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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
There's something really interesting about the way Koch writes, and I tore through the last 100 pages. plus an EYE ABSCESS. I definitely want to read The Dinner now.
No one writes more venal human beings than Herman Koch. In his follow-up to “The Dinner,” Koch presents Marc Schlosser, M.D., the narrator of this tale, a general practitioner who finds his patients and their maladies distasteful. The novel opens with Schlosser being accused of professional negligence leading to the death of Ralph Meier, a corpulent, but popular, screen and stage actor who had consulted Schlosser after learning that he freely prescribed painkillers to celebrities. Meier invites Schlosser to a performance of Richard II and, although Meier regards the doctor’s wife, Caroline, as “something edible, something that made his mouth water,” a friendship is formed between the couple and Meier and his wife, Judith. To say that they “get caught up in the typical dynamics of a group holiday rental,” is an understatement. The trip is laced with sexual tension, equal parts adultery and pedophilia. Meier and his buddy, a well-known director with a penchant for nubile young women, stalk the comely women at the local bars and act inappropriately with Schlosser’s pre-teen daughters. When the eldest of the girls is assaulted on the beach, Schlossser’s imagine works overtime as he tries to imagine who was the rapist. Like an accident, you cannot turn away from this dark, cynical story and Schlosser’s grotesque commentary.
dark
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
Very gripping and focuses on a lot of the same themes as The Dinner (basically, how awful people are in every possible ways). Unfortunately some of the medical parts/descriptions gave me the heebie jeebies, but of course that was the point
This was an interesting (and seemed to me, a quick) read. It's all told from the vantage point of Dr. Marc Schlossler, who at times, I liked and at times I hated. There are some twists revealed throughout, but nothing I found as a major shocker. Overall, I enjoyed reading this.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed the way the book was written but then entire time I was waiting for something more to happen. It would work up to something and then stop.
Herman Koch is, as always, creepy. You'll never look at your doctor the same way. You'll never think about the inside of your body the same way.