tells his story with marvelous directness and simplicity." --The New York Times

"Haunting. . . . What Schlink does best, what makes this novel most memorable, are the small moments of highly charged eroticism." --Francine Prose, Elle
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A riviting book that I listned to in one sitting. It is difficult not to feel sorry for Hannah, an ex concentration camp guard but we should not lose track of the of the horrors that were committed in those camps especially by the female guards, three of whom were executed after the war for their crimes. This book takes you through the whole spectrum of emotion from tenderness and love to the horror of what she did. All through the eyes of a young German boy whose life was changed for ever after coming into first contact with her. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with even the smallest interest in what is the German collective guilt after the Second World War.

Remembering

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This is the best book I have listened to or read since The Book Thief. I listened to all 4 hours in one sitting. Absolutely briliant!

The Reader

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There may be books that will make you a better person, they may be books that will help you change your life.

But every now and then you should read or listen to a book that challenges your preconcieved ideas about what is wrong and right and makes you think.

Every thing about the reader should make you hate the two main characters - is Hannah a preditor taking advantage of a boy not yet a man? Is Michael morally corrupt because he does nothing to help Hannah when he realises that he could save her from jail?

Or are these two people just human beings with the same faults and failabilities that we all have?

The final twist caused me to audibly gasp.

This is not a book to listen too when you want something light and breezey - this is a book to open your mind.

Open Your Mind

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A book I will read and re-read. It has something to offer of increased depth and insight every time you return to even a few pages. It both entertains as a story at the most superficial level whilst offering the reader who wants it, a profound analysis of the inter-generational problems faced by the Germans of the Second World War and their offspring. At the same time it confronts the evil capacity of every human soul - that possibility that even we, normally pleasant, upright people might get drawn into monstrous acts.

What I really liked was that the book never trifles nor offers simplistic solutions to this enigma. A must read.

Superb - a must read

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A great observation of a character caught within believable yet tragic circumstances, not an easy listen but moving, great human quality to the writing and subjects. Recommended highly but not an easy listen.

Short, captivating, moving

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