The Reader: a discussion

As part of the 2009 mini challenges, #10 invites you to take part in a group discussion about a book. A few of us at work had been reading this one and there had been conversation about it already, so I canvassed opinion from some fellow Octogonian's, so as to bring it together here on my blog as a discussion.
Besides myself (L), there was another female (P) and a male (G).
G started the whole thing off because he had spoken to P about it being the best book he had ever read. After P had read it she lent it to me. G had read it about 6 years earlier.
On completing the book all of us felt moved by what we had read. G had an 'overwhelming sense that this was a book that should be read by others.' He has given it as a birthday gift many times. P had mixed feelings about it on completion because she felt she had expected more from it, after hearing a lot about it from G and in the media. L was surprised at how much it had made her feel during the latter part of the book.
Both L and P preferred the last parts of the book, feeling that the first part, about their affair, was necessary but could be a bit flat in parts. P said this made Michael seem 'quite cold and difficult to relate to'. L felt this applied to Hanna too in the first part. G however did not share our view and really enjoyed the first part, and found the relationship between the boy and the older woman was tender and moving. L felt that maybe the flatness in the first part, and the straightforward narration throughout may have been down to the translation. P and G did not notice any difference with it being a translation at all. P felt the narrative style added to Michaels honesty in retelling the story and L agreed.
All of us found the accounts of the Holocaust during the trial had a great effect on us, but we were also moved by the love story, particularly the latter parts of it. As it was a while since G read it, he could not remember specifics about the characters, except that it presented a lot of complex questions about how humans behave. P 'never felt that [Hanna] was a monster' and all of us felt some sympathy for her. We all felt that this was the books greatest strength, presenting a well documented part of history as 'shades of grey' instead of black and white. G said that 'the questioning of morality and the manner in which it is told is one of the highlights of my literary life'.
All of us have kept certain scenes or images with us after finishing the book, most notably the images of the burning church, the conversation between Michael and his father, and the later meeting between Michael and Hanna. P also found the turbulance of the early relationship stayed in her mind, and for G it was the beauty of it. P really liked the details that the book went into, especially 'when it came to relationships and the difficulties of love'.
All of us felt that the book was trying to present a different view of the events in Germany during the war and this was why it was important. P felt it was also giving an 'insight into relationships and the challenges that come with them, whether it's between two lovers or two family members'. L agreed because Michael not only talks about Hanna, but his relationship with his parents in post-war Germany. P mentioned that Michael and Hanna are 'quite isolated people' and this adds to the level of how moving the story is as it develops.
P and L have also read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak recently and so comparisons were natural with both being about the Holocaust. Both totally enjoyed The Book Thief and P said it has 'become one of my favourite books' so it was interesting to compare the two. P and L agreed that they were extremely different, and 'both very moving'. P felt they had 'touched me in different ways'. L felt that her emotions were more dramatic in The Book Thief but also anticipated much more. Although L cried buckets with the former, it is because she did not expect any tears from The Reader, when they came she felt more surprised by it and also by the parts of the book that caused them. P felt that both books gave 'very human and honest accounts of events that happened during the war' and she feels that 'this is why they were both so easy and enjoyable to read'.
P and L now want to see the film. G felt that the film would be interesting but did not say if he was planning to see it.
Many thanks from L to P and G for taking part and sharing their views on this novel. The Reader is a great book to start a discussion because of its content and style. It has been excellent to share views in this way and I love talking about books generally.
See below for my (L's) full review or click here.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Quite a few people at work have been reading this one so I jumped at the chance to borrow it when a colleague offered it to me, so that we could compare thoughts afterwards. It is a very quick read, even for me, and there is a lot of talk about it generally with the film doing well at the moment.

Translated from its original German, and set in Germany, it is a novel of 3 parts, told in retrospect by the male lead.

Part 1 focuses on the young 15 year old Michael Berg, who embarks on a troubled but passionate affair with an older woman, Hanna, who gets him to read to her. Completely smitten, Michael obsesses in the way first love can override all else, even sensibility. Hanna, who does not seem phased by his age, is more complex, seeming to have feelings for him, but behaving elusively, eventually disappearing, suddenly, leaving Michael heartbroken.

Part 2 is some years later, when Michael is a history student, sent to another town to research a trial that is taking place, where the accused are charged, having been concentration camp guards during the war, with murder, by leaving a large group of women prisoners to die in a church fire when they had the means to let them out. Hanna is one of the guards on trial.

Part 3 examines the aftermath of the trial, which you should all read for yourselves.

This story is told simply and is very easy to read, but the themes and emotions that it evokes are far from simple. Apart from being an incredibly moving love story, this novel points out that nothing is black and white. The feelings of both characters are on display here. Michael mainly because he narrates it and is very honest about his feelings for Hanna, and his own inherited guilt complexes, being a second generation German dealing with the burden of being the nation who murdered so many innocents. He also eloquantly examines the causes for Hanna's life choices too. He does not offer excuses, he just presents the story to us so that we have to sift through the many grey area's that can form anyone's life. We can all make bad choices, and very often things are not as straight forward as they seem.

It has taken a long time for the more complicated view to be aired I think. They say history is always written by the winning side, and finally it feels safe to examine, and I do not mean to condone, the actions of some of the people who were caught up in the cruelties of Nazi Germany during WWII. This book has also given a voice to the second generation Germans who were abhorred by the Holocaust.

This is a novel that presents more questions than offers answers. I felt conflicting emotions towards both characters, I did not feel that either were evil or inherantly bad, even though both make contraversial choices. I did feel that they were human, with all the complexities that goes with that. And I was incredibly moved, especially during the last 2 parts. There are some scenes that have stayed with me since I have finished it (the description of the church fire, the conversation between Michael and his father, the meeting years later with Hanna). These are continuing to evoke emotion in me, and I feel that this is due to the strength of the writing. While there are many many excellent Holocaust stories, this one is an unexpected voice among them, no less skilled. An alternative. The question is are we ready to allow such a voice. Maybe not for everyone, but it should be read, widely. This is why this book is important.

I would like to now see the film.

This book would be perfect for readers groups and there is a reading guide here.

Also there is a link here to check out how it was made into a film.

Next week I hope to correlate the thoughts of my colleagues who have also read the book for #10 of the 2009 mini challenges.

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

Finally, I have finished this one. I was recommended this book some time ago, so when I saw this copy in Reid of Liverpool I was really thrilled. I loved the cover and a quick flick through excited me because the writing was poetic and lyrical and the prologue about lost manuscripts from people who wrote about the holocaust was tantalising.

The story is about a young Jewish boy, Jacob Beer who, while hiding, witnesses the slaughter of his parents and the abduction of his sister, presumably for the death camps, by the Nazi police in Poland. He survives living in the marshland outside the town until he is rescued by Athos, a Greek naturalist/geologist/scientist who smuggles the 7 year old to his home on Zakynthos where he stays hidden until the end of the war. They move then to Toronto where, many years later Athos dies and Jacob becomes an academic and later a writer, but is tortured by his war experiences and survivors guilt. His marriage fails and he eventually finds some solace with Michaela. The last part of the novel follows Ben, a man brought up in Toronto but whose parents were holocaust survivors. He meets Jacob at a party and finds some of his own peace in Jacob's writing.

Some of this novel is beautifully descriptive, moving and inventive. Every now and then I would read a sentence that blew me away...

"I learned the power we give to stones to hold human time."

speaking of temples and Cairns. There were also some shocking descriptions of cruelties that came without warning to draw you back to the relevance of the times...

"Jews were filling the corners and cracks of Europe, every available space. They buried themselves in strange graves, any space that would fit their bodies, absorbing more room than was alloted them in the world."

After enjoying the first chapter I believed that I was in for a real treat of a book and I was very enthusiastic about it. However I wasn't far into it before I realised it wasn't holding my interest consistently. It was clear that meticulous research had taken place prior to writing the book, but its knowledgeable sections about geology, philosophy or other academia, while impressive, were quite a slog and my interest began to wane. There were whole sections of the book where my attention wandered and I was not bothered to recount the lines to re enlighten myself. I felt that these sections compromised any plot or character development so that I did not care much about them. I was feeling very little at all. There is no doubt that Anne Michaels is a talented writer but it almost seemed that she flexed her literary muscles too much at times so that this seemed to be more of a poem than a novel.

I also had a problem when the narrative voice took Ben's persona in the last section, mainly because there is no warning of this and the voice still sounds exactly like Jacob. I was quite a way through before I realised we were now witnessing someone elses story. Quite a lot of the last section is also quite hard to decipher, and I found some of the plot lines are confusing and almost deliberately contradictory or vague and unexplained. At this point though I just wanted to get it finished and was beyond trying to clear up any anomolies.

Its a shame because I really wanted to enjoy it and when its words lit up, I felt inspired by it. But I don't think these interludes were enough for me. There are sections of this book that I don't even remember reading and that is not good for me.

I realise that there are millions who count this book among there favourites, if not the best book ever. It has also won quite a few awards. But there are also others who feel like me, and blogger/writer Elizabeth Baines has eloquantly described some of the problems that I have tried to write about here.

There is also a reading group guide because as you can imagine there is a lot for discussion in this book, both subject matter and style.

Some moments of magic but also disappointing so mixed feelings with this one.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book was given to me as a present. It was very easy to read and I got into it very quickly. It ensured my attention from the first few pages, even if the narrative style took a little getting used to and was not without inviting several questions...why is the story told by Death and why is he so jolly when it was probably one of his more exhausting periods, during Nazi Germany during the Second World War? The answers came during the unfolding of the story.

Death tells us the story of Liesel, a little girl of 9 years old, being taken with her brother to a foster home. Their parents are accused of being communists in a Germany with little political tolerance. They are also poor, and on the journey with their mother, Liesel's brother dies. This is Death's first encounter with a girl whose book he will later read and recount to us. Liesel's life is transferred to her foster home, new parents, new friends, and a new political climate that will affect them all.

The writing is quirky, with amazingly inventive descriptions, a bizarre speech tone full of asides that conveys an 'other worldliness' suitable for Death, but also a child like quality which links us to the children and more particularly Liesel, as we take part in her world and point of view. There is a lot of love in the story, warmth and decency, amongst a dangerous Germany that seems hell bent on stamping out all of these things. We are all used to second world war stories where the Germans are our enemies, but in this book it is not the Allies against the Germans, but normal, decent human beings against the Nazi's, the ordinary v's those in power.

Once I got used to the style of writing, the cheeriness despite the background, I realised I had become quite attatched to the main characters, to Liesel and her street urchin friend Rudy and their many adventures, and her foster parents, her rough love mama, and a papa who is kindness itself. By the time Max, the Jewish fugitive is introduced, the book had tightened its grip on me and I was helpless as it squeezed tighter. There were times, the tension being built up slowly, when I was desperate to read what was happening but dreaded continuing. I knew every empathetic button was being pressed and that at some point it was going to cause me damage. Do not get me wrong, the majority of the book is full of humour, light hearted childrens accounts of getting into trouble and creating havoc. Also in observing adults and forging friendships, however unlikely. But amongst this the book cleverly alludes to something big and terrible to come, to break the blow and keep you reading. You are always aware that this is Nazi Germany and life is far from innocent.

When the blow came I broke my heart. I don't think I have read a book that upset me so much for a long time. I must have sobbed for an hour! It shook me in the best way a book can, mercilessly making me feel every emotion. As water flowed out of my face I re-read parts of the book and I am still enjoying doing that.

This book is well written, and provides an alternative slant on the Nazi war story. It is warm and full of the joy of human spirit. It illustrates that even when life is at its most awful there are stories of courage and kindness that outweigh the bad. There are also books that have the ability to move us, and it is the impact of this novel that made it wonderful to read even when it hurt. I would urge anyone to read it, and my copy is already in the hands of one of many borrowers.

If you would like to read more about the book and its author, the following website is useful...

Http://booksattransworld.co.uk/thebookthief/