Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Reader - post II

The Reader

The affair continues and the reading of books after love making sessions becomes a pattern that is not broken even when Michael starts to develop friendships at school. But there comes a point where the two worlds collide and after he fails to publicly recognise Hanna she disappears.

Michael then grows up and opts to study law and when on his course concentrates on cases involving ex-Nazis. That is when he comes into contact with Hanna again. She is revealed by her tendency to get prisoners in the camp where she was a guard to read to her at night.

I am still struggling with the short chapters with a relatively shallow characterisation. The focus is the main relationship but Hanna knows a little about him and as he watches the trial it becomes clear he knows very little about her. As a reader is sometimes feels like you are watching scenes through a glass window, detached from feeling the story.

More tomorrow…