The Dinner
Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act - an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. When the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.
Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner is an internationally bestselling phenomenon that will leave you breathless.
The folks in this book got under my skin from the get go. The pretentiousness was mind boggling. These are people for whom it's important who arrives last for a dinner reservation, for whom appearance is all. They meet at a restaurant that reminds me of The Emperor's New Clothes. Will no one admit to the laughingly almost empty plates of unique ingredients? And it goes downhill from there. These aren't people you're going to like. Those opening chapters give you an inkling of how these folks
It occurred to me by the end that this is a fascist novel. Not in the sense that the author is fascist or anything of the sort, but rather like pointing to a certain book and recognizing that it's a feminist novel, or a queer novel, or a Southern novel, or what have you. In 'The Dinner' we have a situation in which the narrator, through a long illuminating story, reveals to the reader the picture of what a secret contempt of all things weak or inferiorformulated into an ideology and informing
Wow! What a fun dinner experience that was!Everything was going so well during drinks and appetizers. Just a nice meal in a super fancy restaurant. Luckily, Serge knew people since he was a politician and all, maybe even the next prime minister! The first third of the book was just that... appetizers, whetting my appetite for the delicious main course. Pages and pages of beautiful descriptions, subtle humor, not so subtle humor, and casual conversation. The whole book could have stayed right
Wow, lots to unpack here. This is a novel that has been sitting on my shelf for several years, and I finally pulled it down in a good-faith effort to read more of the books I already own. I don't remember why I was so interested in this that I bought a copy, so I skimmed some reviews to jog my memory. I saw everything from 1 star to 5 stars from Goodreads friends, with some very heated comments about the characters and the story. It lowered my expectations, and I felt ready to tackle this book.
Edit :: added spoiler alert per GR member request.(view spoiler)[Pretentious rot and Dutch version of Gone Girl but with sociopaths + food = unpalatable. I know. That was too easy. And smug.Sorry. (hide spoiler)]
The Wall Street Journal has tagged The Dinner as the European Gone Girl. I beg to differ and I think that this book should more appropriately be tagged the European Defending Jacob'...but hey who am I to question The Wall Street Journal! The Dinner tells the story of two families, the parents of which meet each other over dinner one evening in an exclusive restaurant in Amsterdam. At the heart of the story is a horrific crime which both sons within each family hold equal responsibility.Koch has
Herman Koch
Hardcover | Pages: 292 pages Rating: 3.22 | 125123 Users | 16446 Reviews
Details Regarding Books The Dinner
Title | : | The Dinner |
Author | : | Herman Koch |
Book Format | : | Hardcover |
Book Edition | : | US/CAN |
Pages | : | Pages: 292 pages |
Published | : | February 12th 2013 by Hogarth (first published January 2009) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Mystery. Contemporary. Thriller |
Ilustration Supposing Books The Dinner
On a summer evening in Amsterdam, two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. At first, the conversation is a gentle hum of polite small talk - the banality of work, the latest movies they've seen. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act - an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. When the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.
Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner is an internationally bestselling phenomenon that will leave you breathless.
Mention Books To The Dinner
Original Title: | Het diner |
ISBN: | 0770437850 (ISBN13: 9780770437855) |
Edition Language: | English |
Setting: | Amsterdam(Netherlands) |
Literary Awards: | Publieksprijs voor het Nederlandse Boek (2009), PEN Translation Prize Nominee for Sam Garrett (2014), Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Fiction (2014) |
Rating Regarding Books The Dinner
Ratings: 3.22 From 125123 Users | 16446 ReviewsEvaluate Regarding Books The Dinner
If the word didn't exist prior to this book, we would've had to create "acerbic." The writing is sooooo good. The structure is fascinating. The people are deliciously awful.The folks in this book got under my skin from the get go. The pretentiousness was mind boggling. These are people for whom it's important who arrives last for a dinner reservation, for whom appearance is all. They meet at a restaurant that reminds me of The Emperor's New Clothes. Will no one admit to the laughingly almost empty plates of unique ingredients? And it goes downhill from there. These aren't people you're going to like. Those opening chapters give you an inkling of how these folks
It occurred to me by the end that this is a fascist novel. Not in the sense that the author is fascist or anything of the sort, but rather like pointing to a certain book and recognizing that it's a feminist novel, or a queer novel, or a Southern novel, or what have you. In 'The Dinner' we have a situation in which the narrator, through a long illuminating story, reveals to the reader the picture of what a secret contempt of all things weak or inferiorformulated into an ideology and informing
Wow! What a fun dinner experience that was!Everything was going so well during drinks and appetizers. Just a nice meal in a super fancy restaurant. Luckily, Serge knew people since he was a politician and all, maybe even the next prime minister! The first third of the book was just that... appetizers, whetting my appetite for the delicious main course. Pages and pages of beautiful descriptions, subtle humor, not so subtle humor, and casual conversation. The whole book could have stayed right
Wow, lots to unpack here. This is a novel that has been sitting on my shelf for several years, and I finally pulled it down in a good-faith effort to read more of the books I already own. I don't remember why I was so interested in this that I bought a copy, so I skimmed some reviews to jog my memory. I saw everything from 1 star to 5 stars from Goodreads friends, with some very heated comments about the characters and the story. It lowered my expectations, and I felt ready to tackle this book.
Edit :: added spoiler alert per GR member request.(view spoiler)[Pretentious rot and Dutch version of Gone Girl but with sociopaths + food = unpalatable. I know. That was too easy. And smug.Sorry. (hide spoiler)]
The Wall Street Journal has tagged The Dinner as the European Gone Girl. I beg to differ and I think that this book should more appropriately be tagged the European Defending Jacob'...but hey who am I to question The Wall Street Journal! The Dinner tells the story of two families, the parents of which meet each other over dinner one evening in an exclusive restaurant in Amsterdam. At the heart of the story is a horrific crime which both sons within each family hold equal responsibility.Koch has
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