Sunday Read: The Reader

Farah Bogani suggests that you spend the day away from your tutorial readings and read something more interesting.

“So you had a choice. And you chose to let them die.”

“What would you have done?” Hanna asks the judge, twice. Silence befalls the court. The judge looks down, unable to answer.

Germany, 1958. Fifteen-year-old Michael Berg, infected with hepatitis, throws up on the way home and is helped by an abrasive woman twice his age, Hanna Schmitz. Months pass and Michael recovers. He goes to thank Hanna, but upon seeing her finds himself overcome with adolescent infatuation and desire. What begins is a sweet, mildly erotic affair in which Michael is made to read to Hanna before their love-making. Soon we realise that Hanna carries a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know: her illiteracy, although Michael doesn’t notice. One day, Hanna mysteriously disappears leaving Michael heartbroken and confused. Years later, Michael is a law student sitting in on a trial in which six defendants, previously Nazi SS guards, are being charged with unspeakable crimes. One of them is Hanna. Simple-minded and ignorant, she attempts to defend herself to no avail. As Michael comes to terms with the past and his guilt, so Hanna forces herself to face the truth.

Many of you have probably already seen the movie starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, and David Kross, but how many have actually read the book? If you haven’t: do it. It’s worth it.

A small novel; but powerful, provocative, and deeply moving. Initially, it seems as if it will be a taboo love story, but it is much more than that. Intertwined within the love story of Hanna and Michael, are issues of identity and memory, the need to escape, the burden of guilt, and the ambiguity of morality. As this unfolds within both characters, so does it unfold for us, the readers, in a courtroom against the haunted backdrop of a post-WWII Germany. Schlink’s novel reminds us of the struggle to come to grips with the Holocaust and its after-effects, bringing forth a significant question as to how much is owed – if anything at all – from the “second generation”. Schlink’s writing style is captivating as he manages to uniquely encapsulate hard-to-explain feelings into beautiful descriptions.

There are many things I enjoyed about this novel, but what I loved most was the unanswerable questions. The philosophical thoughts and moral dilemmas that face us: even now we still cannot fathom how to deal with the after-effects of such a horrific and tragic event and when the guilt will finally be enough to move on. This novel may have finished Michael and Hanna’s story, but has it finished anyone else’s? 

Recommended for: everyone really, but particularly anyone who enjoys a little introspection and a splash of moral questioning.

Amazon: £5.11