Thursday, May 8, 2014

The Dinner

Back at the beginning of April I started reading the novel, The Dinner, by Herman Koch. I hadn’t read a book by Herman Koch before and after reading the inside of the book jacket I thought The Dinner was just going to be an average book at best. About three pages into the novel the writing was so good that I knew the story was bound to be a good one. I can honestly say this is one of the best books I have read so far this year and one of the best book recommendations of the year so far.
  
Admittedly, I usually read books of a lighter nature, storyline wise, and The Dinner airs on the side of being somewhat of a dark story but in a way that makes the novel interesting. The Lohman brothers, ex-teacher Paul and politician Serge, along with their wives, Claire and Babette, meet at an upscale restaurant in Amsterdam to discuss an undesirable situation involving both of their teenage sons. The dinner conversations between the two couples starts out with the basic, polite dinner conversation, but with each course the conversations and atmosphere created by the characters’ moods becomes more and more intense.

The main thing I enjoyed about this book was how skillfully Koch was able to use the back flash effect to relay a history of the characters and the dynamic of the family. Koch was able to do this in such a way that story never strayed too far from the actual dinner that was going on or the critical characters of the book. With all the twist and turns along with the how well-written this story is I think it is safe to say that The Dinner is without a doubt a page turner and a book I would highly recommend.

22 comments:

  1. cool!

    www.bstylevoyage.blogpspot.com
    xx

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  2. Sounds interesting! I'm looking for a good book to read this summer so I'll have to check this out!
    laurenroseprep.blogspot.com

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  3. I never read but it sounds good!

    XX Nora / 1310bynora.com

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    1. It is a great book, I love the author's writing style!

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  4. I'm currently looking for a good book to read and this sounds really interesting. Thanks for sharing!

    Allthingsglitterandbeauty

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    1. Happy to have helped! Hope you're having a great week!

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  5. Thank you for the review! Will add it to my amazon list! x

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  6. This book is new for me - thanks for the review!

    xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena

    www.dressedwithsoul.blogspot.de

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  7. This sounds like a good book! I'll need to check this out :)

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  8. Great review. I btw LOVE how you do your book pics on your bed with your jammies.

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  9. I'm always on the hunt for a new book to read since I've been reading at least 2 books a month! Thanks Lauren!
    -Alex
    www.monstermisa.blogspot.com/

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  10. Now I definitely need to take a trip to Barnes & Noble over the weekend!
    ~Sophia
    http://plaidismyfavouritecolour.blogspot.com/

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  11. Thanks for the review I've been on the hunt for a good read.
    www.vworldrocks.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. You should definitely give this book a go!

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  12. How excellent is this!! Thank you for sharing :)

    http://neatly-packaged.blogspot.com/

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    1. You're Welcome! Thank you for stopping by!

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