I really enjoy the TuesdayBookTalk Group at GoodReads--it's a small group but I learn about and read books with this group that I wouldn't normally either know about or prioritize, and I've really found some gems this way.
Our February genre was thriller and the book we read was The Dinner, by Herman Koch, translated from Dutch by Sam Garrett.
Two couples, consisting of two brothers and their wives, get together over dinner at an Amsterdam restaurant, to discuss how to handle the serious trouble that their teenage sons are in. In the course of the meal, the narrator, Paul, provides the backstory, not only to the crime that the sons have committed, but to his own mental health, as well as the relationships between himself, his wife and son, and his politician brother and his family.
Doesn't sound much like a thriller? Think again. I found my heart racing every bit as much as when I read Girl on the Train as the horror beneath this "happy family" slowly but inexorably surfaced.
In the end, I found this story to be more about the nature of evil and the exploitation of the mentally ill than I about anything else. Yes, the story touches on parenting and protecting those we love as well as superficiality, pretension, and ambition, but all that seemed trivial when all was revealed at the end of the story. Truly chilling...and well-written, well-crafted, and very tight. A good book.
Yes, I found this book to be a real page turner. My only problem was I thought it kind of copped out regarding the nature of evil and genetic predisposition. I think I would have liked it to be just a bit darker, if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI was frustrated by the narrator--we only got his view of his condition. I felt he was deliberately being obtuse but that could be the nature of the illness.
DeleteI think they're doing a movie of this book with Richard Gere. I wonder how a story like this will translate to film.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard that--I think it could work as a movie.
DeleteThis sounds very good. It is interesting how meals can be the catalysts for good and great literature.
ReplyDeleteFamilies and what lies beneath them also often make for compelling stories.
Great review as always Jane.
Sounds like I need to pull this off the shelves soon!
ReplyDeleteOh yes I thought this book was well done. It starts off pretty funny and then turns dark. It's horrifying and I thought about it for weeks afterwards. A slightly similar genre read is Siracusa.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation for Siracusa. It's on my TBR list.
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