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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
This book kept my interest the whole way through, but I am not left with anything at the end. The people were all terrible - you are not meant to like any of them (I hope). But there really aren't consequences for or revelations about their behavior. It just kind of falls flat at the end. What was the point?
Liked this more than The Dinner but has the same feel. Vile, unlikable characters tied together by some terrible act.
All summer I’ve been putting off writing my review of Herman Koch’s Summer House with Swimming Pool. It’s a technically proficient book, with many vividly drawn scenes and rather realistic (yet truly terrible) characters, but ultimately it is not the type of book I enjoy reading.
Perhaps I should explain some of my biases.
I wasn’t always a poolside reader, the type who only reads for escape. I’ve read plenty of big books and I cannot lie: I do enjoy tackling them during the summer months, taking pride in my ability to engage my brain when it seems the rest of the world is intent on turning theirs off. I’ve read “important” books and “good” books and “classic” books, as well as plenty of genre fiction, and even books that take me outside of my typical reading comfort zone – many of which I then grew to love.
But Summer House with Swimming Pool is something different.
I suppose part of the problem I have with this book is the marketing behind it. This is of course not the writer’s fault, particularly as it’s an American translation of a Dutch novel. So perhaps it is my mistake to have read into the description some relationship between Koch’s novel and the death of Michael Jackson. After all, his book is about the physician to a celebrity who lands in hot water after his famous patient dies under his care. It is difficult to avoid spoilers when discussing this book, but without giving too much away I can certainly say this book is not about similarly clear-cut circumstances, and that any attempt to view it as an incredibly dark satire of that case would be flawed.
If anything, it’s precisely that gray area surrounding the medical procedure and the doctor’s psychological state that is meant to leave the reader with more questions about the good doctor and his Hippocratic oath. Indeed, as per an Amazon interview with Koch, he notes that his inspiration for the book was actually the concept of a “‘passive’ murder” by a doctor, created by medical error. That is, indeed, an intriuging concept, though I don’t buy Koch’s take on it.
It would seem that New York Times reviewer Lionel Shriver agrees with me: she states in her review that Koch’s central conceit is actually thoroughly careless pseudoscience.
So once the fictional plot is revealed to have as many holes as Swiss cheese, what can one really say about the book?
Janet Maslin snarkily compares reading Koch's previous novel, The Dinner, to “being stabbed in the eyeball with a hot needle,” and then notes that Summer House “is a book in which someone actually does stick a hot needle in his own eyeball.” True story.
Many readers are simply turned off by the unlikable cast of characters, and I can sympathize with their view. Dr. Marc Schlosser is not only an awful doctor, but an awful human being. And, being an awful human being, it never crosses his mind that he is such a terrible person. Shriver describes him as an “unappealing misanthrope,” which is spot-on, though I did find some of Marc’s loathsome monologues rather absurdly humorous. His continuous rants against the human body’s ugliness, for instance, offered this gem: “Buttocks, depending on their shape or shapelessness, can summon up tenderness or blind rage.”
Can anyone take such a doctor seriously?
At bottom, I think it is the description of this novel as “darkly humorous” that bothers me the most. A few cruel jokes and an overall nihilistic view do not qualify as dark humor, in my book. After all, one must still find the humor in the darkness. Summer House with Swimming Pool is not a humorous book, even for those who daily peer into the abyss. Perhaps, as some readers have suggested, it is only humorous to sociopaths – hopefully not Koch’s intended audience.
Having read so many positive reviews of Koch’s first book, which is also told by an unlikeable and unreliable narrator, I was hoping that Summer House would offer a similar feast. It seems, however, that most readers feel that Herman Koch is a one-trick pony incapable of creating likeable characters, much less breaking out of his unpleasant narrative approach. Such typecasting is unforgiveable for actors; why should we tolerate it in writers?
I, for one, am hoping Koch’s next book is a frothy, lighthearted beach read – one I can actually enjoy reading poolside.
(This review was originaly posted at Black Heart Magazine.)
Perhaps I should explain some of my biases.
I wasn’t always a poolside reader, the type who only reads for escape. I’ve read plenty of big books and I cannot lie: I do enjoy tackling them during the summer months, taking pride in my ability to engage my brain when it seems the rest of the world is intent on turning theirs off. I’ve read “important” books and “good” books and “classic” books, as well as plenty of genre fiction, and even books that take me outside of my typical reading comfort zone – many of which I then grew to love.
But Summer House with Swimming Pool is something different.
I suppose part of the problem I have with this book is the marketing behind it. This is of course not the writer’s fault, particularly as it’s an American translation of a Dutch novel. So perhaps it is my mistake to have read into the description some relationship between Koch’s novel and the death of Michael Jackson. After all, his book is about the physician to a celebrity who lands in hot water after his famous patient dies under his care. It is difficult to avoid spoilers when discussing this book, but without giving too much away I can certainly say this book is not about similarly clear-cut circumstances, and that any attempt to view it as an incredibly dark satire of that case would be flawed.
If anything, it’s precisely that gray area surrounding the medical procedure and the doctor’s psychological state that is meant to leave the reader with more questions about the good doctor and his Hippocratic oath. Indeed, as per an Amazon interview with Koch, he notes that his inspiration for the book was actually the concept of a “‘passive’ murder” by a doctor, created by medical error. That is, indeed, an intriuging concept, though I don’t buy Koch’s take on it.
It would seem that New York Times reviewer Lionel Shriver agrees with me: she states in her review that Koch’s central conceit is actually thoroughly careless pseudoscience.
So once the fictional plot is revealed to have as many holes as Swiss cheese, what can one really say about the book?
Janet Maslin snarkily compares reading Koch's previous novel, The Dinner, to “being stabbed in the eyeball with a hot needle,” and then notes that Summer House “is a book in which someone actually does stick a hot needle in his own eyeball.” True story.
Many readers are simply turned off by the unlikable cast of characters, and I can sympathize with their view. Dr. Marc Schlosser is not only an awful doctor, but an awful human being. And, being an awful human being, it never crosses his mind that he is such a terrible person. Shriver describes him as an “unappealing misanthrope,” which is spot-on, though I did find some of Marc’s loathsome monologues rather absurdly humorous. His continuous rants against the human body’s ugliness, for instance, offered this gem: “Buttocks, depending on their shape or shapelessness, can summon up tenderness or blind rage.”
Can anyone take such a doctor seriously?
At bottom, I think it is the description of this novel as “darkly humorous” that bothers me the most. A few cruel jokes and an overall nihilistic view do not qualify as dark humor, in my book. After all, one must still find the humor in the darkness. Summer House with Swimming Pool is not a humorous book, even for those who daily peer into the abyss. Perhaps, as some readers have suggested, it is only humorous to sociopaths – hopefully not Koch’s intended audience.
Having read so many positive reviews of Koch’s first book, which is also told by an unlikeable and unreliable narrator, I was hoping that Summer House would offer a similar feast. It seems, however, that most readers feel that Herman Koch is a one-trick pony incapable of creating likeable characters, much less breaking out of his unpleasant narrative approach. Such typecasting is unforgiveable for actors; why should we tolerate it in writers?
I, for one, am hoping Koch’s next book is a frothy, lighthearted beach read – one I can actually enjoy reading poolside.
(This review was originaly posted at Black Heart Magazine.)
Summer House with Swimming Pool brings us another set of very flawed and unreliable characters that Herman Koch is wonderful at writing. The main character is Dr. Marc Schlosser. He is a doctor and family man that gives the air of compassion and understanding but underneath he has very little of either of these things. Like in Koch's last novel, The Dinner, this story centers on what a person would do to protect their child. Unlike the previous novel, the child in question is not the attacker but the victim. The reader is left to try to unravel the truth about what happened as well as navigate through a cast of dreadful people. Koch is a master at bringing these people alive in stories that stick with the reader long after the last page is read. The novel can be challenging to get through because these characters and situations often become uncomfortable for the reader. Summer House with Swimming Pool is a great novel and one that I highly recommend to those that enjoy books in which they are not spoon-fed information.
The other reviewers were all right: this is NOT a happy-go-lucky read. Having said that, it was still entertaining and gripping. I thought it incredibly well-written and enjoyed the syntax, if not the subject matter, immensely.
I blindly added this book to my summer reading list after Vogue mentioned it in a recent issue. I had just studied for months for the Bar Exam, and it sounded like a fun read from the title. "Fun" is not an appropriate description of this book, but it was a bit of a thrill… and an interesting exercise in feeling both compassion and revulsion for the same characters. While I ultimately liked this twisted story, it's not at all what I expected. Because I knew so little about the plot (and the author), the whole thing was a bit of a shock.
3.5 stars. This book is almost impossible for me to rate. I almost put it down in the first chapter. I read a ton of psychological thrillers and have no problem at all with hard to stomach topics and raw writing. In the development of his truly despicable characters Koch has a way of describing the mundane in the most disgusting matter. I could feel myself cringe on so many occasions. That said, I was drawn in eventually. Koch can write. Will it leave you feeling good or even remotely satisfied? No!
3.5/5 stars
This was a damn well entertaining read. It wasn't as exciting and dark as Koch's other book, The Dinner, but Summer House with Swimming Pool runs in the same vein. It also follows a somewhat sociopathic protagonist who would do anything to protect his family.
After reading The Dinner, every character seemed tame and every situation less shocking. The characters are still despicable but in a low-key way. But honestly, I still enjoyed the book. It is well translated and could easily be read in a sitting or two. Most of all, it was good enough to have me flippin the page continuously.
This was a damn well entertaining read. It wasn't as exciting and dark as Koch's other book, The Dinner, but Summer House with Swimming Pool runs in the same vein. It also follows a somewhat sociopathic protagonist who would do anything to protect his family.
After reading The Dinner, every character seemed tame and every situation less shocking. The characters are still despicable but in a low-key way. But honestly, I still enjoyed the book. It is well translated and could easily be read in a sitting or two. Most of all, it was good enough to have me flippin the page continuously.
Closer to 3.5 stars. Really enjoyed this but Koch has super vivid imagery. Sign of a good writer but a little too vivid. He also excels in making me hate characters. Like The Dinner, I wanted to read this in one go.
While Summer House with Swimming Pool kept me engaged, I could not stand the arrogance of main character Dr. Marc Schlosser....He's the kind of narrator that makes you question if what he's actually saying is an accurate portrayal of the events. I found the ending to be a bit flat. I preferred Herman Koch's The Dinner to this novel.