Reviews with content warning for Genocide - The Reader

Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

44 reviews

enoemo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Comes with a solid amount of trigger warnings - please be aware of the pedophilia and grooming that happens in this book. I found it interesting and well written, but not much more than that. The thought process of the narrator is understandable and makes sense in light of the gaslighting and grooming he faced, but it lacked something for me personally. It raises some interesting points about the processing of the holocaust post-war, but then again, I do feel like there's other works of literature that do this in a more profound way with a more lasting impact.

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utracjuszka's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I still don't agree with the ideas presented in the book but it did offer me a new perspective on the latest events in German history.
The story was well-crafted, too. The best parts of the book are probably the author's reflections on the nature of law.

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pulcotinette's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

My German is not as good as I thought, so I didn't understand the majority of part two (out of three). But other than that, I disliked the power disbalance between the two characters, and really loved the descriptions of feelings, longing, and landscapes. Mixed feelings, since I found that relationship deeply uncomfortable, but it is somehow beautifully written.
Funny story: at first, I thought it was "the life of others" so I was not prepared for the plot. Der Vorleser also talks about WWII, but in a very different way.

I have a theory about them actually. Because der Jüngchen only goes on her grave once, it makes me think that he doesn't want to acknowledge her existence. He doesn't want her to exist. To him, she exists only in secret (their relationship in the first part) or at night, like a dream (part two, sending Kassette to her). Or maybe, he invented their relationship in his head, and therefore since it does not exist on the outside. When the prison guard asks how they came to know each other, he doesn't answer, maybe signifying that they don't know each other, that he only invented this relationship. Anybody has another theory on this ?

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buzzi_maus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sag mir doch wer dass es nach dem ersten Kapitel nur noch weiter bergab geht :,)

kl liste meinerseits zu im buch erwähnten büchern:
- "Le Rouge et le Noir" Stendhal 1830
- "Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull" Thomas Mann 1922
- "Ilias" Homer 8./7. Jh. v. Chr.
- "Odyssee" Homer 8./7. Jh. v. Chr.
- "Vier Reden gegen Catilina" Marcus Tallius Cicero 63 v. Chr.
- "The old man and the sea" Ernest Hemingway 1952
- "Emilia Galotti" Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 1772
- "Kabale und Liebe" Friedrich Schiller 1784
- "Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts" Joseph von Eichendorf 1826
- "Krieg und Frieden" Leo Tolstoy 1865

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ohdeerboi's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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the_modernreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

4.0

Coming into this book, I thought the story was going to be about the relationship between a much younger Micheal and an older Hanna. I thought the book would lead me to understand why and witness the influence of this relationship on Micheal’s agency as an adult. But the book sets out to do more than just that. When we get to the second part of the book, it feels completely brand new. I didn’t think eroticism could be used to hold a conversation about the pains of the Holocaust. We taken through a moment in the genocide and there’s talk on the interplay of guilt and shame. It’s almost as if I got 2 books when I was expecting just 1. It took me 2 weeks to get through it once we moved subject matter: from paedophilia to genocide. In the end I am still trying to understand why Hanna and Micheal had to happen…

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