The Reader

I was talking to a good friend of mine last night, who also shares my love of a good book, about the difficulty I have been having in trying to write about "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink.  

She has been wanting to see the movie, but also to read the book.  I told her to see the movie first, as it could possibly enhance her read, but watching the movie after reading is certain disappointment.  I feel there is no question that a movie cannot fully relay what truly goes on in a book.  I think movies often only skim the surface of subjects, leaving the depth and full emotion lacking - especially when that movie is adapted from a book.

"The Reader" is a complex story set in a time in history I have always been interested in, post World War II Germany.  We are offered a look at the social conscience of the Germans some years after the war.  It has been fourteen years since the war ended at the beginning of the story, the camps are deserted and left as awful reminders.  The Nazis are reabsorbed into a battered and bruised society and economy. 

A young German man, fifteen years old, narrates his experiences as he and a woman of a much older age conduct an ill fated relationship.  Their physical relationship, though only a summer, creates a connection between them that lasts for the rest of their lives.  His narration carries us through his personal growth and that of Germany until the early 1990's. 

Their connection I found to be reflective of the larger connection between the old Nazi Germany and the new Germany that struggles to differentiate itself in a modern world.

Obviously the story is layers upon layers.  It is a love story, a social story, a world story.  Bernhard Schlink writes a narrative that is personal, harrowing and unapologetic.  I thought it was an excellent read.