THE READER

If the best books remain with us long after they have returned to the shelf, then THE READER can take a place among the greats. Campbell Scott, whose perfect pacing and gentle voice animate the simple, engrossing prose, performs this recording beautifully. Michael Berg is a teenager in post-WWII Europe when he meets Hanna, and the two of them begin an affair despite the significant difference in their ages. Years after the relationship ends, they meet again in the most haunting of ways, and the secrets that emerge raise questions about pride, forgiveness, and redemption. Scott's deft reading captures the story's complexity without lapsing into melodrama, and his eloquence with the spoken word complements Schlink's gentle touch with the written one. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2009]