By Huang Yihua 

Originally published in Switzerland, and gracefully translated into English, The Reader is a brief tale about sex, love, reading, and shame in postwar Germany written by Bernhard Schlink.

   Michael Berg is 15 when he begins a long, obsessive affair with Hanna, a mysterious 36 years old woman. They become lovers for a period of time, and a component of their relationship was that Michael would read aloud to her. He knows little about her. Then, one day, as suddenly as she appeared in his life, she disappears. He expects never to see her again. However, many years later, as a low student, he attends a trial related to Germany's Nazi past. To his horror， Hanna is a defendant in the trial ,and it soon becomes clear that she is guilty of an unspeakable crime. During the trial, he struggles with overwhelming feeling. Hanna commits her crime and refuses to show one piece of evidence that could possibly help her out, at least, minimize her sentence. That is her illiteracy--- inability to read and write. It is as if she considers her secret which is more shameful than that of which she is accused. Yet, shameful of the past affair and angry of Hanna’s crime, Michael remains silent even though he knows that evidence. Consequently, Hanna is sentence to life prison accordingly.

Michael tried to escape from the memory of Hanna. He eventually chooses a legal career and marries and has a child but finds that he cannot be free of Hanna. He cannot be free of the pain of having loved Hanna. He divorces and never remarries. It is as if he cannot love another, as he loved Hanna. Yet, Michael avoids personal contact with Hanna and he sends a lot of types recorded by him to Hanna. He reads to her again. The end, when it comes, is almost anti-climatic. He goes to see her again, promising to help her on material after her free of jail, but refuses to give any emotional care. Hanna, loosing her last hope of life, kills herself on the last day of jail.

   After reading the story, I feel greatly sympathetic for Hanna. I don’t think she is a cruel criminal. She is actually a sacrifice of the society, the Nazi. The relationship between Michael and Hanna really seems to be similar to the relationship between the generations of Germans in post-war Germany. The affair between Michael and Hanna is representational of the affair that Germany had with the Nazi movement. Yet, the book also shows that such is not always a black and white issue, that there are sometimes gray areas when one discusses one's actions in the context of the forces of good and evil. There is also the issue of legal and moral responsibility.

The book would have had a longer lasting effect .An important "secret," one which, in fact, impels Hanna's actions, had not been obvious at the very beginning. The author leaves the suspense skillfully. By the time the author formally reveals Hanna's secret, almost 2/3 of the book has passed. Protecting this secret is a motivation to rationalize the full extent of Hanna's self-destruction

In terms of the language, this thematically complex story is written in clear, simple words and sentences which I think has a impressive effect to the readers of this book.

外国语学院  200730451062 黄怡华