THE DINNER by Herman Koch
BOOK CLUB CHOICE, May 2021
Reviewed by: Norma Bandler
May’s chosen book was The Dinner by Herman Koch, a Dutch author whose book was translated into 21 languages. We reviewed it in English! His book was likened to the writings of Philip Roth, Mark Twain and Joseph Conrad.
Making use of the “unreliable narrator’ ploy, the book is written in the first person in which the speaker freely misrepresented pieces of information vital to the story. The story’s revelation is not clear until near the end. Readers are forced to reconsider their own point of view.
In the plot, a conversation takes place over dinner between two brothers Paul and Serge and their wives in an upscale restaurant in Holland. The goal of the meeting is to discuss unimaginable actions of their two sons (cousins). Serge also has a daughter who is not at all part of the story and an adopted son from Burkina Faso. The crime was not witnessed and the parents’ conversation is to discuss what to do about the actions of their boys. Much family dysfunction is unveiled through the conversations. The writer’s black humour positions an importance controversial family discussion against the superficial restaurant environment. The conversation deteriorates into a bracing nastiness as the ostentation of the dinner proceeds.
The book is not cozy, redemptive or uplifting but it is a challenge to readers to analyze the four main characters and the two teenage boys.
Our conversation was lively and each member contributed important thoughts and ways of interpreting the characters. Feelings changed as we heard each others’ insights. The morality or a-morality was a feature topic of our discussion as we challenged psychological behaviour, family structure, politics, and basic decency.
We agreed that the book prompted a wide range of thinking and valuable discussion.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 