The Dinner

A Novel

By: Herman Koch, Sam Garrett - translator

Narrated by: Clive Mantle

Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The darkly suspenseful tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives—all over the course of one meal. Now a major motion picture.

“Chilling, nasty, smart, shocking, and unputdownable.”—Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

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.

©2009 Herman Koch; Translation © 2012 by Sam Garrett (P)2013 AudioGO

Disturbing

Narration is excellent, but the characters are not just flawed as would be expected, but downright disturbing in their view of taking another's life.

Different/Interesting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. very intersting story told in a creative way.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Dinner?

The story of what happened with the sons.

What about Clive Mantle’s performance did you like?

The way he was reading about his brother it seemed that he was really talking about his brother.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

when I had finished the story I kept thinking about the way each person in the family handled
what had happened. I think the two women were very much in tune with one and other.

Twisted

I'm not fond of tons of details to the point of getting lost in them. Not to say this book did that but their were times when I got lost. Not sure if I appreciated the direction this story took.

Astonishing On Every Level

First I'm SO glad I listened to this one instead of reading it! The narrator was perfect, and added amazing suspense to an already surprisingly suspenseful tale. It starts out so unassuming, and the primary/ first-person character is not someone you think you'd want to spend much time with. Yet you cannot stop listening... the most mundane asides are still captivating. I'm afraid to say much more for fear of dropping a spoiler, but... if you like mysteries, thrillers, or literary dramas featuring dystopian antiheroes... you will love this book!

When your dinner goes amazingly wrong

Great writing, Character development excellent. Who are the monsters among us? I could relate to some of the reactions towards family members, and then found I was horribly on the wrong team. Well done!

Unsatisfied

If you're hungry for a good story - don't purchase/read this book! It was an unfortunate disappointment because there was so much potential for it.

Koch details a dinner between two brothers and their respective wives. Through each course of the meal - appetizer, entree, and dessert - you learn about the dynamics between the two brothers and the dilemma that complicates them and their sons. When I say dilemma, I mean catastrophe - someone dies. A big part of my problem with Koch's novel is rather than the vindication of that person's death - which we often look forward to (think Spiderman or any other action movie) - there is a big effort to disguise what happened or prevent it from coming to light. It is absolutely disgusting. I hated the characters. They were all pompous and self-absorbed.

I suppose I am jaded because I am a moralist who wants justice for all - and I didn't get that from Koch's novel. If you can get past that, then you may be able to enjoy the novel. Beyond the plot, the narration was decent. Clive Mantle, the narrator, did a well enough job performing the novel. He could get dry and I would find myself nodding off, until you heard his voice become awfully whimsical as he was personifying one of the wives.

Stunning and Surprising

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The subtle shifts in this book drew me in, entirely.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Dinner?

When I began to realize that things were not as they seemed.

If you could take any character from The Dinner out to dinner, who would it be and why?

None--I would not want to be near any of these people.

Who cares about the dinner?

I was expecting something along the lines of "Carnage" (the Roman Polanski movie, from the play "The God of Carnage") - an examination and illustration of how parents behave and reveal themselves when dealing with the misdeeds of their children. This novel seems to start out that way: Two couples meet for dinner - two brothers (one an important politician, one a disgraced former school teacher) and their respective wives. "We need to talk about are children" is stated a few times, but they never get to that.

Instead, the book delves into a whole lot of backstory, detailing not just what their sons did, but how the parents found out, how the police were involved, and how a video ended up on the internet. And backstory about how Paul hated his job and his students, how he got fired after assaulting an official, how he hates his brother and how he is hatefully jealous of, well, just about everything that he doesn't have. He's ultimately a cowardly sociopath with no sense of anger management. Then there's his scheming sociopathic wife, the vacant (but apparently nice) wife of the politician, and the politician himself who is (ironically) the one who seems most sane and level headed. And some nonsense about some disease relating to violence and sociopathy that is genetic, can be discovered by amniocentesis, is often the cause of recommended abortions in women carrying affected children, and which **the author admitted later does not exist**. It's all kind of a mess.

The potential exists (for a book like We Need To Talk About Kevin), but this isn't it.

Good Recommendation from NPR

Where does The Dinner rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audiobook ranks in my list of top 10, with its twists in the plot and overall storyline.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I rarely get to listen to books in one sitting, but I looked forward to listening during my morning workout or commute.

Odd but interesting

I knew from the summary that the whole thing took place over one dinner, so it was necessary to back track to explain what led to the dinner, it was just a little confusing. So once you found out how disturbed these people were and how it ended... I didn't really like it or the people.