Sunday 7 July 2013

The Dinner - Herman Koch

Wow.
If this is the first book translated from the Dutch by this author I'm in the queue for the second.
At a dinner two brothers, one successful, one not, and their wives tiptoe around the big issue of their sons' behaviour.
In the poshest restaurant in town they gradually get aound to discussing the elephant in the room. Or rather the successful brother tells them what's going to happen.
The sons have committed a heinous crime and the fallout is going to be big should it be revealed that they are guilty, impacting greatly on the career of the successful brother.
This is an amazing rollercoaster of a book where you find your reactions to the characters changing constantly ranging from a level of understanding to complete disbelief.
The boys themselves feature intermittently. There are three sons, two biological , one adopted. The subject of nature versus nurture arises but it's really an unnecessary part of the book and fortunately a small discussion.
The whole book is great for provoking conflict in your own mind, just imagine it in a book club setting.

Publisher - Atlantic

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