The Reader by Bernhardt Schlink

October 2, 2004

Location: Wilma’s cottage
Members: Virginia, Louise, Carmen, Margaret, Marvel, Wilma, Gisela

The discussion took place on the Saturday afternoon of Wilma’s annual cottage party while we drank warm-up drinks of Hot Chocolate and Bailey’s!

Marvel started the discussion of the book commenting that a friend had recommended it to her. She noted that it too was a book that you could not really say you enjoyed – due to the topic and circumstances of the times when it was written. The story of Hanna and Michael was a complex one, at first due to their love affair and later because of the circumstances surrounding Hanna’s imprisonment for war crimes and the relationship that they had during both of these events. It was almost like reading two separate stories. Was the book depressing or hopeful (an illiterate person overcoming the barriers of being an uneducated person and learning how to read through great perseverance)?

Each of us had an opportunity to offer an opinion of the book. Overall it was well received although Virginia did not really feel any enthusiasm for it.

Some comments follow:
The reason Hanna ended her life was because her identity was being someone who is illiterate. Once she learned to read she lost that identity.
Hanna ruined Michael’s life. He was never able to love anyone else. Would Hanna have taken up with Michael if she had been able to read?
Hanna was unable to forgive herself for the things that she had done while working for the SS. After the war all things were revealed. At one part in the book Hanna says “The dead came every night, whether I wanted them to or not.”
Hanna is guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.
When Hanna was imprisoned the relationship between her and Michael was very different from when they had first met. In the beginning Hanna was the one in charge. During the latter part of the book it was Michael who was in charge and Hanna could see that Michael did not feel the same about her as he did when he was a young man.
One thing that was noted was that in order to keep her dignity Hanna chose not to tell anyone that she could not read. This could have impacted the choices that she made. She said that she had written the report and it was at this time that Michael knew she was lying.
If she had learned to read when she was a young girl her life choices would have been different. She would not have likely joined the SS and could have had a totally different career and therefore a totally different life. She was a lost soul.
The question of who the Reader actually was came up. Some people felt that it was Michael and others felt that it was Hanna. I think in the end we agreed that it was both of them.
After her death Michael gives the proceeds of Hanna's estate, to an organization devoted to teaching illiterate Jews to read.

Although the subject of this book was a very sensitive one and some of our Bookend members had family and personal experience with wartime Europe, we had a very good discussion about not only moral/ethical issues but also about how fortunate we are to live in a peaceful country as Canada. Also how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy books and how important reading is to us.

It was also mentioned that it is nice to read books that challenge us to think.

The author, Bernhard Schlink, was born in 1944 near Bielefeld, Germany, to a German father and a Swiss mother. He grew up in Heidelberg and studied law in Heidelberg and Berlin. He is a professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law and the Philosophy of Law at Berlin's Humbolt University and a justice of the Constitutional Law Court in Bonn.

Mr. Schlink has authored works in both fiction and nonfiction. Before publishing The Reader (original title: Der Vorleser) in 1995, he wrote several prize-winning mystery novels.

Since its publication, The Reader has become a phenomenal international bestseller and has been translated into 23 languages in 26 countries. The movie rights to The Reader have been sold to Miramax Films, and it is to be directed by Anthony Minghella.

Respectfully submitted by: Marvel on October 5, 2004