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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
A twisted cast of characters end up on vacation together at a summer house, and it goes downhill from there. At the end, I'm not sure I can say I liked a single character.
I read this over a long period of time, with a break for my own vacation, that was not at all eventful in comparison.
I read this over a long period of time, with a break for my own vacation, that was not at all eventful in comparison.
I really enjoyed Koch's "The Dinner". I found that this book had some similarities to the dinner: nasty narrator, twisted plot, times at which the slow pace of the story drove me insane. However, the complete mysogeny, homophobia, and hatred spewed by some of the characters really turned me off of this book, even though the story was interesting. On one hand, I think the mysogeny thrown at women by the men in this book is realistic and reflects what women face in real life, however, reading about it isn't enjoyable at all. Somehow "The Dinner" managed to be dark, twisted, and somehow enjoyable, yet this book really turned my stomach at points. However, there were a few moments of warmth in this novel, but overall it just left me conflicted.
Verschrikkelijke mensen en een ziekelijk verhaal. Maar wel in twee dagen uitgelezen, want wat een dijk van een boek. Herman Koch blijft een verdomd goede schrijver die zich weet te differentiëren van de gemiddelde Nederlandse schrijver.
I gave this book a 3 star review because I think I was just the wrong reader for it and couldn't give it the 1 star I considered appropriate.
Marc is a contradiction with a diploma: an MD that hates his patients, people, and society... but loves his daughters.
He lusts after women... but in a patronizing and clinically objectifying way... but loves his wife.
He is icky.
The writing, though.
The writing is evocative and memorable.
There are foreshadowing and proverbial plot twists.
A who-dunnit and swift if uncertainly-aimed justice.
And gross medical stuff that will dissuade you from visiting your doctor EVER again.
I guess you'll need to read it yourself to see what I mean.
Marc is a contradiction with a diploma: an MD that hates his patients, people, and society... but loves his daughters.
He lusts after women... but in a patronizing and clinically objectifying way... but loves his wife.
He is icky.
The writing, though.
The writing is evocative and memorable.
There are foreshadowing and proverbial plot twists.
A who-dunnit and swift if uncertainly-aimed justice.
And gross medical stuff that will dissuade you from visiting your doctor EVER again.
I guess you'll need to read it yourself to see what I mean.
This is one of my all-time favorites. Absolutely enthralling characters, an utterly fascinating and truly cynical writing style, true terror and suspense, twist after twist after twist, and to top it all off, the single most horrifying scene I've ever been able to push through, lasting about a page but sticking in my memory for years since my first reading. This, my second reading, lasted less than twenty-four hours, and I will long remember why I felt so compelled to flip the pages fast enough to catch them on fire. Crossing my fingers that Dear Mr. M will be anywhere near as brilliant; if so, I'm in for a gift.
emotional
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:
Yes
From the author of The Dinner, which was the first book I read in 2015, so I definitely had high expectations and they were definitely met. I feel like I can usually guess what's going to happen, and this had a good amount of twists and the male characters are extraordinarily written to the point that you have to assume Koch is writing himself. The women aren't written well, but the men are written so well you don't even care. It's a story about the men.
Ondanks het feit dat het hoofdpersonage een uitvergroting is van onze kleine negatieve kantjes, ga je toch meeleven met de beste man. Grappig, vlot boek!