The Reader is a novel written by the German novelist Bernhard Schlink (1995), which is a reflection on The Reader. The Reader won the Hans Faradar Award and the Le Monde Literature Award. Reader has been translated into 35 languages, and German books topped the bestseller list of The New York Times magazine for the first time. The film adapted from the novel won the Golden Globe Award and the Oscar Award in 2009.
The first time I came into contact with readers was watching the movie Life and Death Reading, starring Kate Winslet. Winslet's wonderful performance perfectly reproduces the strong ideological collision that the novel The Reader tries to bring us, which makes us rethink the crimes committed by the German Nazis in World War II with Winslet's every move. How to bear it?
The author set the story in Germany in the 1950s. The story tells that in the 1950 s, German teenager Michael and middle-aged woman Hannah started an unforgettable love affair, but Hannah quickly left without saying goodbye. Michael later became a young lawyer. When he met Hannah again, she became the defendant in the war crimes trial because of her behavior as a guard in the concentration camp in the late war. In the crowded court, Michael burst into tears in the face of countless people's angry insults against Anna, the former guard of the concentration camp. Michael knows that Hannah has always had a secret that she thinks is worse than her previous Nazi era, which is enough to refute the accusation against her. That is, Hannah, who can't read, is about to bear the crime of giving orders at that time. At this time, several other guards insisted that Hannah gave the order and signed it. Hannah can completely overturn the accusations of all people and judges with her illiterate secret. However, Hannah didn't do it. Michael, who knew Hannah's secret, didn't do it either. Why?
Are camp guards guilty of Nazi crimes? They said they were innocent because we were soldiers and we had to carry out the orders given by officers, so we were innocent. This defense logic can also think like this: if someone asks me to kill, if someone dies, then the murderer is the one who instigates me to kill, not me. After reading "The Reader", I realized something about it. Can reality really be explained by such robber logic?
It may be hard for China people to understand why a person has the opportunity to avenge himself, but he just ignores it. I don't think most people in China will understand. This involves the understanding of "sin", a key point of Chinese and western cultural areas. Most Germans believe in Christianity. No matter whether it is Orthodox Church, Catholicism or American Protestantism, although the specific doctrines are different, they have one thing in common, that is, the understanding of "sin". People are guilty at birth, that is, "original sin."
The Reader is a very heavy novel with a strong religious meaning. I tried to explain Hannah's unreasonable behavior in China from the perspective of western religion. Western Christianity believes that man is guilty and all his actions in the world are atonement. Ignoring one's own sin is a blasphemy against God and an act of being far away from God. The crime of Nazism is a crime of mankind, and it is a crime of humanity brought about by people at birth. In the face of accusations, people often try their best to defend themselves, for nothing but to drag out an ignoble existence. This is the defect of human nature. In the view of western Christianity, because people have been away from God for too long, people have fallen, and greed, hypocrisy and other evils have emerged.
Except Hannah, all the camp guards in the readers ignored their sinful selves. Everyone is running away, and Hannah is the only one who dares to face her sinful self.
The elaboration of "crime" by western Christianity provides a very good reference for us to solve the crime judgment of Nazi sinners. Everyone involved in Nazi actions is guilty, but the degree of crime should be different. From soldiers to officers, the degree of crime should be gradually improved. And Hannah's revelation to us is: I am also guilty. Who can accept what ten eyes see and ten fingers point to like Hannah?
Hannah's crime is undoubtedly a personal crime, but in the context of being tried, her crime became a symbol of the crimes committed by the whole Nazi, and she was tried by the whole Nazi. Secondly, as a member of the Nazi system, Hannah was undoubtedly convicted a priori when she was tried, and the trial was just a form, a form. Perhaps in the process of trial, the public can transfer or pass on their psychological trauma through this form of punishment, so as to forget the pain of the past and move on with their lives with peace of mind. If more and more people join the fugitives, will the beautiful Garden of Eden be full of wisdom?
Second, Hade Schlink's "Reader" reading saw Professor Cao Wenxuan's recommendation of "Reader", so he quickly found this book.
When I get this book, I want to read it all at once. As the end of the book says, "every reader will finish it overnight", I finished it as quickly as possible.
The reader told us a story that surprised me or us. /kloc-Michelle, a 0/5-year-old middle school student, happened to meet Hannah, 36, and they became a very special couple. He dated her almost every day, bathed and read aloud every day. They went out for an outing by bike together and registered under the names of their mother and son when they stayed at the hotel. However, the contradiction between them is getting more and more serious. Hannah left without saying goodbye after a big fight and reconciliation. When they met again, Misa was already a college student, practicing in the court, and Hannah became the defendant as a former Nazi war criminal. Hannah accepted the "slander" of other war criminals in order to hide secrets she didn't understand, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. After learning the truth, Michael wanted to explain the truth to Hannah, but after a difficult choice, he finally chose silence. After Michael's divorce, he continued to read to Hannah and sent tapes. Hannah tried to learn words by tape in prison and wrote some small notes to Michael, but she never wrote back. When Hannah was about to be released, Misa received a phone call from the warden. He had to visit Hannah and find a house and a job for Hannah. Hannah had committed suicide when Misa went to the prison to pick her up.
As Professor Cao Wenxuan said, the language of this novel is very serious, but it is not boring to read. Reading this novel reminds me of three words-self-esteem, experience and reading aloud.
It can be said that Hannah has defended her self-esteem all her life.
She used to be an employee of Siemens. When she was about to be promoted, she chose to be a soldier and a guard in a concentration camp in order to hide her illiteracy. People say that one step is wrong and one step is wrong. It was Hannah's wrong decision that led to her tragic life. After the Nazi era, she carried a heavy cross and "hid" her mistakes, so she kept changing her place of residence. So, no matter how much she loved Michael, she didn't give him all her own. In Misa's mind, she is a mysterious woman.
A 36-year-old woman has no home, no relatives, dare not love, can't love, can only wander around and lead an unstable life. Its purpose is not only to hide her history as a Nazi guard, but also to cover up her illiteracy.
Hannah regards her illiteracy as the greatest shame in life, and she is willing to pay all the costs, even if it is love, freedom or life. And Michael left without saying goodbye, not only because of the contradiction between them, but also to keep this secret. Hannah was slandered as her "mastermind" by other defendants, but when she wrote the verdict, she took all the blame in order not to let everyone know that she was illiterate in court, even though she knew the consequences of pleading guilty.
Hannah chose "hiding" and "hiding" to defend her self-esteem. I think there is nothing wrong with her defending her self-esteem, but Hannah chose the wrong way. When she was young, when she was in her prime, and after she met Michael, there were countless opportunities for her to learn to read and write, but she didn't take it well.
Everyone has self-esteem, and they try their best to defend it. If we can get some inspiration from Hannah. Because we always defend our self-esteem in different ways, but we are not as extreme as Hannah and have not caused such serious consequences. However, we made the same mistake as Hannah. In order to maintain their very important self-esteem, they take various measures, thus losing many beautiful things in life. In fact, the best way to defend your self-esteem is to make yourself strong, so that you can have dignity without worrying about maintaining it yourself.
Secondly, I have a feeling that a person's growth experience has a great influence on his life. That summer, Michael met a mature woman and fell in love, which changed his life.
From then on, Michael became cold and numb, and no longer believed in feelings. However, 15-year-old Michael is so full of energy and fantasy! He would get up at 4 a.m. and take the tram to see Hannah during a rare holiday. In order to save enough money for hiking, he will sell his beloved stamps; He will give up the opportunity to travel with his parents just to see Hannah every day; He will study hard for Hannah and make up for the lessons he left behind ... When I look at the details of the scene, I often forget the age gap between Hannah and Michael, and even forget that Michael is still an ignorant teenager. I was just moved by their feelings.
After Hannah left without saying goodbye, Michael's impulse and enthusiasm changed. Michael has changed since then, and he can't even grasp the development of his love life correctly. As the woman writer who survived the fire said, he must have had a short marriage and a boarding child. Does the author tell us in the words of a female writer that in fact, some kind of experience has doomed his later life.
This reminds me of an old story in China, the three major movements in Meng Mu. For the sake of children's growth, Meng Mu moved three times, just to give children a good growth environment. In fact, this is also to let children experience what they should have experienced and stay away from what they should not have experienced.
Although experience is the most precious wealth, some experiences are better not to be experienced. If Michael 15 years old, he is not sick, nor does he lack the meticulous care of his relatives. Maybe he won't know Hannah, and he won't have a future life. Although his life lacks an unforgettable love, he may be much happier.
The other day, I heard that one of my former students is only 18 years old this year, but he is married and has children, and now he is talking about divorce. This is another unfortunate girl. She was once abandoned by her mother and raised by her father. Her own tragedy will be repeated in her own children. What kind of environment makes what kind of people, what kind of experience determines what kind of life, which may be fate. In my opinion, our parents should create a good growth environment for their children, let them experience what they should experience and enjoy their bright future.
Reading aloud is beautifully described in the book, even to the extreme. The reading details in the movie The Reader are also beautiful. When they date, their only exchange of ideas is reading aloud. I don't think they have other ways to communicate.
However, reading aloud changed both of them. Hannah was surprised at Michael's reading aloud, and Michael gained confidence in affirmation and appreciation. He changed from a mediocre child to an excellent student. Hannah also got peace of mind from reading aloud. She becomes soft and quiet, which is the most attractive charm of a mature woman.
Hannah went to prison, but Michelle didn't forget Hannah, although he was ashamed and blamed himself for loving Hannah, although he dared not see Hannah, although he hoped Hannah would stay away from his life from now on. Therefore, he chose to continue studying for Hannah. His records have brought hope to Hannah's life and given her new meaning. Even Hannah learned basic reading and writing with the help of tapes. Misa read many famous books for Hannah and sent piles of tapes. I think in a sense, Michael didn't study for Hannah, he also studied for himself. When reading aloud, you can forget the troubles in the world, the bitterness and desolation of life, and the worries and sorrows in your heart, so that people can immerse themselves in a beautiful and pure atmosphere and gain peace and tranquility of mind, and even read aloud "beyond the noise, beyond life and death". A repentant and tangled Misa can only get peace and tranquility by reading aloud.
I think our Chinese teacher should guide our children to learn to read aloud. Reading aloud is not only to interpret the text, but also to perform, not just for the needs of classroom teaching. We should teach children to read aloud as a part of their lives, to experience the beauty of human nature and the happiness of life through reading aloud, to enrich their lives through reading aloud, and to get a happier life. Reading aloud is no longer a form, but a human need!
The Reader is an unforgettable book, and every time you read it, you will get different results.