The Reader
Bernhard Schlink
On the surface, this novel is about Michael Berg, who tells this story at different ages, but begins as a 15-year-old who has an affair with 36-year-old Hanna Schmitz. The relationship remains complicated throughout, especially after Michael sees Hanna on trial for war crimes committed as a Nazi soldier during WWII. At a deeper level, Michael and Hanna’s relationship serves as a metaphor for the younger and older generations of Germans post-WWII. Schlink’s writing asks readers to both understand and condemn Hanna’s actions and motivations
Major thematic elements: the Holocaust, generational trauma, guilt & secrets, history, memory, reading & literacy
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IB Literature and IB Language and Literature Connections
Place of publication: Germany
Language: German
Era: 20th century
Genre: Fiction
Author: Male
Readers, writers and texts | Time and space | Intertextuality: Connecting texts
Identity | Culture | Creativity | Communication
Perspective | Transformation | Representation
Full text, basic summaries, and overviews
The Reader | Full text
This PDF looks complete, but we recommend double-checking.
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The Reader | Audiobook
Both audiobooks we found have female readers. The first is a young-sounding reader with two videos: one for chapters 1-3 and the second, chapters 4-7. The second version features an older reader with videos for chapters 1-3.
Listen to Version 1 | Listen to Version 2
The Reader | Wikipedia
Wikipedia’s page for this novel is one of the most detailed and well-sourced resources we found. It includes a synopsis of characters and the plot, literary elements, themes, reception, and film adaptation.
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Reader’s guide to a moral maze | The Guardian | Nicholas Wroe | 8 February 2002
This article is about the challenges that come with recommending The Reader.
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The Reader Study Guide | Lit Charts
We don’t often recommend Lit Charts because so much of their content is behind a paywall. But, since SparkNotes, CliffsNotes, and CourseHero haven’t produced a study guide for this text, we’re going to post it. The theme wheel is particularly interesting, and what’s available of the symbol analysis should give students a decent head start.
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The-Reader-Book.com
This website is dedicated to providing information for The Reader. It includes plot summary, summaries by chapter, structure, analysis of Hanna, analysis of Michael, style and language, Holocaust, and Auschwitz. The Pros of this website: lots of different information; in terms of analysis, the website gives readers a variety of jumping off points. Cons: Popup ads when you move from one part of the website to another; we weren’t able to figure out who the person or people is/are behind the website. There is an admin who answers questions in the comment sections, but the last activity looks like it was from 2017.
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About the author
‘The Reader’ author turns 75 | DW.com | Dagmar Breitenbach | May 2019
This article provides a biography of Schlink and a summary and reflection on his novel The Reader.
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Q&A with Bernhard Schlink | Oprah.com | Erin J Shea | March 2009
This short interview is part of the materials produced after The Reader was selected for Oprah’s Book Club.
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For ‘The Reader,’ Guilt Travels from Page to Screen | NPR | Weekend Edition Saturday | January 2008 | 6-minute listen
In this conversation, Ari Shapiro interviews Bernhard Schlink and discusses what the novel is really about.
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Bernhard Schlink | Wikipedia
This article covers Schlink’s early life, career, prizes, and bibliography.
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Articles, essays, and videos about The Reader
The Reader (Responsibility in a Relationship to be Oneself) | The Ohio State University | Dr. Kevin A. Richards | April 2018
This essay about The Reader would make a great text for a Socratic seminar. It’s short and it tracks both his personal and professional response to The Reader as an assistant teaching professor within the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at TOSU.
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Trauma Narrated, Read and (Mis)understood: Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader: “…irrevocably complicit in their crimes…” | Ursula R. Mahlendorf
University of California, Santa Barbara | Monatshefte, Volume 95. No. 3 | Fall, 2003
You (and/or students) will need a free JSTOR account to read this article. It’s an extra step, but worth it to access free JSTOR articles.
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Female Nazi Guards | Various Sources
Understanding Hanna’s role as a Nazi guard—her motivations, her actions, and the way she viewed her actions years later—is important to understanding the text. These sources about female Nazi guards should help students start to contextualize Hanna.
Irma Grese | Wikipedia | Nicknamed the “Hyena of Auschwitz,” Irma Grese was hanged for her crimes in 1945 at the age of 22.
A 96-Year-Old Who Worked At a Nazi Camp Has Been Caught After Skipping Her Trial | NPR
96-year-old woman accused of Nazi war crimes is caught after fleeing trial | BBC News | YouTube | 2:16
Women in the Third Reich | United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Nazi Ravensbrück camp: How ordinary women became SS torturers | BBC News
Why Germany Prosecutes the Aged for Nazi Roles It Long Ignored | The New York Times
RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry | Rotten Tomatoes | RT Staff | February 2009
”The Oscar-nominated director on Making and interpreting his controversial drama”
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The Reader (Novel) | Playlist on YouTube
Note: clips 1, 2, and 3 come with content warnings (nudity). Always preview videos before showing them in class. This playlist features clips from the film version of The Reader.
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The Reader (2008) Interviews and related clips | Playlist on YouTube
This playlist contains videos related to the film (interviews, press conferences) as well as news/historical videos that provide context for the novel.
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Lesson plans and other teaching resources
The Reader Reader’s Guide | Penguin Random House
16 questions and topics for discussion.
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The Reader Reading Group Questions | University of Huddersfield | The Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Center
These 12 questions are frequently more book-club-appropriate than literary-analysis-appropriate, but there are some good questions.
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Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader: Holocaust, Justice, and Guilt in Literature | TeachingHumanRights.uconn.edu
This lesson plan was designed for a lower level college literature class. It includes warm-up activities, two discussion prompts, and suggestions for follow-up activities.
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Study Questions for Schlink, The Reader | UWOSH.edu
These questions are more academic in nature, with questions on first-person narration, setting, etc., separated by parts and chapters.
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Reading Guide for Schlink: The Reader | Professor Marcuse | history.usbc.edu
These questions are geared towards a college history course, but the questions would generate excellent discussion on characterization, character motivations, and what the extended metaphors in the novel represent.
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
USHMM has several lesson plans for teaching the Holocaust. We’re linking two pages that each have several lesson plans listed on them:
The Roles of Individuals
Foundational lesson plans for teaching about the Holocaust
This page is also excellent: Online Tools for Learning and Teaching, which links a Holocaust encyclopedia, a collections search, and more.
Shopping List
Texts and other resources you may find helpful.
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The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Paperback on Amazon.com
Olga: a Novel by Bernhard Schlink
Paperback on Amazon.com
The Reader (2008)
DVD on Amazon.com
Guilt About the Past by Bernhard Schlink Paperback on Amazon.com