The Dinner
"A European Gone Girl." —The Wall Street JournalAn internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives—all over the course of one meal.It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples...
show more
"A European Gone Girl." —The Wall Street JournalAn internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives—all over the course of one meal.It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse. 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. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love. Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy.Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader’s guide and bonus content
show less
Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780385346856 (0385346859)
Publish date: November 5th 2013
Publisher: Hogarth
Pages no: 320
Edition language: English
The Dinner starts with two brothers and their wives at a fancy restaurant in The Netherlands. The one brother is a politician and the other a businessman out of work because of an illness. They both have teenage sons who seem to get along. The way the cousins get along and spend their time is what ...
Herman Koch’s The Dinner, translated from the Dutch, is set in modern Amsterdam. Most of the novel’s action takes place over the course of an expensive dinner endured by two couples at an upscale restaurant. The narrator, Paul, begins by expressing his dread over the upcoming evening and alludes t...
Paul and Claire meet his brother, Serge and his wife Babette, for dinner one evening to talk about their children. Serge is running for Prime Minister and wants to do damage control. The other three have other ideas. The story is told in flashbacks of the relationships and events of Paul's life....
3.5 starsI don't know what to say about this book. Everyone in it seems to be crazy. I didn't know what was going on at first. Now that I've finished I don't know how to rate it. It's a weird story, but it's uniquely weird. I just don't know. This book is an experience for sure.
The most remarkable, and frustrating, thing about this novel is the fact that it takes place over the span of one dinner — hence the title. Our main players are two married couples, all with worries and dark motives and problems to work through. Paul is the main character; The Dinner is narrated by ...