International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award

The 1999 Shortlist:

Jim Crace
Don DeLillo
Francisco Goldman
Ian McEwan
Andrew Miller
Haruki Murakami
Cynthia Ozick
Bernhard Schlink

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, translated from the German by Carol Brown Janeway

The Reader ISBN: 1861590636 (UK); 0679442790 (USA)

Nominated by:
Birmingham City Libraries, England; Stadtbucherei Frankfurt, Germany; Stadtbuchereien Hannover, Germany; Houston Public Library, Texas; Bibliotheque Municipale de Lyon, France; State Library of Queensland, Australia.

Web Links
Find out more about Bernhard Schlink and his books on these sites:
Vintage's Reading Group Guide to The Reader
Hear Bernhard Schlink read an extract from The Reader, courtesy of Bold Type
A review of The Reader from the Independent (London)

A schoolboy in post-war Germany, Michael Berg has a secretive affair with an older woman, Hanna. He learns little about her, but is shocked and somehow guilty when she simply disappears. Some years later, as a law student, Michael is in court to follow a major case. To his amazement he recognises Hanna as one of the defendants. Her attitude during the trial is bizarre, as she allows herself be presented as the ringleader of her co-defendants and seems to be wilfully mishandling her defence. Michael suddenly understands that her behaviour conceals a secret buried deeper even than her terrible crimes. The past of their relationship and of Germany trap Michael for the rest of his life, haunted by the memories of a relationship that he cannot move beyond and by the dilemma of an entire generation.

Bernhard Schlink was born in 1944. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Berlin.

Other books by Bernhard Schlink:
The Reader is the author's only novel to be translated into English..

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The 1999 Shortlist: Jim Crace Don DeLillo Francisco Goldman Ian McEwan Andrew Miller Haruki Murakami Cynthia Ozick Bernhard Schlink	The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, translated from the German by Carol Brown Janeway ISBN: 1861590636 (UK); 0679442790 (USA)	Nominated by: Birmingham City Libraries, England; Stadtbucherei Frankfurt, Germany; Stadtbuchereien Hannover, Germany; Houston Public Library, Texas; Bibliotheque Municipale de Lyon, France; State Library of Queensland, Australia.	Web Links Find out more about Bernhard Schlink and his books on these sites: Vintage's Reading Group Guide to The Reader Hear Bernhard Schlink read an extract from The Reader, courtesy of Bold Type A review of The Reader from the Independent (London)
	A schoolboy in post-war Germany, Michael Berg has a secretive affair with an older woman, Hanna. He learns little about her, but is shocked and somehow guilty when she simply disappears. Some years later, as a law student, Michael is in court to follow a major case. To his amazement he recognises Hanna as one of the defendants. Her attitude during the trial is bizarre, as she allows herself be presented as the ringleader of her co-defendants and seems to be wilfully mishandling her defence. Michael suddenly understands that her behaviour conceals a secret buried deeper even than her terrible crimes. The past of their relationship and of Germany trap Michael for the rest of his life, haunted by the memories of a relationship that he cannot move beyond and by the dilemma of an entire generation. Bernhard Schlink was born in 1944. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Berlin.	Other books by Bernhard Schlink: The Reader is the author's only novel to be translated into English..	Top of Page