The Reader by Bernhard Schlink- A Review Void of Spoilers

A book written about me.

Not really.

It was really beautifully written. A translation from the German, there was a stiffness to the words and some of the phrases that seems impossible to erase from English. Even though the German language sounds so harsh and gutteral to my weak ears, I'm sure it's beautiful to those who understand it.

There were actually many references to German literature in the novel, great German authors that defined the literature of the nation who were strangers to me. I wonder who from America makes their way over the seas to be representatives of us. If any.

The author is a judge in Germany, which is suspected not only due to the vibrant courtroom scenes or the general knowledge of law, but the winding discourses on what makes law. They could potentially be read as tedious interludes from the mystery and are sometimes frustrating interuptions, but they add to the overall complexity of the story.

Even when it ended, it felt it had just begun. The narrative wrapped itself around different layers of the past, co-mingling faulty memories so a chapter would shift in time as much as dunes of sand caught in the wind. We are placed inside a spider's web that we wind ourselves out of us much as the narrator, Michael Berg, who writes this story so he could tell it. So it may exist outside himself and be a part of the world.

I can make no comparisons to the movie, though the cover has the unfortunate burden of being the movie poster. I can see why this novel was translated, though how it was turned into a movie is pretty beyond me. Hollywood probably worked their watering down magic and beefed up Hanna's part to make a strong independent martyered female lead capable of winning Best Actress.

Anyway, everybody should read this book who like the following things:

a. Things originally written in German
b. Fantasizing about Kate Winslet in a tub
c. Imagining how your head would look on Kate Winslet's body

No, I'm joking. You should really read it if you are interested in:

a. Nazism and the history of the Holocaust
b. Law
c. Secrets

I'm OOT. For now.