fallinallinval's review against another edition
3.0
No dejo de sentir que el libro romantiza y enaltece una relación bastante tóxica y que, aunque se retoma de manera diferente y sin “peligro” para Michael, lo marcó muchísimo y literalmente definió su manera de relacionarse con las mujeres por el resto de su vida. Es como si dijeran “sí, Hanna lo trató re mal, pero miren le dice ‘chiquillo’ y aprende a escribir para comunicarse con él!!! isn’t that cute???”
ALSO no olvidemos que la relación comienza como ABUSO, Michael tiene quince años al comienzo del libro mientras que Hanna tiene TREINTA Y SEIS
ALSO no olvidemos que la relación comienza como ABUSO, Michael tiene quince años al comienzo del libro mientras que Hanna tiene TREINTA Y SEIS
lunas_moon3's review against another edition
2.0
Warum beinhaltet fast jedes der Bücher von der Liste meiner Deutsch Lehrerin S3x ?!
anna26's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
elisajanning's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
gosia_maria99's review against another edition
3.0
Read this for my final year of my degree in German. Not sure why we needed such graphic descriptions of sex between a 15 year old and a woman in her 30s to be able to appreciate the second and third parts of the book, which were very fascinating and brilliantly written, and lined up well with my study and research into the concept of "Deutsche Schuld". I had to dock a star for the first part, there could have been better ways to build up an image of the woman who then stands on trial for a war crime, and the young law student who can't stop attending the court proceedings.
klokar's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cosmosbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Das Buch kommt für mich in die mentale Schublade „zurecht ein Klassiker“
lennyloo's review against another edition
2.0
The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink, tells a story about a 15 year old, Michael Berg, who lives in Germany pre-WWII and whilst recovering from a long-term illness, meets and pursues a sexual relationship with a 30 something year old woman, Hanna. The nature of their relationship weirded me out for a while (not that it doesn’t anymore), but I find that her willingness to exploit him sexually creates this strong hold over Michael and endearment for Hanna that he is not able to shake throughout his entire life. This is also the first book I’ve annotated since high school, which made it more enjoyable to actively participate while reading and had me underlining early parts of the book with “wtf” and “this is creepy”. Later on in the book, trials surrounding holocaust camps occur, and I think that the reflections of Michael, the narrator, offer an interesting take to the whole situation. The narrative focuses less on the atrocities themselves, and more so how the next generation of German citizens experiences the collective cultural guilt of these sins, as well as condemning their parents and the older generation for being complicit, active, or tolerating anyone who played a part in it. Overall, this book took me a while to get through, and I think it was well written but just not the story I was expecting. I could not get over how strange the central plot of the relationship between Michael and Hanna was, and thought so much how creepy and inappropriate it is. It is interesting to see Michaels character development throughout his life, but at the same time not really, because he isnt really a super likable character due to the fact that we don’t know Michael for who he is, only for his obsession with Hanna (which may actually just be who he is). I just wanted to say “move on and get a grip!” Like another reviewer said, the takeaway from this book I suppose is that literacy is something we take for granted (which doesn’t seem relevant in the grand scheme of this review, but it revealed later on in the book).