"The Reader" is the story of 15-year-old Michael Berg and his sexual relationship with an older woman named Hanna. The story is brilliantly told through fluid prose; with an erotic mysteriousness that leaves the reader feeling engaged as well as greatly disturbed.

Michael is portrayed as a naive boy who, not understanding what love really is, places his heart in the hands of Hanna; a woman who is obviously marred by a certain coldness in which she uses Michael to thaw. The story becomes even more complex later, when Michael is in law school and finds Hanna on trial; accused of commiting atrocities during the war.

The symbolism in this story. The eroticism represented the tug between feeling the shame or guilt from a moral perspective and the great desire to believe its good; without ever knowing all the "whys".

Excellent. This is a must-read.

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Created Dec 30, 2008 at 5:08pm • Submit your own review...