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"A European Gone Girl." --The Wall Street Journal
An 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 polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse -- the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. 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.
Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner promises to be the topic of countless dinner party debates. 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.
- Sales Rank: #266102 in Books
- Published on: 2013-02-12
- Released on: 2013-02-12
- Format: Deckle Edge
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.54" h x 1.05" w x 5.90" l, 1.04 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 304 pages
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2013: A good unreliable narrator is one of the most satisfying characters a novelist can dream up--and Herman Koch takes us on a hell of a ride through the mind of Paul Lohman, the deliciously sinister host of The Dinner. Paul's 15-year-old son, Michel, has committed an unspeakable crime; his brother, on the cusp of becoming the Netherlands' next prime minister, has a delicate wife and two teenagers who share Michel’s secret; Paul's wife, Claire, will do anything to protect their boy. As the two couples inch through an excruciating meal at a chic restaurant--their children's whereabouts uncertain--Paul peels back the layers of their situation, weaving to and fro through time and truth. Koch's finely structured story gives away just enough on each page to keep us riveted, feeling like private investigators on the verge of discovery, until the shock of an ending. It's no small feat for the author that the less we trust Paul, the more we want to hear what he has to say. --Mia Lipman
From Booklist
Already a runaway hit throughout Europe, boasting more than a million copies sold, Koch’s sixth novel arrives stateside, giving readers here a chance to mull over some rather meaty moral quandaries. But not so fast. First, Koch has a few false paths to lead us down. The story starts off casually and unassumingly with a dinner between two brothers, one running for prime minister of the Netherlands, along with their wives at one of Amsterdam’s finest establishments. The other brother, as narrator, sharply ridicules every absurd element of the night to great effect. But just as everything settles in, Koch pivots, and these pointed laughs quickly turn to discussion about their teenage boys and something they’ve done. And it’s at this point when readers will feel two distinct ideologies forming and will face the novel’s vital question: which position to side with? Koch’s organic style makes for a continuously engaging read that, if anything, leaves readers wanting more. Another 100 pages or so exploring these issues further would have been more than welcome, but what is here will no doubt stir some heady debates. --Casey Bayer
Review
“A European Gone Girl…The Dinner, a sly psychological thriller that hinges on a horrific crime and its consequences for two families, has become one of spring’s most anticipated suspense novels.” – The Wall Street Journal
“Poised to shake up American publishing…Koch tells a story that could very well take away your appetite.” —USA Today.com
“[A] deliciously Mr. Ripley-esque drama.” —O, The Oprah Magazine
“You’ll eat it up, with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Koch’s ability to toy with the reader’s alliances while using one family’s distress to consider greater societal ills gives the novel a vital punch.” —Daily Beast
“A tart main course that explores how quickly the facade of civility can crumble. It's hard to digest at times, but with a thought-provoking taste that lingers.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
“The novel has been called the Gone Girl of the Continent, and not without cause: Like Gillian Flynn’s bestseller, it’s a tale told by an unreliable narrator, full of twists and skillfully executed revelations, ultimately registering as a black parable about the deceptively civilized surface of cosmopolitan, middle-class lives…What Koch achieves with his prose—plain but undergirded by breathtaking angles, like a beautiful face scrubbed free of makeup — is a brilliantly engineered and (for the thoughtful reader) chastening mindfuck. The novel is designed to make you think twice, then thrice, not only about what goes on within its pages, but also the next time indignation rises up, pure and fiery, in your own heart.” —Salon.com
“Briskly paced and full of ingenious twists—a compulsive read…for those who can tolerate the unsavory company, The Dinner is a treat they’ll gulp down in one sitting.” —Dallas Morning News
“The Dinner begins with drinks and dark satire, and goes stealthily and hauntingly from there. It's chilling, nasty, smart, shocking and unputdownable. Read the novel in one big gulp, and then make plans with friends—you’ll be desperate to debate this book over cocktails, appetizers, entrees, dessert…and then you still won't be done talking about it.” – Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl
“Funny, provocative and exceedingly dark, this is a brilliantly addictive novel that wraps its hands around your throat on page one and doesn’t let go.” – SJ Watson, author of Before I Go to Sleep
“Herman Koch has written a sneakily disturbing novel. He lures us into his story with his unfailingly reasonable tone (just acidic enough to be entertaining), and before we know it we've found ourselves in places we never would've consented to go. The Dinner is a smart, amiably misanthropic book, and it's tremendous fun to read.” – Scott Smith, author of The Ruins
“The Dinner is a riveting, compelling and a deliciously uncomfortable read. Like all great satire it is both lacerating and so very funny... Intelligent and complex, this novel is both a punch to the guts and also a tonic. It clears the air. A wonderful book.” – Christos Tsiolkas, author of The Slap
“What a tremendous book. I loved every single gripping and strange thing about it.” – MJ Hyland, author of Carry Me Down
“By the end of The Dinner you'll have to rethink everything, including who you are and what you believe. This is a book you won't forget.” – David Vann, author of Dirt
“Mesmerizing and disturbing… fast-paced and addictive…The Dinner, already a bestseller in Europe, is sure to find an enthusiastic American readership as well.” – Book Page
“This chilling novel starts out as a witty look at contemporary manners…before turning into a take-no-prisoners psychological thriller…With dark humor, Koch dramatizes the lengths to which people will go to preserve a comfortable way of life…this is a cunningly crafted thriller that will never allow you to look at a serviette in the same way again.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A high-class meal provides an unlikely window into privilege, violence and madness…Koch’s slow revelation of the central crisis is expertly paced, and he’s opened up a serious question of what parents owe their children, and how much of their character is passed on to them…a chilling vision of the ugliness of keeping up appearances.” - Kirkus
International Praise for The Dinner
“The perfect undemanding, credible, terrifying beach read.” —Financial Times
‘‘[The Dinner] proves how powerful fiction can be in illuminating the modern world...The reader does not rise from his table happy and replete so much as stand up suddenly, pale and reeling. Bored with Fifty Shades of Grey and all that brouhaha? Read The Dinner—and taste the shock.” – The Economist
“I’m confidently predicting that The Dinner will become this summer’s literary talk of the town—and the Twittersphere—here in the UK, as it already is in Continental Europe, where the novel has sold more than a million copies. Order yours now.” —Evening Standard
“Shivers kept shooting up my backbone as I became engrossed in Koch’s darkly disturbing tale of family life. . .As the dinner disintegrates into mayhem, we discover just how far the middle classes will go to protect their monstrous offspring.” —Daily Mail
“Rather like The Slap it is set to become a contentious must-read. It may thrill, chill or cheat, but it is undeniably riveting.” —The Independent
“This tense and thought-provoking family drama is set to become a major literary talking point as it asks the question: Just how far would you go to protect your family?” —The Bookseller
“Hugely accomplished and surprisingly subtle.” —Readers Digest (UK)
Most helpful customer reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
Perplexing
By Anjali Shankar
(Spoilers) I don't think I've ever been so unsure about my reaction to a book. I really wanted to like this novel, but I found all of the characters so loathsome that it actually made the story rather unpalatable. There were aspects I did enjoy, which is why I would probably give it a 2.5/5 stars. I enjoyed some of the dinner banter, including the description of the manager and his pinky finger. There was a fair amount of suspense that kept me intrigued enough to keep reading. And while I'm certainly not one to need characters to be likeable, (I loved Wild and Gone Girl, both of which did not strive to create likeable characters), I found that the characters were so distasteful it actually bordered on the ridiculous and contrived. I also found myself wondering what kind of disorder makes people aggressive with sociopathic tendencies. Was that supposed to excuse the violent behavior? If not, what was this point? If what the author intended was a more tongue and cheek approach to moral dilemmas, then I think he did achieve that, but I think he does so at the expense of authenticity.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Decent writing, but repellant characters
By Weaslgrl
SPOILERS AHEAD
The good: Well-written (though a few too many meandering asides).
The bad: The characters' moral choices made me absolutely furious, which greatly diminished my enjoyment of the book. I use "moral" in the sense of being decent human beings and citizens, setting a good example for one's children, and taking responsibility for one's actions. Both mothers bent over backwards to make excuses for their children's inexcusable crime, with one woman becoming a criminal herself to help her son. One of the fathers, who clearly crossed the line from sociopath to psychopath many years ago, fails to recognize this in himself and thus doesn't recognize it in the children either, and is also willing to make excuses. The other father is the only one who wanted to try to face up to the seriousness of the situation, by resigning from a high-profile political race. However, his motivation was unclear to me; did he reason that the truth would come out eventually and then he would have looked much worse, or was he actually trying to take some responsibility? Would the press conference have been only for his resignation, or was he going to also expose what the kids did?
The one interesting "twist" was that the fathers turned out to be the opposite of how they were initially set up. The repugnant political boor ended up wanting to take some sort of action to redress the situation, while his more civilized brother was actually a psychopath whose "apple" didn't fall far from the tree.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Good is good. Bad is bad. Covered up bad is not good.
By Michigan Parents
The Dinner by Herman Koch
January 24 to 26, 2014
Recommended by niece
“Good Ole Dad”
Hmm...I am a reader of many genres. However, for the past several years I have read a lot of horror and some of it being a bit disturbing. I have not read any thing from King to Meikle or Strand to Saunders this disturbing and horrific.
Bad is bad. Good is good. Covered up bad (in my mind) does not equal good....and certainly does not equal a happy family. This book does present a moral dilemma that any parent could face, but most will not. The author must have had this idea that does sound cleaver at first thought, maybe a second thought would have prevented the matching of a light heart-ed very public dinner with such a shocking and private topic.
The dinner's various categorizes of the menu were suppose to match (I think) the conversation of these 2 men and their wives. I wasn't convinced of that. In fact for at least the first 35% of the book, I had no idea it was going to be such a true horror! These 2 couples had monsters for children, no doubt in my mind. Any one of any age would have seen that ATM booth and called the police. What they did was not logical. And then for responsible parents to cover something like that up. Not helping, people!! The parents were not helping their futures they were hindering the future of these two boys. Obviously these boys needed professional help and maybe even prison time. There was not even a mention of parental punishment, was there. And what was approved by Claire, the mother of Michel, good Lord, that woman was psychotic!! What...she knew something should have been done, decided this was the way to go, not even informing her husband??
Our narrator, Poor ole Paul...”Good Ole Dad” as Michel said a few times in the book, who started off in such a light-hearted upbeat way, sure turns the tables doesn't he. Paul is one of several characters in this book not to like. In fact there were no characters in this book to like. They were all scum-bags. I honestly do appreciate likeable characters in books I read. At least one or two.
There were a few things I wondered about. What exactly is this author trying to do in this book? Is he trying to promote a moral or political agenda? I mean if we know someone is going to be asocial, then should that life be eliminated before it's had a chance to be born? Paul obviously had issues. After the high school job, where did his money come from? At this point was Claire working? Paul mentions Claire not working and cared for her child with the support of Day Care, so she had 3 days a week for herself. What?? That alone is weird. No mother wants to take their child to day care 3 days a week, especially one that she knows_____(don't want to spoil here). So that whole set up was dysfunctional. Was Claire working then? What happened when Claire was in hospital and Babette and Serge came over and found the mess? Was it impossible for Paul to care for his son, even though he thought he could? And what about Serge's political ambitions. He just throws them away and then decides not to or what? The hitting, the scars, the beard. It's interesting, yes indeed, but it doesn't seem to come together to make any sense. Another issue is Serge wants to be in the public eye, but he doesn't want this event to be in the public eye...so he invites Paul and Claire to met him at a very public place where servers are always at the table and the public is there for pictures and if someone could catch a word Mr. Future Prime Minister (look out Mr. Rutte!) would say, it would be public knowledge soon. Why not meet in a private setting? That seemed odd to me.
What I don't know now is this, Was the book written poorly or did the author actually mean for the characters to be as idiotic as they were unlikable? I'm not sure, but I do know there is a lot of information that we do not know (see previous paragraph) and it could have been easily included in the story.
However, even the illogical and left out information,, I thought the book was a good read. Starting out as a nice dinner where we soon find out, is not such a nice dinner. One sympathizes with Paul at the beginning, thinking he really wants this happy family and thinks he has it. He thinks he can take care of his son and honestly thinks he's doing a good job. It's sad really, for Paul is out of touch with reality. I believe Clair knows this and feels she must cover up for him and their son. So then one has to ask themselves when is family right and when is it wrong. Looks like in this family and extended family, if you are on Clair's side you are right.
3 Stars for Goodreads and Shelfari and 4 stars for amazon. I might recommend this book, but I think I would be more inclined to strongly recommend certain people not read it.
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