Powerful German novel... Great recommendation!!

I have just finished reading an amazing novel written by German author Bernhard Schlink (shameless plug for work... Find it here on the One Card Network http://sapln.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/murraybridge/search/results?qu=the+reader+bernhard+schlink&te=&lm=MURRAYBRIDGE). It is an intriguing story that starts out forbidden romance but then becomes so much more complex. It was a great recommendation by a colleague at work (thanks Belinda!!) whom I had told in passing that I was looking for something quick but really interesting to read.

One of the themes touched on by the book is the after affects of the Holocaust, especially how the guilt and emotion of this crime is being dealt with (or not) by the generations of Germans that have come since the conclusion of WW2. I have also read Schindler's List, Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas and The Book Thief, a trio of similarly powerful books about the same period of history, but The Reader, in my mind is the only one of these novels that has really addressed that feeling of guilt.

When I was overseas (soooooooooo many lifetimes ago) I was lucky to have the chance to stay with a German family in Berlin for a week. Prior to staying with this family though I spent a few days as a backpacker in a hostel. It was election time and there were posters everywhere for the various political parties and independents that the citizenry could vote for. One party that caught my mind was the Nazi party... surprising to me that they were still going... I spoke with some Germans that I crossed paths with and discovered their English was good (much better than my Deutsch) and we discussed the elections. Their comments regarding the Nazi party were that this was a small and unpopular group who still had the same very narrow views of what Germany as a country and people should aspire to be and that there was very little chance of this party even holding a single seat.

I thought it also interesting that when I stayed with the Jonker family for the week it was the palace of the princess, the art galleries and even Checkpoint Charlie that I was recommended to see. Nothing to do with that darker side of Germany's history.

The Reader was a wonderful, quick, but very different story for me. A novel that took me back to Germany (a little) but more than that it challenged my view of the country, the people and what they have gone through...