Flights of Love - Bernhard Schlink

Marymoose reads "The Reader"

Advantages: A different take on the Holocaust, thoroughly thought-provoking!
Disadvantages: Could have been longer...

be interested to hear that it was the first German book to top the New York Times bestseller list (isn?t Wikipedia great?!) Schlink (according to my book) is the author of Flights of Love, and according to Wikipedia is an author of lots of books (mainly detective novels) as well as being a judge. Of course you can just as easily Google Schlink yourself, but I have to say it?s quite interesting reading a bit about him having read ?The Reader? as I can understand more where he is coming from. The Story The Reader (or Der Vorleser as it was originally known) is told in the first person retrospectively. When we begin (in the late 1950s) Michael Berg is a boy of 15. Having been suffering from hepatitis Michael goes to meet and thank Hanna Schmitz, the lady who gave him help when he first fell ill in the street. Michael ...

marymoose99 18.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

A SHORT REVIEW FOR A SHORT BOOK THAT WAS SHORT OF SOMETHING.

Advantages: Quite gripping in parts
Disadvantages: Rather shallow book

THE READER BERNHARD SCHLINK INTRODUCTION The book was written by German author Bernhard Schlink , it was translated into English. by Carol Brown Janeway. This is a short book with only 218 pages that is divided into three parts. I had heard all sorts about this book, I was told it was about the holocaust, that it was a love story and that it was a "must read" Reviews I had read about the book all seemed favourable, it must be good. From what I had heard I gathered that this book was a story about a emotional and sexual relationship between a fifteen year old boy and a middle aged woman that was played out against the repercussions of the Holocaust. So I was expecting the book to be a gripping read, I was disappointed. I carried on reading thinking that the book would get better and it ...

oldchem 17.08.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

Read the book before seeing the film

Advantages: Easy to read
Disadvantages: Doesn't explore themes fully

OK, I admit it, I jumped on the bandwagon with this one a bit because of the film. For those that haven't seen the film or don't know the synoposis it's about a man who as a teenager has an affair with an older woman after a chance encounter on his way home from school but she leaves him after a year without explanation. Years later he sees her again in a courtroom where she is under trial for atrocities committed in WW2, which he attends because of his legal studies. The book is split into two parts, the first surrounding his carefree days when they were in the first flush of a love affair with the authors style reflecting the protagonists youth and vitality. The second part dealing with his reactions to her past is markedly different in style and is much darker, reflecting the pain he is in seeing her in this situation and as he ...

Kazalou2 11.02.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Reader - Bernhard Schlink