All and all it was not a bad read. I thought that is was very slow and quite boring in some spots. The ending of the book was pretty dumb.

I was very much looking forward to this read and initially was enjoying the book very much, but the enjoyment wore off before the halfway point. The story is weak, and by the end I can say I disliked every single character in the book, and would not recommend this one to anyone. Don't waste your time or money!

When their sons commit a senseless crime, two families decide whether to keep silent or reveal the truth and risk a promising political career. I enjoyed the author’s style of writing but I also found in frustrating. Throughout the story the author chose not to reveal certain details in an effort to create mystery but it gave me the feeling the reader was unworthy of important information. The story is narrated by the unbalanced father of one of the boys and the crime is just a backdrop to explore this troubling character and his influence. Perhaps if this storyline was more thoroughly explored, it may have been more intriguing. As it was, it left me unfulfilled.

The premise of this book was intriguing, but it in no way lived up to its hype. The narrator was frustrating and irritating. The littlest things annoyed him and sent him off on a tangent, which was the author's way of revealing details of the mystery we spend the dinner unravelling. The mystery itself was disturbing, and revealed entirely too slowly and cluttered with too much extraneous information. I literally couldn't wait for this dinner to end. I'm barely glad to have read this one, and more thankful to have simply gotten through it.

This book really wasn't as amazing as Chapters had advertised it to be. It certainly was NOT comparable to Gone Girl. I do feel that the story was interesting, but the narrative was tiring and the main character frustrating. I finished it just for the sake of finishing it.

Excellent story that takes place all during one dinner between two brothers and their wives. As the dinner unfolds, past and present disturbing secrets and events they have been hiding are slowly revealed. The memorable, disturbing ending will be hard to put out of my mind.

Divided into the five parts of a dinner, the novel starts by slowly telling the story of two brothers and their wives having dinner in a hip and chic restaurant in the Netherlands. Based on this premise, the narrative, given here by one of the brothers (Paul), seems quite simple if not common. Until, the dinner reaches its climax and we learn the true reason behind this family reunion: the sons of brothers Paul and Serge have committed what Minny in “The Help” would qualify as a “terrible awful”. As the extent and consequences of this “terrible awful” are revealed, the parents argue on how they should react and how to deal with this matter, even if it means going against all moral principals ... even the law. The book format plays here a good part in my appraisal of it. Paul’s first-person narrative is easily readable and intelligent. Moreover, Paul’s monologue is brutally honest in the description he makes of his son’s and nephew’s terrible act but also of who he is as an individual and how he might inadvertently have influenced this act. Another good point in its favor (and also the main reason why this is not a book you should read lightly) is that the author’s aim here is not the obvious moral and ethic response we would have at first expected. The author is here shocking, if not provoking, in the lack of moral compass his characters depict. The solutions they envision to settle the “terrible awful” here lack even the basic legal ethic. As you go through an array of emotions that span from disbelief and lack of understanding to anger and rage at the injustice that is openly displayed, it becomes impossible to put the book down for good and leave the story unfinished. In fact, you feel quite compelled to return to its pages in order to discover what the final outcome will be or how the whole matter will unravel. Because even though this novel is frightening, shocking, provoking and even disturbing in its depiction of the immorality some people may show towards the legal and ethic system in place, we can’t keep away from asking ourselves just how far we would be willing to go to protect the people that are dearest to us. Whether you will read this book and experience pleasure or disgust is entirely up to you. The only sure thing is that it is bound to leave a lasting feeling on anyone who reads it. For more on this book and others, visit my blog at ladybugandotherbookworms.blogspot.com

The Dinner by Herman Koch begins deceptively reasonable in its act of “normalcy” by its introduction of one of the book’s characters, Serge Lohman, a cabinet minister running in an election, his wife Babette, and its talk of what many families and couples enjoy — a night out to dinner. The first-person narrative shared by the main character of the book, Paul, is easily readable, intelligent, and brutally honest that readers can enjoy being pulled into the fabric of the story with ease and interest. But as the story continues, the “horrific act” committed by both of the couples’ sons is revealed, and not only triggers a city-wide police investigation, but leaves the readers with the shocking anger of its injustice. While not discounting the severity of the crime itself because juvenile delinquency exists in the everyday of community, the book does delve deeper in revealing an even more shocking immorality — the response and reaction of the boys’ parents. And from there the book spirals into a gripping narrative of subversive violence. While Serge Lohman is accused of a pompous, egocentric attitude; his wife, Babette, portrayed as a weeping socialite; Claire, an intelligent and doting mother; and Paul, a complacent father with deep-rooted insecurity issues — readers will be shocked to learn the true culprits and puppeteers of violence and immorality in the book. I, myself, had to put the book down several times to take in a breath from my anger and disbelief. And yet, I was compelled to return to it in order to complete the book and discover its outcome. The tension in the book coupled with its shock value as well as the fact that it’s so well-written and easily readable makes this novel a tough story to put down. It will certainly make readers question just how far one would and should go in protecting those they love—and how far back the source goes in perpetuating acts of violence, as well as who is truly to blame. The novel is an enjoyable read as it is a frightening, disturbing one; one that readers will abhor in its immoral compass and delight in, in its provocative and succinctly dark grip. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure (and the disgust) of reading the novel, The Dinner, by Herman Koch, it’s one you’ll want to add to—and devour from—your reading menu.

Herman Koch somehow pulled this reluctant reader all the way to the last page of his disturbing novel. Not a book where, if you hate it, you can skip to the last pages and be done with it. Both Koch and his translator are very good at their craft. Two brothers and their wives, influential, wealthy, dine together in order to feel each other out about the horrid situation their sons have created. Their solutions are plausible, hopefully not probable, and very unsettling. I kind of wish I hadn't read it.