Review: The Dinner

The Dinner by Herman Koch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I picked up this book at Barnes and Noble during a hiatus between jobs. This was a really unusual book and one that I liked it. The story was about two related couples whose sons do something (you don't find out what it is until part-way through the book) and they go to dinner together to decide what to do. The entire book takes place during the dinner, narrated by the father of one of the families.


In some ways, the book had a lot in common with [b:Defending Jacob|11367726|Defending Jacob|William Landay|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329612158s/11367726.jpg|16298550], with a father-son relationship, a violent event, and a story told in flashbacks. However, the writing was very different from most books I've read. The narrator is oddly stoic, similar to the narrator from [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1353048590s/6334.jpg|1499998]. Like that book, there's a reason for this behavior, but like that book, it puts a wall between the reader and the characters. This may be compounded by the book being translated from the Dutch, I never find translations to be as easy to connect with emotionally as books written in my native English.

The narrator is a really complex character, and I often couldn't put the book down, waiting to find out more about him. The other characters were very well-developed as well; the story was compelling and surprising. I definitely recommend this book.



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