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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
I read the book in Dutch, and found it really interesting. The plot and style of writing are not really difficult. The book sucks you into the story and I couldn't put down until I had finished it. Although I was a bit disappointed by the ending, I still really liked the book.
Ik vond dit boek heel erg vermakelijk, waarschijnlijk meer dan 'De Greppel' die ik afgelopen maand heb gelezen. Het verhaal is is interessant, de karakters zijn fantastisch en walgelijk en de setting is erg fijn. Een aanrader!
Another book with a pretty cover but not much between the covers...front and back. At least this time I got to chapter 14 before I quit. I picked this one up again only because I thought I would give it a second chance. I only got two more pages in before I realized I did not care what happened to the characters or their lives. In fact, the characters could be just another person on the street that I pass by every day. Nothing special about them. I still can not even describe what little I read of this book. This is why I put it down. This book was lacking in engaging, interesting characters and looks of talking with little movement.
This book meandered on and on around a somewhat interesting plot. By the end I'm not sure if I ever found out what happened or even cared.
Marc is a GP with a thriving practice, a husband and a father to two adolescent girls. He's also a big jerk, but if you read Herman Koch's previous novel, The Dinner, this will come as no surprise to you. He hates his patients' bodies and petty concerns. Most of his patients are artists of some sort or another and he hates to attend the various openings and viewings they invite him to. Arrogant and contemptuous in his inner life, he nonetheless manages to put forth a genial and easy going face to the world and his patients like him. Then he meets Ralph Meier, a well known stage actor who takes a liking to him (and especially to Marc's wife) and invites Marc and his family to join them at the Summer House With Swimming Pool they've rented for the season. Marc has his own, less than admirable reasons to want to be there and so he engineers things so that his wife's misgivings are overridden. And then things begin to go seriously wrong for everyone present.
Less extreme than The Dinner, this new novel still features a few reprehensible individuals. Koch manages to make Marc, despite his own horribleness, into the one the reader is pulling for.
Less extreme than The Dinner, this new novel still features a few reprehensible individuals. Koch manages to make Marc, despite his own horribleness, into the one the reader is pulling for.
I think this author just doesn't work well for me. Like The Dinner, when something was actually happening- it was great, but everything in between was just so drawn out and boring.
Not a fun sit-at-the-pool-and-read summer book. Well written but just not my cup of tea.
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
“You get a stain on your pants. Your favorite pair of pants. You wash them ten times in a row at 160 degrees. You scrub and scour and rub. You bring in the heavy artillery. Bleaches. Abrasive cleaners. But the spot doesn’t go away. If you scrub and scour too long, it will only be replaced by something else. By a stretch of fabric that is thinner and paler. The paler cloth is the memory. The memory of the spot. Now there are two things you can do. You can throw the pants away, or you can walk around for the rest of your life with the memory of the stain. But the paler cloth reminds you of more than just the stain. It also reminds you of when the pants were still clean.”
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In a twisted summertime book Herman Koch explores the brain of a doctor to the rich and famous who spends his vacation with his family at a famous actor’s summer house. The events that occur at the summer house have a far-reaching trajectory that cannot be easily surmised. Summer House with Swimming Pool was shocking and nasty and overall a good book, but somewhat difficult to read. I have read Herman Koch’s books before and loved them for the way he explores in such depth the intricacies of his protagonists mind. This insight was at times difficult to read and while I don’t believe it was necessarily representing the authors viewpoints, the objectification of women and disturbing thoughts of a doctor took me aback. Koch’s attention to detail is marvelous and ultimately lends to a greater understanding of the novel!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In a twisted summertime book Herman Koch explores the brain of a doctor to the rich and famous who spends his vacation with his family at a famous actor’s summer house. The events that occur at the summer house have a far-reaching trajectory that cannot be easily surmised. Summer House with Swimming Pool was shocking and nasty and overall a good book, but somewhat difficult to read. I have read Herman Koch’s books before and loved them for the way he explores in such depth the intricacies of his protagonists mind. This insight was at times difficult to read and while I don’t believe it was necessarily representing the authors viewpoints, the objectification of women and disturbing thoughts of a doctor took me aback. Koch’s attention to detail is marvelous and ultimately lends to a greater understanding of the novel!
Sommerhaus mit Swimmingpool von Herman Koch
Marc Schlosser ist Hausarzt in Amsterdam. Als einer seiner Patienten, der berühmte Schauspieler Ralph Meier, stirbt, muss er sich wegen eines möglichen Kunstfehlers vor der Ärztekammer verantworten. Doch war es wirklich ein Kunstfehler? Oder hat das alles vielleicht mit den Geschehnissen im Ferienhaus zu tun, in dem beide Familien den letzten Sommer verbrachten?
Zwei heranwachsende Töchter hat Marc Schlosser, Lisa und Julia. Und eine attraktive Frau, Caroline. Als sein Patient Ralph Meier, selbst verheiratet und Vater zweier jugendlicher Söhne, ihn und seine Familie einlädt, sie im Sommer ein paar Tage in ihrem Ferienhaus in Frankreich zu besuchen, klingt das zunächst wie eine gute Idee. Erst jetzt, nach Ralphs Tod, anderthalb Jahre nach den gemeinsamen Urlaubstagen, treten die Verwerfungen zwischen den beiden Familien allmählich zutage, und der Leser fiebert atemlos jeder weiteren Enthüllung entgegen.
Wie ich es von Herman Koch nicht anders kenne, kommt die wahre Spannung in der zweiten Buchhälfte auf. Hier nämlich fügen sich die Dinge zusammen und hier gibt es auch das Unerwartete.
Interessant beim Lesen ist, dass einem immer wieder ins Gedächtnis gerufen wird, dass die Euthanasie in Holland erlaubt ist. Das vergesse ich nämlich immer wieder.
Marc Schlosser ist Hausarzt in Amsterdam. Als einer seiner Patienten, der berühmte Schauspieler Ralph Meier, stirbt, muss er sich wegen eines möglichen Kunstfehlers vor der Ärztekammer verantworten. Doch war es wirklich ein Kunstfehler? Oder hat das alles vielleicht mit den Geschehnissen im Ferienhaus zu tun, in dem beide Familien den letzten Sommer verbrachten?
Zwei heranwachsende Töchter hat Marc Schlosser, Lisa und Julia. Und eine attraktive Frau, Caroline. Als sein Patient Ralph Meier, selbst verheiratet und Vater zweier jugendlicher Söhne, ihn und seine Familie einlädt, sie im Sommer ein paar Tage in ihrem Ferienhaus in Frankreich zu besuchen, klingt das zunächst wie eine gute Idee. Erst jetzt, nach Ralphs Tod, anderthalb Jahre nach den gemeinsamen Urlaubstagen, treten die Verwerfungen zwischen den beiden Familien allmählich zutage, und der Leser fiebert atemlos jeder weiteren Enthüllung entgegen.
Wie ich es von Herman Koch nicht anders kenne, kommt die wahre Spannung in der zweiten Buchhälfte auf. Hier nämlich fügen sich die Dinge zusammen und hier gibt es auch das Unerwartete.
Interessant beim Lesen ist, dass einem immer wieder ins Gedächtnis gerufen wird, dass die Euthanasie in Holland erlaubt ist. Das vergesse ich nämlich immer wieder.