Ten years or so ago The Reader had just been translated into English and was being read by everyone I knew. I put off reading it for a while because I didn't know if I could handle it. I'm one of the few people in the world who have never watched a CSI show and who avoid the news because I will worry about all the bad things happening in the world. Eventually I finally I broke down and read it because curiosity got the better of me.
It is an emotionally heavy story. A fifteen year old boy is walking home and gets sick. He is noticed by a woman who is also making her way home. The two meet and a love affair begins. She is twice his age. And he falls deeply into a love/lust relationship with her. That much of the book I can deal with. The difficult part for me to come to terms with is the fact that the woman, Hanah, had been a guard in a concentration camp. The book doesn't go into great depth as to the suffering and death that permeated these camps. It looks at the Nazi perspective. This was a point of view I had never experienced. The Reader confronts some weighty questions about life, love, and how humans can objectify other humans. It's a very short book but you should allow yourself several breaks when reading it to process what you're reading.
When the movie came out recently I knew I wanted to see it, but first I wanted to reread the book. Ten years after my first reading I still found the book to be provocative and insightful. I was able to understand the love/lust relationship on a deeper level. And I was able to see why even after the death of Hanah, the main character couldn't put her behind him.
After finishing the book, I had the movie ready to watch, and I roped my husband into watching it with me. I have to say the clear winner for me is the book. I was able to understand the movie in a way that my husband who hasn't read the book couldn't. On several occasions he would ask what was going on. The symbolism of much of the movie is lost if you haven't read the book. Every scene of the movie has significance, but without realizing what the significance is it becomes a very slow moving, boring, depressing story. I don't feel like the story line and theme translated well into film.
It is an emotionally heavy story. A fifteen year old boy is walking home and gets sick. He is noticed by a woman who is also making her way home. The two meet and a love affair begins. She is twice his age. And he falls deeply into a love/lust relationship with her. That much of the book I can deal with. The difficult part for me to come to terms with is the fact that the woman, Hanah, had been a guard in a concentration camp. The book doesn't go into great depth as to the suffering and death that permeated these camps. It looks at the Nazi perspective. This was a point of view I had never experienced. The Reader confronts some weighty questions about life, love, and how humans can objectify other humans. It's a very short book but you should allow yourself several breaks when reading it to process what you're reading.
When the movie came out recently I knew I wanted to see it, but first I wanted to reread the book. Ten years after my first reading I still found the book to be provocative and insightful. I was able to understand the love/lust relationship on a deeper level. And I was able to see why even after the death of Hanah, the main character couldn't put her behind him.
After finishing the book, I had the movie ready to watch, and I roped my husband into watching it with me. I have to say the clear winner for me is the book. I was able to understand the movie in a way that my husband who hasn't read the book couldn't. On several occasions he would ask what was going on. The symbolism of much of the movie is lost if you haven't read the book. Every scene of the movie has significance, but without realizing what the significance is it becomes a very slow moving, boring, depressing story. I don't feel like the story line and theme translated well into film.
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