The Dinner by Herman Koch
A summer's evening in Amsterdam and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant. Between mouthfuls of food and over the delicate scraping of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of politeness - the banality of work, the triviality of holidays. But the empty words hide a terrible conflict and, with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened... Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. Together, the boys have committed a horrifying act, caught on camera, and their grainy images have been beamed into living rooms across the nation; despite a police manhunt, the boys remain unidentified - by everyone except their parents. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children and, as civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.
An essential summer read * Independent Magazine *
The talking point of the summer * Sunday Times *
I'm confidently predicting that The Dinner will become this summer's literary talk of the town.. Order yours now -- Melanie McGrath * Evening Standard *
Rather like The Slap it is set to become a contentious must-read. It may thrill, chill or cheat, but it is undeniably riveting -- Arifa Akbar * Independent *
Shivers kept shooting up my backbone as I became engrossed in Koch's darkly disturbing tale of family life... As the dinner disintegrates into mayhem, we discover just how far the middle classes will go to protect their monstrous offspring -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *
The perfect undemanding, credible, terrifying beach read * Financial Times *
Proves how powerful fiction can be in illuminating the modern world... The best beach read of the season * Economist *
The talking point of the summer * Sunday Times *
I'm confidently predicting that The Dinner will become this summer's literary talk of the town.. Order yours now -- Melanie McGrath * Evening Standard *
Rather like The Slap it is set to become a contentious must-read. It may thrill, chill or cheat, but it is undeniably riveting -- Arifa Akbar * Independent *
Shivers kept shooting up my backbone as I became engrossed in Koch's darkly disturbing tale of family life... As the dinner disintegrates into mayhem, we discover just how far the middle classes will go to protect their monstrous offspring -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *
The perfect undemanding, credible, terrifying beach read * Financial Times *
Proves how powerful fiction can be in illuminating the modern world... The best beach read of the season * Economist *
Herman Koch, born in 1953, is a Dutch writer. He was a renowned television actor on the series Jiskefet and a former columnist for the newspaper Volkskrant. The Dinner is his sixth novel and has already won the prestigious Publieksprijs Prize in 2009. Herman Koch currently lives in Amsterdam.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781848873827 |
| ISBN 10 | 1848873824 |
| Title | The Dinner |
| Author | Herman Koch |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Atlantic Books |
| Year published | 2012-08-01 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Prizes | Long-listed for IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2013 (UK) |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |