Ms. Smartarse鈥檚 'holocaust,atmospheric,coding,historical' books on 老虎机稳赢方法 (2 books)

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position

cover

title

Der Vorleser

author

Schlink, Bernhard

isbn

3257229534

isbn13

9783257229530

asin

3257229534

num pages

207 pp

avg rating

3.78

num ratings

224,116

date pub

1995

date pub edition

Jun 30, 1997

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review

This book has been translated into English, as The Reader.

If you're waiting for a sign to read this book, THIS IS IT! It's short, tackles two serious This book has been translated into English, as The Reader.

If you're waiting for a sign to read this book, THIS IS IT! It's short, tackles two serious topics and it can end up being sort of interesting too.

The main reason for adding The Reader to my list was its length. I knew it had been made into a film, a serious-business type of film, not a run-of-the- mill-young-adult variety. So naturally I was expecting this to have been a classic, from the time of The Great Gatsby. I was even somewhat disappointed to find out that it was first published in the mid 90s.

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15-year-old Michael gets really sick on the way home, luckily a kind stranger notices his plight and helps him home. After weeks of bed rest, Michael is well enough to go out for short walks and he decides to find his rescuer.

Hanna lives in a run-down apartment, has a boring job, treats Michael with a joking superiority and yet our hero can't help but find her fascinating. It doesn't take long for the two to start a brief but torrid love affair. Michael is aware of the impossibility of their relationship, of Hanna's inexplicable mood-swings, but still he convinces himself than things are fine the way they are. Until one day, she just disappears, only to unexpectedly turn up again during the war crime trials as one of the accused.

It's a bitter-sweet love story, and a sad remembrance of the horrors of the Holocaust. I'm not sure if I actually cried or not, but I could definitely sympathize with the narrator all the way through. I actually suspected the nature of Hanna's secret far sooner than the author. Then again, I am not a 15-year-old in the throes of first love.

There was nothing really wrong with the story. I was actually quite taken with both the first part, where Michael and Hanna's sexual encounters are detailed quite graphically, as well as the second. where Hanna's past is revealed.

That said, there was nothing compelling me to gush about the book to everyone. I guess I'd rate it 3.3/5. More than average, but not quite on the same level as other similar books, such as Exodus or The Diary of a Young Girl. ...more

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# times read

1

date started

Aug 31, 2014

date read

Sep 07, 2014

date added

Jan 11, 2014

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Paperback

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Ms. Smartarse > Books: holocaust‎ (2)