I was given a copy of The Reader by a friend as part of the World Book Night scheme in the UK so thought it only polite to give it a shot. I am still not entirely certain as to whether or not I enjoyed it and the my opinion of it improved mostly due to the novel's final chapters because they almost moved me to tears. Schlink tells a woeful story of shame, obsession, guilt and cruelty, one that grips you right from the start as his two protagonists engage in a short, inappropriate and unbalanced love affair. It is when the novel jumps forward many years that you begin to realise the gravity of this novel as the object of the narrator's affection is put on trial for atrocities committed during her service in a Nazi concentration camp.The writing itself goes from compelling to tortuous, and I quite often found myself drifting off when the narrator goes on about law and philosophy, I felt that some of the passages were not crucial in the understanding of the message given. It was interesting as a reader to observe the narrator battling with his feelings for Hanna, as he goes from deep obsession over his first love into denial, guilt and coldness although it was clear to me that the obsession had never passed and he carried it with him indefinitely. Hanna is an intriguing character study, my feelings on her fluctuated throughout from hate, to disgust to empathy. She is the enigma in the narrative, and one that is not so easy to understand. Her treatment of the narrator seems cruel at times and she takes advantage of his youth and innocence to meet her own gain, then we go on to learn that her past has hidden horrors that paint her as guilty of war crimes and my hatred of her felt all the more justified. Schlink turns this around as we reach part three, and we are shown more of Hanna as a person, and what was black and white suddenly becomes grey. In spite of the atrocities committed I started to empathise with Hanna, she becomes a bit more real and less ghoulish, yet still retains her otherness.
This is not just a novel about character, but also one about time and place. Schlink uses The Reader to explore and reveal the thoughts of a generation of Germans overshadowed by the crimes committed under Nazi Germany. He talks of the differences between generations, the shame felt by the youth with regards to their parents and grandparents and the movements of a community to restore themselves and atone for that which has gone before. I do not know enough of the impact of this terrible history on German culture to really go into any informed depth about Schlink's observations, but it is clear to me as a reader that the events in this novel are indicative of a country trying to move on whilst facing it's past all the while, Michael's emotional journey with Hanna is another indicator of this as he tries to block her out yet his feelings, his memories of her never go away and continue to plague his actions in life.
This is not an uplifting novel, it's deeply sad and moving in spite of some of the more clunky prose, and this might be due to the translation more than anything else. Well worth the read, even if you are not sure about it, the story is fascinating and has a realness to it that makes it all the more harrowing. The Reader is one of those rare books that is an engaging read although it's impossible to actually 'like' any if it's characters. I still feel unsettled by my reading of it and have no doubt that the novel's ending will stick with me for some time.
