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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Last year I reviewed 'The Dinner' by the same author. My final comment was that it left me with a chill. And my first comment here is that this one is equally chilling. There weren't many nice characters in 'The Dinner' and there aren't actually any in this novel. It is almost as if the author was trying things out in the first one, refining his technique, before he launched this attractive bunch of people on us!
This is a much bigger book than 'The Dinner', with a bigger story to tell. Dr Marc Schlosser is a doctor, just a regular general practitioner, but due to his generous prescribing has become a 'go to' doctor for those who move in desirable social circles. One day, one of his patients, Ralph Meier, a well known actor, dies in slightly mysterious circumstances, and so begins the story of how this death came about. Is it a case of medical mismanagement and error, or has the highly regarded Dr Schlosser commited a murder.
Marc, who narrates the story, thinks he is a good doctor. He gives lots of time to his patients and always prescribes at least one form of medication, so they think he is wonderful. But in the first few pages, he is brutally honest with the reader, as to what he really thinks of his wealthy and connected patients, and the work he does. And yet he finds it very diffcult to pull himself away from the world of his patients. He and his wife, Caroline, and their two young teenage daughters Julia and Lisa, are invited to spend some of the summer with Ralph, his wife Judith and their two teenage sons at the latters' summer house. Against his better judgement as Ralph has made his lust for Caroline very clear, Marc talks his wife into going, mainly because he, in turn, fancies Judith. You can see it is going to get very messy. But it is not only the grownups who become unhinged; thirteen year old Julia ends up at the centre of the crisis surrounding the death of Ralph.
The machinations and little power games that go on as everyone is trying to cover their tracks, as new evidence and secrets are disclosed is brilliantly and cunningly done. I actually started to feel a little sorry for Marc. Despite his awfulness, he does love his daughters very much, and like any father, wants to avenge the wrong that has been done. Btu all these people are such screw ups, that it is hardly surprising it does all go wrong.
This is great writing, a riveting page turner of a thriller. Despite all the characters being inherently unlikeable, there is some humanity in all of them. How clever is it to be able to write like that! Marc, the doctor character the writer has created is a monster and I am relieved some time has passed since reading this before I have to visit my doctor again! But it is so carefully crafted, and like any good psychological thriller, the reader/viewer is constantly drawn back to the scariest character who appears to be so amazingly normal. Not....
This is a much bigger book than 'The Dinner', with a bigger story to tell. Dr Marc Schlosser is a doctor, just a regular general practitioner, but due to his generous prescribing has become a 'go to' doctor for those who move in desirable social circles. One day, one of his patients, Ralph Meier, a well known actor, dies in slightly mysterious circumstances, and so begins the story of how this death came about. Is it a case of medical mismanagement and error, or has the highly regarded Dr Schlosser commited a murder.
Marc, who narrates the story, thinks he is a good doctor. He gives lots of time to his patients and always prescribes at least one form of medication, so they think he is wonderful. But in the first few pages, he is brutally honest with the reader, as to what he really thinks of his wealthy and connected patients, and the work he does. And yet he finds it very diffcult to pull himself away from the world of his patients. He and his wife, Caroline, and their two young teenage daughters Julia and Lisa, are invited to spend some of the summer with Ralph, his wife Judith and their two teenage sons at the latters' summer house. Against his better judgement as Ralph has made his lust for Caroline very clear, Marc talks his wife into going, mainly because he, in turn, fancies Judith. You can see it is going to get very messy. But it is not only the grownups who become unhinged; thirteen year old Julia ends up at the centre of the crisis surrounding the death of Ralph.
The machinations and little power games that go on as everyone is trying to cover their tracks, as new evidence and secrets are disclosed is brilliantly and cunningly done. I actually started to feel a little sorry for Marc. Despite his awfulness, he does love his daughters very much, and like any father, wants to avenge the wrong that has been done. Btu all these people are such screw ups, that it is hardly surprising it does all go wrong.
This is great writing, a riveting page turner of a thriller. Despite all the characters being inherently unlikeable, there is some humanity in all of them. How clever is it to be able to write like that! Marc, the doctor character the writer has created is a monster and I am relieved some time has passed since reading this before I have to visit my doctor again! But it is so carefully crafted, and like any good psychological thriller, the reader/viewer is constantly drawn back to the scariest character who appears to be so amazingly normal. Not....
If you like deep, dark, psychological thrillers you must read Herman Koch. This is his second novel of high acclaim and I tore through it. Koch has the ability to make you distrust and dislike the majority of the characters in the book, even the narrator. The narrator, Marc Schlosser, a physician to the privileged and creative, works his story backwards to hold the reader in his grip until the very end. He slowly unravels the proceedings leading up to an incident at the summer house where things implode in a shocking surprise for the reader.
-Lisanne
Check it out!
Scottsdale Public Library
-Lisanne
Check it out!
Scottsdale Public Library
Earlier this year I read Herman Koch’s The Dinner and loved its dark twist on family morals. His latest novel, Summer House with Swimming Pool, is just as dark, if not more so. But where The Dinner is based on a meal from hell, Summer House with Swimming Pool is based on a holiday from hell: there are family arguments, forbidden love affairs and a few cross words between friends. But there’s also a dark undercurrent of menace and misogyny that has deep repercussions for everyone in this sorry saga.
The story is narrated by Dr Marc Schlosser, a General Practitioner, who has a long list of rich and famous clients. Most of them have come to him because they know he’s a soft touch: he doesn’t mind how much they drink and he’ll hand out painkillers and other medication without batting an eyelid.
To read the rest of the review, please visit my blog.
The story is narrated by Dr Marc Schlosser, a General Practitioner, who has a long list of rich and famous clients. Most of them have come to him because they know he’s a soft touch: he doesn’t mind how much they drink and he’ll hand out painkillers and other medication without batting an eyelid.
To read the rest of the review, please visit my blog.
Weird book, oddly gripping and chilling. I want to read his previous best seller now.
Soepel geschreven. Hier en daar wat minder goed gemotiveerde plotelementen.
I expect this book will haunt me and I will continue to feel uncomfortable just as Herman Koch intended. Did I like the narrator Marc? No.
Did I find the setting interesting? No. Yet I continued to read : Koch knows how to draw the reader in and prose the uncomfortable questions. This story is about relationships and Koch leads you to some dark places. Is Dr. Mark responsible for Ralph’s death? What appears to be a friendship goes sour quickly.
Did I find the setting interesting? No. Yet I continued to read : Koch knows how to draw the reader in and prose the uncomfortable questions. This story is about relationships and Koch leads you to some dark places. Is Dr. Mark responsible for Ralph’s death? What appears to be a friendship goes sour quickly.
What I'm asking myself now that I finished this book is: why did I read it? Well, because it came recommended from two of my colleagues, and because there's this hype surrounding it. Other than that - it doesn't take much time to read, because the guy can write, no question, but this is one hell of an unpleasant book that left a nasty aftertaste in my mouth.
First of all, the narrator is an unlikable asshole. He's supposed to be that, so that's fine, and hey, I've watched OZ where everyone is unlikable - but I think my problem is that in the end the book left me feeling rather empty. Nevermind that the plot is pretty foreseeable, and the final twist? Is very disturbing from a feminist POV. And the book is really sexist overall, and I don't think it's purely because of the narrator - all the women are calculating sex fiends.
I think that while it was a good read I wasn't happy with the content at all. Could be I prefer reading about nice guy doing nice things at the moment, could be I just didn't see the point of the book. (And really, the question whether it's okay to punish rapists by yourself is just - been there, done that?) I can't honestly say I liked it, but at least it wasn't badly written.
First of all, the narrator is an unlikable asshole. He's supposed to be that, so that's fine, and hey, I've watched OZ where everyone is unlikable - but I think my problem is that in the end the book left me feeling rather empty. Nevermind that the plot is pretty foreseeable, and the final twist? Is very disturbing from a feminist POV. And the book is really sexist overall, and I don't think it's purely because of the narrator - all the women are calculating sex fiends.
I think that while it was a good read I wasn't happy with the content at all. Could be I prefer reading about nice guy doing nice things at the moment, could be I just didn't see the point of the book. (And really, the question whether it's okay to punish rapists by yourself is just - been there, done that?) I can't honestly say I liked it, but at least it wasn't badly written.
Wow! Great page turner. I couldn't put it down. Not for the faint of heart, however...and the subject matter is very dark.
The blurb of this book made it sound like it would be a psychological thriller. In reality, it was very slow-paced, which lessened the intensity of the story, rather than build suspense. Something dark and violent was supposed to happen at the summer home where two families had come together, but that incident was a minor, forgettable portion of the book, and was never really resolved. That being said, I did read the whole thing and though it was slow, I stayed interested in it. It just wasn't what I expected based on the summary.