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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Каква книга, каква, история, какви герои - всичко, всичко ми се стори налудно, психопатско, извратено. Признавам му го на Кох - умее да те сграбчи и да те разтърси.
Цялата история е ужасно отблъскваща. Не знам дали ако я четях въздействието щеше да е същото, но е така прочетена от Павел Владимиров, че просто и давам безапелационни 5 звезди.
Цялата история е ужасно отблъскваща. Не знам дали ако я четях въздействието щеше да е същото, но е така прочетена от Павел Владимиров, че просто и давам безапелационни 5 звезди.
I get a big kick out of this author. He is not afraid to create wretched, despicable characters. They are so wonderfully bad and evil and do things you might think of but never actually do or even speak of.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How far would you go as a parent to vindicate a wrong done to your child? What if you were a Dr. and could make sure that the abuser paid a price? Herman Koch's new novel "Summer House with Swimming Pool" will have readers asking themselves those questions. During an idyllic summer vacation at a friend's Mediterranean summer home a young daughter is sexually violated. Who is to blame? The father obsessed with another man's wife and plotted the vacation to be with her? Who is the guilty party? Author Herman Koch is an artist at keeping readers guessing.Submitted to LibraryReads.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Koch's widely acclaimed novel The Dinner is one of my all time favorites, so I had high expectations for Summer House. In tone and theme - the cornerstones of Koch's writing style - it did not disappoint. Like its predecessor, Summer House is simultaneously eerie and mundane, and builds tension so slowly that its climax feels inevitable yet shocking. The dichotomies of this work are the cornerstones of Koch's incredible writing: he has an unmatched ability to create a narrative so gradual that every individual step feels permissible, even necessary, until the final, devastating result of such small decisions is revealed. After following the thrilling path of Dr. Schlosser, readers will be left questioning their own morals and standards of acceptable behavior.
Marc Schlosser himself, the strange, unreliable narrator of Summer House, is also similar to the anti-heroes of Koch's previous works. That is to say, Marc is deeply unlikable. While I appreciate the literary value of having a narrator who is unpleasant to read, I found Marc to be particularly unbearable at times, especially due to his tendency to repeat ideas well past the point of establishing a theme. He's a great character but a bad person, a potent combination that worked well in the context of a suspense novel but perhaps didn't need to torment readers in the first person for over 400 pages.
Additionally, unlike the dramatic reveal of The Dinner, the final result of Summer House is divulged immediately, and the mystery lies instead in the murderer's intent. But this doesn't take very long to figure out, either, so the mystery shifts again to revolve around a rape. However, the question of who the rapist is ultimately turns out to be inconsequential. When the dying Ralph reveals the perpetrator at the end of the novel, it changes neither Marc's actions nor affect, and was barely a revelation since the rape itself had already been exposed. It was presented as a twist ending but read as an irrelevant afterthought. Overall, the central mystery was muddled. At times it was unclear what my goal was supposed to be as a reader, and the payoff of the drawn out build up is minimal at best.
Read the rest of this review at https://www.goldilocksreviews.com
Marc Schlosser himself, the strange, unreliable narrator of Summer House, is also similar to the anti-heroes of Koch's previous works. That is to say, Marc is deeply unlikable. While I appreciate the literary value of having a narrator who is unpleasant to read, I found Marc to be particularly unbearable at times, especially due to his tendency to repeat ideas well past the point of establishing a theme. He's a great character but a bad person, a potent combination that worked well in the context of a suspense novel but perhaps didn't need to torment readers in the first person for over 400 pages.
Additionally, unlike the dramatic reveal of The Dinner, the final result of Summer House is divulged immediately, and the mystery lies instead in the murderer's intent. But this doesn't take very long to figure out, either, so the mystery shifts again to revolve around a rape. However, the question of who the rapist is ultimately turns out to be inconsequential. When the dying Ralph reveals the perpetrator at the end of the novel, it changes neither Marc's actions nor affect, and was barely a revelation since the rape itself had already been exposed. It was presented as a twist ending but read as an irrelevant afterthought. Overall, the central mystery was muddled. At times it was unclear what my goal was supposed to be as a reader, and the payoff of the drawn out build up is minimal at best.
Read the rest of this review at https://www.goldilocksreviews.com
Книгата се оказа едно много ярко изживяване, което определено ми хареса. Персонажите са крайно противоречиви (също като тези във „Вечерята“) и отново се изправят пред множество морални дилеми. А решението за правилно и грешно е оставено на читателя. Имаше и много моменти, които ми дойдоха леко екстремни (като този с инфектираното око на лекаря и иглата
I picked up this used book during a recent haul and it seemed so promising. I was expecting a fast-paced read but it was the exact opposite. There really wasn't much to this book. To top it off the characters were all very dislikeable. I almost DNFd it but I wanted to find out what happened, as the book starts with the end. I could have read the first few and last few chapters to save myself some pain.
I feel like this was a less nuanced, less thought-provoking version of The Dinner with uninteresting perverted characters.
I was approved of an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2014/06/02/review-summer-house-with-swimming-pool/
My initial reaction about this novel was that the narrative was oddly reminiscent of The Dinner. Maybe it was a translation thing, but the tone felt a little similar to Paul’s narrative. But it’s evident after a few chapters that Marc, the narrator of this novel, is a different character from Paul. Simply put, I found him arrogant, with no respect for his profession or his patients. He can also be quite a hypocrite, which okay, fine, but then there wasn’t much in the narrative to balance those aspects of his personality out with some more positive aspects and make him somewhat sympathetic despite of everything. His observations are also often quite gross, lewd and unnecessary to the story, except to perhaps reinforce my growing dislike for the character.
I remember reading from someone’s review of The Dinner of how, after reading the novel, the reviewer wanted to take a shower because of the ickiness of the story and the narrative. That wasn’t my reaction from that novel but it certainly was for this book. There was some serious ickiness in this novel, which coincides with some serious themes that this novel tackles, in particular the treatment of women and creepers preying on young girls. The blatant sexism that some of the characters in this novel exhibited was just nauseating, and their actions equally disgusting. What made it especially appalling was how Marc spent most of his time standing there, watching the train wreck happening, but not really doing anything until much, much later.
Overall, I was left unsettled by this novel–I admit, I did skim a bit through some of the scenes because it was just so uncomfortable to read–which I suppose is what the author wanted you to feel. Like his previous novel, Herman Koch does a wonderful job in slowly deconstructing the story, the characters, and the mystery behind the course of events, and a lot of the themes are important to discuss. If you liked the author’s previous book The Dinner, then I would recommend this book to you. If you were okay with the book or you didn’t like it, you may want to skip this title.
My initial reaction about this novel was that the narrative was oddly reminiscent of The Dinner. Maybe it was a translation thing, but the tone felt a little similar to Paul’s narrative. But it’s evident after a few chapters that Marc, the narrator of this novel, is a different character from Paul. Simply put, I found him arrogant, with no respect for his profession or his patients. He can also be quite a hypocrite, which okay, fine, but then there wasn’t much in the narrative to balance those aspects of his personality out with some more positive aspects and make him somewhat sympathetic despite of everything. His observations are also often quite gross, lewd and unnecessary to the story, except to perhaps reinforce my growing dislike for the character.
I remember reading from someone’s review of The Dinner of how, after reading the novel, the reviewer wanted to take a shower because of the ickiness of the story and the narrative. That wasn’t my reaction from that novel but it certainly was for this book. There was some serious ickiness in this novel, which coincides with some serious themes that this novel tackles, in particular the treatment of women and creepers preying on young girls. The blatant sexism that some of the characters in this novel exhibited was just nauseating, and their actions equally disgusting. What made it especially appalling was how Marc spent most of his time standing there, watching the train wreck happening, but not really doing anything until much, much later.
Overall, I was left unsettled by this novel–I admit, I did skim a bit through some of the scenes because it was just so uncomfortable to read–which I suppose is what the author wanted you to feel. Like his previous novel, Herman Koch does a wonderful job in slowly deconstructing the story, the characters, and the mystery behind the course of events, and a lot of the themes are important to discuss. If you liked the author’s previous book The Dinner, then I would recommend this book to you. If you were okay with the book or you didn’t like it, you may want to skip this title.