The Dinner by Herman Koch
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Title: The Dinner
Author: Herman Koch
Narrator: Clive Mantel
Unabridged Length: 8h 59m
Published by: AudioGo, 2013
Genres: Adult Fiction, Literary

My Rating: ✮✮

Publisher's Synopsis:
It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse--the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened. Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love. Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner promises to be the topic of countless dinner party debates. Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy.

My Review:
Let me start by saying that this book epitomizes dysfunctional families! It is definitely a different type of story than has ever been written before. It is deep with emotions between siblings and their families.

I did have a difficult time beginning this book, but once I got into, it's like knowing a train wreck is about to happen, but yet you just can't cover your eyes, you have to keep watching to see for yourself what happens! The story did seem to jump all over the place a bit too much for my liking, without much notice, so I found myself questions exactly which time frame I was listening to at the time.

The main characters were deeply emotional brother's, one who is sick and tired of the other's rooty tooty, better art than thou attitude, and makes his feelings quite apparent. Let me tell you, this is no family dinner that I would want to be a part of! The interesting part is the deep connection between the husband and wife, Paul and Claire, and their willingness to support each other, no matter what!

I listened to the audio version of this book, and at the beginning, as an American, I had a difficult time with the accent of the narrator, Clive Mantel, but once I got used to it, he was a phenomenal narrator. He certainly did Paul justice, and was able to precisely exhibit Paul's emotions throughout the entire book. He even did an exquisite job of portraying the women, comically so with Babette (who I felt he was slightly mocking, which made it even more funny!)

Overall, I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars, because it was hard to follow and all over the place, which distracted me from the story at hand. However, it was a book that once you started, you wanted to just keep listening to see what was going to happen!

Disclaimer:
This Audio CD was provided to me by http://www.audiogo.com/us/, courtesy of http://www.audiobookjukebox.com, in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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