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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mwa. Eerste stuk is meer irritant dan wat anders. Het hele verhaal bevat ook veel extra info wat voor mij niet nodig was. Hetgene wat boeiender werd was zo verteld en weer afgelopen...
I'm wavering between three and four stars for this one. On the one hand, like THE DINNER, it was a very addictive read, on the other, it was hard to like, as the narrator was both unreliable and rather unpleasant.
Stylistically and even in terms of plot, this book resembled Koch's great success, THE DINNER. I did, however, prefer it to his earlier book, because I felt there was more of a story, and while the narrator is not likeable, I didn't feel he was a complete psychopath.
I don't want to give away too much in terms of the plot, but the story centers around the events that occur one summer among a group of people gathered at a summer house (with swimming pool;-)
The narrator is Marc Schlosser, a GP, who, just as Paul was in THE DINNER, is relatively unashamed of the dubious nature of his thoughts, which adds to the entertainment, but is also a bit disturbing. Another similarity I noted, was that the theme again centers around what a parent is willing to do to for their child, even crossing lines of ethics and morality, especially in terms of what behavior constitutes that of a good doctor. Koch touches on the idea that everyone, even a benevolent seeming doctor, has a darker side, that only needs the right trigger to come out. I'd like to think of this notion as pure fiction, but the sad truth is, that it probably is not.
All in all, the book is highly readable, if a little long, and if you enjoyed THE DINNER, you will likely enjoy this, too. When it comes down to it though, for me this book was the kind you read, kind of enjoy, and then tend to remember more of what you didn't like than what you liked, just as people sometimes remember scandals over good deeds. Possibly this was intended...
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
Stylistically and even in terms of plot, this book resembled Koch's great success, THE DINNER. I did, however, prefer it to his earlier book, because I felt there was more of a story, and while the narrator is not likeable, I didn't feel he was a complete psychopath.
I don't want to give away too much in terms of the plot, but the story centers around the events that occur one summer among a group of people gathered at a summer house (with swimming pool;-)
The narrator is Marc Schlosser, a GP, who, just as Paul was in THE DINNER, is relatively unashamed of the dubious nature of his thoughts, which adds to the entertainment, but is also a bit disturbing. Another similarity I noted, was that the theme again centers around what a parent is willing to do to for their child, even crossing lines of ethics and morality, especially in terms of what behavior constitutes that of a good doctor. Koch touches on the idea that everyone, even a benevolent seeming doctor, has a darker side, that only needs the right trigger to come out. I'd like to think of this notion as pure fiction, but the sad truth is, that it probably is not.
All in all, the book is highly readable, if a little long, and if you enjoyed THE DINNER, you will likely enjoy this, too. When it comes down to it though, for me this book was the kind you read, kind of enjoy, and then tend to remember more of what you didn't like than what you liked, just as people sometimes remember scandals over good deeds. Possibly this was intended...
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
A group of people you really don't like....but can't wait to see what they do next.
Unsettling story made more so by a very unreliable narrator. I found myself mistrusting every character and questioning everyone's motives. This made for a good mystery/crime story though.
Body and soul…
Marc Schlosser is a General Practitioner in Holland. As time has passed, his practice has gradually become a place frequented by artists and actors, often suffering from either hypochondria or illnesses brought on by their lifestyles. Marc has a reputation for being willing to help out with the occasional prescription for drugs that might not be strictly medically necessary. His patients think he’s wonderful and caring (or so he tells us) mainly because he allows twenty minutes for an appointment and appears to want to listen to what they want to say. But the reader has the dubious privilege of seeing inside Marc’s head, and we soon learn that he’s rather different to the image he projects.
This is a wonderful book. The writing is brilliant and the translation by Sam Garrett is so good that I had to check that it actually was a translation – it reads as smoothly as if it were originally written in English. Most of the characters are fairly repellent, with both Marc and Ralph coming close to being grotesques, and yet Koch keeps the reader totally involved, desperate to know what happened and why. The book deals with some pretty dark subject matter relating to how society views women and in particular young girls and Koch doesn’t shy away from making the reader uncomfortable to the point of squirming. But it’s richly laced with some really wicked humour that made me laugh out loud at many points, while wishing somehow that I wasn’t finding it funny!
Dark, funny and thought-provoking, in the end this is as much about the diseases of the soul as of the body, the two somehow tangled together in Marc’s mind. The pacing is perfect, the writing and translation are superb, and Marc is an unforgettable character. One of the best books of the year, in my opinion – highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Crown Publishing.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Marc Schlosser is a General Practitioner in Holland. As time has passed, his practice has gradually become a place frequented by artists and actors, often suffering from either hypochondria or illnesses brought on by their lifestyles. Marc has a reputation for being willing to help out with the occasional prescription for drugs that might not be strictly medically necessary. His patients think he’s wonderful and caring (or so he tells us) mainly because he allows twenty minutes for an appointment and appears to want to listen to what they want to say. But the reader has the dubious privilege of seeing inside Marc’s head, and we soon learn that he’s rather different to the image he projects.
Occasionally I’ll ask someone to undress behind the screen, but most of the time I don’t. Human bodies are horrible enough as it is, even with their clothes on. I don’t want to see them, those parts where the sun never shines. Not the folds of fat in which it is always too warm and the bacteria have free rein, not the fungal growths and infections between the toes…As the book begins we learn that Marc is being investigated for malpractice by the Board of Medical Examiners over the death of one of his patients, successful actor Ralph Maier. As he waits to learn the outcome, Marc tells the story of how Ralph became his patient and of how their families gradually became acquainted, culminating with Marc taking his wife and two young daughters to stay with Ralph’s family in his summer house, complete with swimming pool. Sexual attraction turns the house-party into a tangled web of hidden and not-so-hidden emotions, gradually darkening as we move towards the shocking incident that’s at the heart of the story.
This is a wonderful book. The writing is brilliant and the translation by Sam Garrett is so good that I had to check that it actually was a translation – it reads as smoothly as if it were originally written in English. Most of the characters are fairly repellent, with both Marc and Ralph coming close to being grotesques, and yet Koch keeps the reader totally involved, desperate to know what happened and why. The book deals with some pretty dark subject matter relating to how society views women and in particular young girls and Koch doesn’t shy away from making the reader uncomfortable to the point of squirming. But it’s richly laced with some really wicked humour that made me laugh out loud at many points, while wishing somehow that I wasn’t finding it funny!
Biology is a force to be reckoned with. An ugly child is a child you love with all your heart and soul too. But it’s different. You’re pleased with your third-floor walk-up, too, until someone invites you over to dinner at a house with a pool in the garden.Marc’s views range from the conventional to the outrageous and part of the discomfort for the reader is that awful feeling of recognition - of suddenly hearing Marc say that thing we wish we had never thought and would never dare to say in our politically correct world. We’d like to disassociate ourselves entirely from him, but Koch won’t let us. For Marc is no simple monster - he has a wife and daughters who love him and he functions well in society - he’s just close enough to normal to make him truly disturbing as he reminds us that we never really know what is going on behind the surface in anyone. And yet, as the story unfolds, it’s almost impossible not to find oneself empathising with him, which is the most disturbing thing of all.
Dark, funny and thought-provoking, in the end this is as much about the diseases of the soul as of the body, the two somehow tangled together in Marc’s mind. The pacing is perfect, the writing and translation are superb, and Marc is an unforgettable character. One of the best books of the year, in my opinion – highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Crown Publishing.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Koch is one of those writers that you need to hug your teddy bear and eat an ice cream cone after reading. Not as dark as Gillian Flynn, Koch is a very descriptive writer who creates deplorable characters that are of high social standing but are such morally bankrupt people that you quickly turn each page because you hope they get their just desserts. I wish that I could give this book 2.5 stars because it is a very suspenseful story and the writing is good. I just hate all of the characters. But I will definitely keep reading Koch.
I received Summer House (with Swimming Pool) by Herman Koch from bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for a review. I have to say I'm glad I chose this book. I was both intrigued and uncomfortable throughout every step of this book. The main character and the books only narrator, Marc, is, in my opinion, the worst character among a bunch of vile characters! I couldn't stand being subjected to his thoughts; but at the same time i kept turning page after page in the hopes of finally glimpsing what ever awful event that started this whole book. I will definitely be reading another Herman Koch book!
There are books that, no matter how well written, one regrets to read, especially for those who this disgusting "flavour in the mouth." This is one of these, in which from the protagonist, who is also a first-person narrator of the events that happen to him, to "the rest of the gang", there was not one that I liked.
I do not think that I will read more of this, no matter how good, writer.
Ci sono dei libri che, per quanto ben scritti, uno rimpiange di aver letto, specialmente per quella sensazione di amaro che lasciano "in bocca". questo é uno di questi, in cui dal protagonista che é anche narratore in prima persona degli eventi che capitano, a tutto il resto della combriccola, non ce n'é stato uno che si sia salvato per quanto mi riguarda. Non credo che leggeró altro di questo, per quanto bravo, scrittore.
THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND CROWN PUBLISHING FOR THE PREVIEW!
I do not think that I will read more of this, no matter how good, writer.
Ci sono dei libri che, per quanto ben scritti, uno rimpiange di aver letto, specialmente per quella sensazione di amaro che lasciano "in bocca". questo é uno di questi, in cui dal protagonista che é anche narratore in prima persona degli eventi che capitano, a tutto il resto della combriccola, non ce n'é stato uno che si sia salvato per quanto mi riguarda. Non credo che leggeró altro di questo, per quanto bravo, scrittore.
THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND CROWN PUBLISHING FOR THE PREVIEW!
After reading and enjoying The Dinner last summer, I was pretty excited to read Summer House with Swimming Pool. I should have tempered my excitement. I thought the story dragged, all of the characters were unlikable, and there were several sections I had to skip reading all together.