Sunday 31 May 2015

Book Review: The Dinner by Herman Koch

I recently read The Dinner by Herman Koch and though I'd write a quick review.

The premise of the book? Four adults meet over dinner to discuss a truly urgent matter. Their children have been caught on CCTV committing a horrifying act. At present, no one has linked the crime back to the children in question. The only ones who know are their parents. How far will the love of a parent go when it comes to their children? As parents, how forgiving can you be when your children have done something so appalling? It offers up some interesting questions and throws in some surprising turns. Without giving away too much, this is a truly interesting character piece as we slowly unfold the nature of the characters between courses at a painfully fancy restaurant. As far as thrillers go, it is a slow burner and more of a character piece but it is an intriguing read which, hopefully, will leave you with some strong opinions at the end.

Side note: Should this be made into a movie, I vote Carice Van Houten for the role of Claire.

As a meal, I found this book to be substantial enough that it hit the spot, but I found myself still craving the sweet and juicy details of a dessert. That is to say that the book was fine but at no point did I feel myself completely sinking my teeth into it and savouring it, looking to order another plate of it.

No comments:

Post a Comment