The Dinner by Herman Koch Book Review

 The Dinner 

By Herman Koch

Translated by Sam Garrett 

Published Year: 2009

Page Count: 255 pages 

Medium Used: Kindle PW 

Genre : Parenting, Contemporary Fiction, Suspense, Murder, 2025-read. 

Rating : 4/5 

The prose is so good and the ambience is wonderful. The story, most of it, takes place during the course of a dinner in a Dutch restaurant in Holland/Netherlands. I didn't want the story and narration to end. Although the opinions aired and the actions condoned are a bit hard to take in, I gulped the prose/story down. I really wanted to give this a 5 point rating. But some of the beliefs and actions of the narrator are nothing but crazy. They cannot be supported. Like, for example, when he says that someone who gets murdered or killed is subconsciously inviting it because they are not innocent and are deserving of the punishment. He compares World War 2 and the humongous numbers of people who died this way are not all innocent. It is outrageous to read such blathering even if he puts it in neatly packaged sentences and justifications.

I liked the way he simmered the first few pages with scathing and bitter sarcasm that made me laugh out loud multiple times. I liked how he careened the subject matter from inconsequential topics into loaded, parental issues and murder subjects seamlessly. I will not be kidding if I say I was shocked. I went into the book blind. I didn't know what it was about. I just read one appreciative statement from Gillian Flynn and picked this book. I liked how the narrator pulled the different parts of his life, together ,which are relevant to understanding the current dilemma they were facing. 

I think the father or narrator was a bad influence on his son and wife. Although he was declared with some mental illness/defect/syndrome, he has taken the matters into his hands and skipped taking his meds. His first  option when it comes to handling complaining school teachers or shop owners is to manhandle them and brutally harm them. I cannot say this is a nice trait even it shows that he is absolutely protective of his son/wife. 

I loved reading it. Even with all the novel ideologies he floated around. It also raised some issues with raising an adopted, black child by white parents, far away from his birth country. And how well would they fit into the mold of this new family, new country, new siblings etc. It raised issues like how far can a family go to remain happy, forgiving their child's miscreant behavior. Overlooking it and sometimes even erasing the inflammatory evidence.