I found The Reader very moving and incredibly intense for such a simple book. The character's and the complex emotions that drove them stayed with me. I found the third part of the novel to be emotionally hard to swallow. I'm not sure if it was the author's intention, but I sympathized with Hanna. Even knowing the horrible acts she had committed, I felt bad with her and in her interactions with Michael. I found myself wishing that Michael would have written her personally when he sent her the tapes. Michael suffered as well if not more. He was irrevocably damaged by this woman, and his interactions with other women are non-entities to him. Though Hanna's suicide affected me, I wasn't entirely surprised. She had such a strong nature and I think her realization of what she had truly done was too much for her to handle. To live with that guilt, I feel, was almost an insult to herself and the lofty dignity she held herself too. And through her interaction with Michael, hopefully she realized the pain she had caused him as well.
Michael's meeting with the survivor's daughter was surprisingly poignant. It was ironic how two people, however differently, were both so damaged by Hanna's actions. They both shared in common the sense that this woman had changed their lives forever.
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