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'She felt me looking at her. As she was
reaching for the other stocking, she paused, turned towards the door, and
looked straight at me. I can't describe what kind of look it was -
surprised, sceptical, knowing, reproachful. I turned red. For a
fraction of a second, I stood there, my face burning. Then I couldn't
take it any more. I fled out of the flat, down the stairs, and into the
street.'
Bernhard Schlink's novel starts slowly, but gradually
pulls you in. It is an incredibly subtle work. The reviews on
the back of the book make you all too aware that this is a Holocaust
novel. The narrator strikes out any stereotypical images though, and
conveys the various ways in which history treats its survivors. Displayed
in 'The Reader' is the contrary, agonising human nature of the perpetrators and
their survivors. Above all, this is a novel about an extraordinary love
affair, which is powerfully erotic. The characters are portrayed
extremely well: their tragedies become your tragedies. You cannot help
but feel for them, and walk around in their shoes. Although this
story mostly concerns death, it is highly vibrant, with an exceptional ability
to move. It is also quite timely, for war wages in Europe yet. As
we now see all too familiar atrocities, and wonder how people could do such
things, and how we could let them, 'The Reader' brings a timely message
from the past of what the future might bring. It's the best novel I've
read this year.
Kevin Patrick Mahoney
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our Bernhard
Schlink page, for Bernhard Schlink biography, Bernhard Schlink
bibliography, Bernhard Schlink links, Bernhard Schlink interviews, and
Bernhard Schlink essays |
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