The Dinner is a 2009 book by Dutch author Herman Koch, translated into English and published in the U.S.A. in 2013. It's been adapted for film, but I haven't seen the movie. The book takes place in the summer. There are no likable characters here, from children to adults. They are ugly, self-centered, vile, and dangerous people. And that's during dinner at a fancy restaurant. I found it fascinating, a look at what people are willing to do to protect the lives they think they are living.
from the back of the book:
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.The New York Times says, "The success of “The Dinner” depends, in part, on the carefully calibrated revelations of its unreliable and increasingly unsettling narrator, Paul Lohman. Whatever else he may be, likable he is not" and calls it "absorbing and highly readable". The Guardian says it's "a well-paced and entertaining novel". NPR concludes, "The best part about The Dinner was this tension taking place above the plates. As the meal wore on, I realized I couldn't get up from the table."
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, and as civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows 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.
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I have read this book. It was interesting to be sure how far some parents will go to protect their children. What I found difficult about reading the book is not being able to care about any of the characters but yet I read cover to cover. I often wondered who in my own circle could be capable of such behaviour.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was horrifying to think what the next generation of those families would be capable of, having these parents as models.
DeleteI have friends who are fiercely protective of their children, but I would have to read the book to see how despicable parents can get when confronted with a police investigation. Thanks for the interesting review.
ReplyDeleteFiercely protective is taken to a whole new level by these parents.
DeleteDid you like this book? I'm not sure it sounds like something I would read, but I do like the idea of the book. Hmm, maybe it might be a good read. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I read it. I can't imagine acting in this way. My jaw just dropped at some of their behavior.
DeleteThey must have made a movie from this book. I saw a movie that parallels this description--nasty bunch of people. I remember Richard Gere was in it. (I don't care for him in the first place-LOL!)
ReplyDeleteIt's been adapted 3 different times! The Richard Gere version was in 2017, but I don't remember hearing about it when it was released. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dinner_(2017_film)
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