Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love. In fact, he would have gritted his teeth at. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. Paul, the narrator, wouldnt like the comparisons that Ive made between The Dinner and the aforementioned films. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.Įach couple has a fifteen-year-old son.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon using this link. The plot is tightly woven and everything is. Herman Koch is a great chef I mean, author. Despite what some critics have implied, there is no extraneous matter. Between mouthfuls of food and over the scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse. The Dinner by Herman Koch shows that humans are a scary species and the actions that we are capable of can haunt us forever. Paul, the narrator of this caustic tale, initially appears to be an accomplished man who’s just slightly eccentric and prone to condescension: As he and his wife prepare for a pricey dinner with his brother and sister-in-law, he rhetorically rolls. It’s a summer’s evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. A high-class meal provides an unlikely window into privilege, violence and madness.

The dinner herman koch review