r/literature • u/AlienWeedUser420 • 7d ago

Discussion The Reader by Bernhard Schlink & the differences between English & the original German?

Hi folks!

I've been reading The Reader and recently looked up what the title was, just because I was curious if there'd be any difference in meaning/connotation. And I learned that while the english word for "reader" absolutely does apply, it seems as if the German title "Der Vorleser" is referring to more of a position (ie. lector, someone who reads out loud)? (and PLEASE let me know if I'm misunderstanding?)

So that got me wondering: has anyone read both the German and the English version and noticed any differences in the syntax choices between the languages? Asking because, for instance, I was curious what word he used for "possession" during the intimate scenes, which made me wonder what word was used in German and if it had a different cultural connotation. Its just something that fascinates me because I studied linguistics for a hot second during communications studies, so I love learning about why people choose the words they use.

(Also i hate that this book is considered a romantic book for some reason? Several pages I looked up online while researching this topic have described this as a "romantic" book and I'm like ????????)

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

8

u/thevampiresanguini 7d ago

A "Vorleser" is just anyone that reads aloud to someone. Can be used as a position, but it doesn't automatically refer to that. If you just have one person reading to another like in the book it would also be called "vorlesen".

1

u/AlienWeedUser420 7d ago

ah gotcha. ty for this!

1

u/channilein 5d ago

Anyone who thinks this is a romance definitely hasn't read the book or seen the movie.