The Reader

Yes, I have strayed away from The Hour I First Believed. I needed to refresh my desire to read and to write by starting a new book. I guess I'm a commitment-phobe I can't stay with the same book for very long. Hopefully one day I'll return to The Hour I First Believed, but for now, I'm in love with The Reader.
Bernhard Schlink is an amazing writer. In my first encounter with him, I'm completely enthralled. The Reader, though set in a time I have no knowledge about, is so easy to relate to. Maybe it's because Michael is close to my age, at 15 years old. Maybe it's because he's attempting and succeeding to revive his social life with kids his age. Or maybe it's because his inner commentary just seems so similar to mine. Even though I'm not having an illegal affair with a 30-something year old woman and recovering from Hepatitis, I'm still able to understand him.
The Reader has very intimate details, some that can be reviewed as disturbingly graphic. Not disturbing in an 'oh gross' way but more in a unconventional, unfamiliar way. It shakes the boundaries that I thought I was confined to.
Schlink's diction is beautiful. Every page I just want to keep reading and reading. I also find it nice that his chapters are short. No one likes to read super long chapters. The beautiful thing about Schlink's writing is how he is so delicate with the human form and mind. He dives into the emotions between Michael, the 15 year old, and Hanna, the streetcar conductor that changes Michael's view. Each chapter seems to switch between Michael's view during his affair with Hanna and his view after Hanna when he's much older.
I like this book's intimacy. I like how Michael is truthful and desperate. But he's not disgustingly desperate, he's lovingly desperate. He is passive sometimes because he's smart and knows his boundaries. I admire Michael because he has more courage than I do. He is open for love and he is proud of his love but it hasn't blinded him. He feels the pain but he's not crippled.
I've never been so enraptured by a book. No, I take that back. I fell head over heels for Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job but this is different. This is the first book that when I'm reading it I feel mature and I feel like someone else might struggle with the story. I'm arrogant and I like to reestablish my dominance, so this book makes me feel so good. When I'm not feeding my inner power hunger I'm vulnerable and now I'm becoming more sensitive to Michael's struggles and his desperation for love.
I began the book last Monday and finished it today. I never read that fast. I never read everyday. Except for this book. I put my own drama in a corner to get back into Michael's head. The writing is beautiful, and the characters are amazing. Now that I've read the whole thing the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, 'Take It Easy (Love Nothing)' pop into my head.

Don't take it too bad it is nothing you did.
It's just once something dies you can't make it live.
You're a beautiful boy.
You're a sweet little kid but I am a woman."
So I laid back down and wrapped myself up in the sheet
And I must have looked like a ghost 'cause something frightened me
and since then I've been so good at vanishing

Now I do as I please and lie through my teeth
Someone might get hurt, but it won't be me
I should probably feel cheap but I just feel free...
and a little bit empty

This only makes me love the book, and the song, even more.
Before I read through everything I was afraid I would come to resent Michael. When he was still with Hanna he was gravitating towards other girls. Even though Hanna is a rough character, she is still loveable. Maybe it's because I like the strong feminine character, and maybe I liked that it connected so well to the Bright Eyes lyrics. But I can't seem to resist her.
That was all part one.
part two, Hanna leaves. She disappears. Michael cries. He suffers, but it's internal. And like Bright Eyes he turns a little arrogant towards the people he knows only faintly, to people he knows he becomes distant and empty, and in his own mind he questions everything, wondering if it was anything he did to run Hanna away. After the affair, there is one place where he meets her again.
He's a law student watching over a war crimes case. His study group and class are able to look in on the case to see what it's like to be an actual lawyer. There are about six defendants, all women, all who have committed terrifying crimes. Now I don't want to go into too much detail because I believe that this book needs to be read by as many compassionate people as possible. (If you're not a passionate, empathetic person you might not fully appreciate this story.) Anyways, Hanna is a defendant. Michael sits back watching Hanna being forced to confess to some of the crimes she never actually committed. He realizes she has an inner weakness that links everything from Michael and Hanna's past together. It's devastating, but questions are answered and there has to be some relief from that.
part 3. Hanna stands in jail, alone. Michael is unable to face the future, or his past. I feel like I can't tell you much more. All I can say that it comes to a devastating end, but there is some relief along the way.
Can I say how much I love this book enough? I watched the trailer for the first time since I began reading the book yesterday and I am excited about how true it seems to have stayed to the book. Now all I can do is watch the movie. I can't wait.