"The Long Reader" 2018-71
Written by Debenhard Schlink?, translated by Qian Dingping?, Yilin Publishing House, first edition in August 2012< /p>
01
Many years ago, I saw the movie adapted from this book, starring Kate Winslet, the actress who played the heroine of the movie "Titanic" Yes, I was deeply impressed. I thought it was a very meaningful movie. Last week, "365 Reading" *** read this book, which aroused my interest in reading this book.
I borrowed this book from the library after school yesterday afternoon, and then I couldn’t wait to read it. In the end, as the appendix of the book said, “I read it in one night.” After reading, I was very excited, but because it was too late, I just came to write reading notes this morning.
02
This book covers a lot of content, such as unusual love, Nazi crimes, desire for knowledge, etc. And I was attracted by the love in it, and then fell in love with the character Hannah in the book.
The novel tells the story between him and Hannah from Misha’s limited perspective, so we know more about Misha’s psychological activities, but we can only understand Hannah’s thoughts and psychology through Misha’s We can understand or infer what Xia saw, heard and felt, so the character of Hannah has many looming things to remember.
03
I think the most rare thing about her is her self-esteem and desire for knowledge.
Perhaps due to her background, Hannah is illiterate. This was a huge shame to her and became a key factor in determining her fate. Perhaps because she could not read or write, she did not work at Siemens, but worked as a female guard in a Nazi concentration camp. Because she couldn't read the indictment, she didn't know how to grasp the key points to defend herself in the dock. Later, because she did not want others to know that she was illiterate, she had to admit a crime that was not hers and was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment. For this reason, there were misunderstandings and disputes in her relationship with Misha. In the process, Hannah showed great self-esteem and tried every means to avoid her weaknesses and avoid letting others know about this matter. She kept it secret for many years until Misha suddenly discovered it when he was a law student attending Hannah's trial many years later. When he realized it, he suddenly thought of it based on many previous clues.
Precisely because she is illiterate, Hannah likes to listen to others read aloud. When she was working as a concentration camp guard, she often found thin girls to read to her. These girls were eventually sent to Auschwitz and died. I believe that Hannah's respect and thirst for knowledge led her to use this method to make the last month of the girls who would eventually die a little better. This is also a manifestation of Hannah's kindness.
04
The scene where Hannah asks Misha to read to her is impressive. What they usually do together is read aloud, bathe, make love, and lie next to each other. Hannah listens extremely attentively, will nervously pay attention to the changes in the plot of the book, and will also express her own opinions and comments.
She satisfied her thirst for knowledge by listening to readers reading.
Once, when Misha’s family was out, Misha invited Hannah to her home. Hannah visited the study of Misha's father, a university professor of philosophy, and ran her fingers along the spines of rows of books before her face was reflected in the windowpane. That scene was deeply imprinted in Misha's mind and became the most touching scene in the book. Misha doesn’t know Hannah’s mental state at that time, and neither do we. But looking back now, I guess that Hannah must be full of longing for those books, full of admiration for people who read, and full of regret that she can't read.
While in prison, Hannah received tapes of Misha reading to her. Based on those reading tapes, she began to teach herself how to read and write. Eventually, she learned to read and write, and she was delighted. This spirit of self-improvement is admirable, but we also feel very sorry for her belated education.
05
I think Hannah is a very innocent person. She defended herself in the dock and just expressed her helplessness and hesitation at the crime scene in a matter-of-fact way. She truly loved Misha and affectionately called him little guy. She loves beautiful natural scenery. While in prison she collected photos of Misha and photos of natural beauty. She loves to be clean, likes to take baths, and has a very fresh smell. Her heart is very pure, so it is difficult for us to think that she is a heinous bad person because she once served as a Nazi guard and failed to rescue the prisoners in a fire incident, causing many prisoners to be burned alive. Moreover, she left a will after her death, giving her inheritance to the daughter of the survivor of the disaster. How can one make people hate such a person? How can we make irresponsible remarks about the love between the 36-year-old her and the 15-year-old Misha? Doesn't she truly love him? Isn't she a very kind person? She was just involved in a crime due to a strange combination of circumstances and an accident. We cannot say that she was completely without fault. After all, she was indeed a female Nazi guard, but many crimes cannot be fully borne by her.
06
Initially due to Misha’s ignorance, and later due to his weakness, we have never been able to penetrate deeply into Hannah’s heart and understand her inner sorrow, hesitation and helpless. Most situations can only be guessed. In the end, after Hannah committed suicide, Misha came to her cell in prison and saw the books, pictures, articles, and wills she had collected, and also learned about her situation in prison from the warden. Misha fought back tears. , his heart must be full of guilt and remorse, because he only sent Hannah audio tapes, but never wrote her a letter, and he failed to live up to Hannah's expectations of her.
This ending also made me cry. Hannah is a sad and pitiful character. She hanged herself on the morning of her release from prison. Was she afraid to face life after release? I think of the old prisoner in the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" who hanged himself before being released from prison. He had lived in the prison system for decades, and he could no longer imagine how he could live in the outside world. Hannah has lived in prison for 18 years, how will she face the outside world? I think another reason is disappointment in Misha. A week before he was released from prison, Misha met with Hannah at the request of the warden. Hannah seemed disappointed with Misha's performance. We really don’t know what Hannah was thinking during those final weeks. Perhaps Hannah's disappointment began years earlier. Because the warden said that she used to love cleanliness and pay attention to keeping in shape, but she started to give up on herself a few years ago. She often didn't take a shower, her figure was out of shape, and she had the smell of an old person. She also stayed away from people and lived in seclusion alone. . Perhaps from that time on, Hannah had already begun to lose hope and confidence in life.
07
Hannah’s story is lamentable. There are many mysteries and conjectures. It is precisely because of this that the novel is intriguing. Cao Wenxuan strongly recommended this book in the preface, saying that its "subtleties conceal great meaning." Some people may see the crimes of the German Nazis in her, some may see love, some may see the charm of knowledge... But I, I, see many beautiful things in human nature from her.
2018-10-20
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