The Reader (Oprah's Book Club) (Vintage International)

by Bernhard Schlink

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Michael Berg is 15 when he has an affair with Hanna, a mysterious older woman. Their relationship only lasts for a summer but leaves a lasting impression on Michael. The two meet after the kid's school has been dismissed for the day, it becomes the lover's ritual to shower, make love and afterward Michael reads to Hanna {hence the reader}. One day the kid, {Hanna pet name for him} comes to her apartment at the appointed time only to find she has vanished without a trace.

Flashing forward, several years later Michael is now a law student and is observing a trial of five women guards to a concentration camp one being his former lover Hanna. As the trial progresses Micheal watches her dig herself deeper into a hole and finally realizes that she is trying to protect a secret that has been kept hidden including from himself and would rather serve prison time than admit to her so called disability.

Some people would say that the major theme in The Reader is the Holocaust but I think that is a mere sub-plot the main theme being pride. Throughout the entirety of the novel Hanna is too stubborn and proud to reveal her shameful secret, constantly changing jobs, declining promotions that may bring this issue into light or just moving away from the situation all together. Years later in the court room even after Michael figures out his former lover's secret, even though it may help her case he does not disclose the information because he knows it would devastate her.

To be honest I saw the movie before reading the book and liked the film better. I don't know if it was because I knew what she was hiding going into the novel therefore taking away some of the mystery or the unknown that surrounded Hanna or if I just liked the way the film was presented better. Either way it was a very interesting read making the reader question what is morally right.