This is an unusual book that accomplished A LOT. What double lives are they leading? Is there something else?' Koch says Paul's combination of curiosity and desire to give his son privacy reflect his own real-world attitudes towards his son.The Dinner by Herman Koch My rating: 4 of 5 stars 'In one way or another, every parent is curious what their children. Paul is also trying to give his son space and privacy, despite his knowledge of the probably crime.

They won't come in.' Koch compares Paul to Tony Soprano - someone who's sympathetic in defense of his family, even though we know his values aren't ours. 'He believes in happiness, he believes in the happy marriage that he has, and his happy family, and he wants to defend this family against all outside forces, whether this is the police, or psychologists, or social workers. 'Of course, this might not be the right set of values, but he actually believes that his values are right,' Koch says. Paul is also a parent, who's trying very hard to transmit his values to his teenaged son, Michel.

The Dinner is his sixth novel it originally came out in Dutch in 2009, and has since been published in 25 countries. 'But then suddenly, not only are his opinions but maybe his actions are becoming more extreme,' Koch says, 'so we might start to doubt if the version he gives of what the other three adults at the table are telling us, or how they are, is really the true story.' And at first, the narrator, Paul, seems sympathetic. The two couples meet at a rather posh restaurant the food is organic, the clientele upscale - politicians, artists and sports stars - and at first, they seem to be talking about their values, of tolerance and anti-racism, and what's important to them as parents. Koch tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that he's a parent himself, 'so the idea more or less came from there, just a feeling of what you would do to defend your children,' even in an extreme case like the one Koch creates in The Dinner. The crime is not yet public, but grainy video footage exists - and both sets of parents know it depicts their offspring. The titular dinner is one planned by two couples - two brothers and their wives - at which they must discuss a terrible crime most likely committed by their sons. How?ĭutch author Herman Koch's new novel The Dinner is one meal you may feel a little strange after.

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