Also- I forgot to mention in my previous review. Just as from a creative perspective, Schlinks work is technically beautiful also with some of the most vivid and most poignant excerpts of imagery I have had the pleasure of reading. Natural and scenic Imagery as well as the portrait he paints of Hanna are breathtaking, it's as though the book is being painted in front of your eyes.

What a masterpiece this is, and so clever too. Definitely a Holocaust novel but certainly not in the conventional sense. Looking from neither a victim or guilty point of view, but from a helpless point of view. One that was destined and unfairly placed, The German fate. From the second generation of Germans who had to deal with their predecessors (in this case, sometimes their parents) mistakes, something entirely different and much more difficult to grasp than you would expect. Schlink has, like a master, intertwined this conflict and misplaced guilt with an unconventional love story. This story stuck with me for a long time and still does. It left a certain sadness that is unlike anything I've felt before. Lingering and not easily understood. But sadness all the same.

This book is simply excellent! I picked it up second hand at a charity book fair and that was certainly £1 well spent. It's beautifully written and so full of emotion. You will be engrossed from the first to last page. Buy it, read it, treasure it! Recommended read.

I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it. An amazing story structured on a very real basis.

A completly unput-downable book. It's discussion of illiteracy was well handled from a view point that is not often explored, through the voice of someone close to the person rather than a personal view of being illiterate. Although it deals with some hard issues as a result of Hanna's illiteracy it is a tale told with compassion and understanding. It also gives great insight into the way a relationship can effect you for the rest of time and explores the impression another person can leave on another person's personality.A great read.