Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Dinner by Herman Koch

15 reviews

anluluz's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Hate crime

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Minor: Xenophobia and Racism

c_alma_d's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Murder, Bullying, Classism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

meebs9's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Physical abuse

aesa1993's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Mental illness

noemi_qu's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

While I *do* like how the timeline was told/author chose how to reveal things, and that I sat a bit with the book as a whole for a good amount of time afterwards... but I still dislike this story. 
No one in this book is redeemable and that's fine, they are written very well like that and leaves you uncomfortable on purpose.
At least for me, the climax and conclusion felt flat. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Violence, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Torture

ebsnewts's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I was really excited to read this book, but I have to say I was disappointed. Maybe it loses something of the original with translation, but I found it dragging and pretentious. It felt like the author’s main focus was trying to convince how smart this book was. I usually love an unreliable narrator, but here found it jarring and somewhat silly. Not for me.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Ableism, and Physical abuse

beklovesbooks's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

3.75

Well done. Dark, creepy, sometimes hard to relate to. I like that it all takes place over one long dinner with flashbacks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Torture, and Cursing

h0lland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, and Physical abuse

anagspereira's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, and Classism

Minor: Violence, Death, and Physical abuse

laurenleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This novel takes place over the course of a dinner between two brothers and their wives. The structure was quite interesting, and I thought Koch did a great job of putting us in the mindset of our narrator, one of the brothers. As the night progresses and as items or actions trigger the narrator’s memory, we get insights into the past and the events leading up to this dinner. As the story unfolds, the plot was almost like a thriller, even though the current action happening is just a dinner out. It was well executed, and Koch is a great writer. But I really dislike almost all of these characters. I was constantly shocked by their selfishness and lack of morals. I think it would probably make a good book club pick though, with lots of opportunities for questioning what you’d do in these situations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Xenophobia, Physical abuse, and Fire/Fire injury