The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

So, a few weeks ago I saw the movie trailer for the movie The Reader. The trailer was vague at best, but it has two of my favorite actors: Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. The movie then went into the back burner of my brain filed under 'to watch at some point'.

While perusing the books at Barnes and Noble, I saw the book The Reader. I always like to see how a book begins...chapter one, first paragraph. I liked it. It pulled me in.

When I was fifteen, I got hepatitis. It started in the fall and lasted until spring. As the old year darkened and turned colder, I got weaker and weaker. Things didn't start to improve until the new year. January was warm, and my mother moved my bed onto the balcony. I saw sky, sun, clouds, and heard the voices of children playing in the courtyard. As dusk came one evening in February, there was the sound of a blackbird singing.
Not ever needing to buy another book, I had to buy this one. I think I actually bought it, and finished reading it in a couple of weeks. Which for me, is impressive. Most books don't usually hold my attention.

I found Schlinks writing style to be simple, but richly effective in telling the story. The story itself was also simple in idea, but was as vast and complex as love is, yet, still maintaining an elegant simplicity.

The story spans the adulthood of the narrative male Michael Berg ( I think that's his name...clarification is not of of this books strong points). I don't think the reader is ever actually given a date in which the story begins, but you get the idea as you move through the book. If I had to guess, I'd say the book begins in the late 1950's. In post war era Germany.

I particularly enjoyed that I had not yet seen the movie, but was able to visualize Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes in their roles. I think Kate Winslet was cast perfectly.

This has been my favorite book since we started the book club (even though it wasn't a club pick). The sentiments and philosophical points of the story I think will stay with me for many years to come. The story is both sad and poignant. But not so sad that it puts you in a foul mood after reading it. It's a sad that you can disconnect from, yet understand and empathize with at the same time. It's also short. Around 200 pages.

This is my favorite little tidbit from the story. Which happens to be at the end.

But if something hurts me, the hurts I suffered back then come back to me, and when I feel guilty, the feelings of guilt return; if I yearn for something today, or feel homesick, I feel the yearnings and homesickness from back then. The tectonic layers of our lives rest so tightly one on top of the other that we always come up against earlier events in later ones, not as matter that has been fully formed and pushed aside, but absolutely present and alive.

There you have it, a little review on The Reader. Definitely worth my time. Maybe yours?!

Happy Reading

Maggie