The Dinner by Herman Koch had been pretty steady on the
best-seller’s list, so it made the cut of books for our summer adventure. I
honestly wasn't entirely sure what to expect since the subject matter was hard
to get a read on. The basic premise is that the story unfolds over the course
of a dinner between two couples and that their children are somehow involved in
something illegal. It turns out this is a very complex situation involving modern race
relations, anchored by two well-off brothers, one of whom is a politician.
The twists and turns of navigating the modern world of
over-exposure courtesy of technology and the issue of protecting children in
cases of wrong-doing lie at the heart of this tale. It frankly could have been ripped from the
headlines: politics, money, race, blackmail, marital secrets and family drama
all anchor this story in a realistic way. While the reader comes to know the
full truth (or is given enough detail to feel like you've gotten the full
story), the morality questions are not as clear even once the timeline has been
pieced together. I appreciated this book as much for the issues it raised as
the story it told, so if you are in the mood for something that will linger
after you've finished, go ahead and crack the cover on The Dinner.
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