At the close of 2008 I watched many of the films that had been nominated for an academy award. Not only those nominated for best picture but also some of the smaller awards like best actor and actress awards. One of the movies was of course The Reader staring Kate Winslet.
I must say that I really enjoyed this film and because of my enjoyment of the film I wanted to read the novel once I found out it was based on a novel. Then I heard from one of my co-workers that they read the novel and thought it was great I wanted to get my hands on this book even more than before. So when I was last in Toronto (to see Spring Awakening: the Musical) I made a stop to Indigo at Eaton Center and found a copy of Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader.
by Bernhard Schlink
genre: historical fiction
This book was so much better than the film. I could just ramble on and on about how much I love this book I wont. For those of you that don’t know the novel is about a boy and his sexual exploits with an older woman. The woman’s past comes back to haunt the boy, who knew nothing of her past.
The novel is a haunting portrayal of a woman full of secrets will to take a fall in order to hide a deep dark secret she wants nobody to know about. It’s a quick read and once you begin reading it you’ll devour every page, savouring each word, paragraph, page and chapter like you would each course of a four course meal.
Don’t get me wrong the film is good but if you only do one or the other you should definitely take the book. I know this is usually the case but there is so much more in the book than the movie. Because the novel in so short there is no reason for any part of this book to be removed the film version. I don’t understand why they took the bits out that they did. Hollywood, I guess, just wants to keep us wondering why they do the things they do.
Others who have reviewed The Reader by Bernhard Schlink:
A Guy’s Moleskin Notebook delves deeper into the book than I did, so check it out if you want to know much more about the book
http://mattviews.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/187-the-reader-bernhard-schlink/
A blog I haven’t stumble upon before has presented a great review of this book. booktin keeps the review short and sweet.
http://www.booktin.com/bernhard-schlink-the-reader/
S. Krishna’s Books is another new blog for me. I like that this is a well informed reader.
http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2009/03/reader-bernhard-schlink.html
As usual if you would like your review added here just send me a quick email and I’ll be more than happy to add your review to the list.
That's the Book! 