The Dinner / Herman Koch

What could be more civil than a dinner among family at a highly-rated restaurant where the plates come out of the kitchen looking like works of art and the waiter describes the culinary creations in exquisite detail, pointing out the featured ingredients with his perfectly manicured pinky finger?

As the courses are served, a horrible family secret gradually comes to light until an almost unimaginable ending is revealed. Paul is an unreliable narrator, so it isn't clear that his stories all ring true, and the reader is left wondering if he really is the monster that is suggested. No doubt there is a character flaw shared in his immediate family, an apparent genetic predisposition to violence and a cold removal from normal human compassion (reminding me a little of Patricia Highsmith’s character Tom Ripley). I liked Paul's snarky tone at first, but then realized that he wasn't what he first appeared to be.

This book came out a couple years ago. Since my conscious decision to spend less on eBooks, I’m checking titles out that have waned somewhat in popularity and that I missed when they were red-hot, on the top of the bestseller list. This one was worth the wait, and is a great choice for a book club. Some people have called it the European Gone Girl, though I thought that title was already taken by The Girl on the Train, but nonetheless, The Dinner offers the reader its own rewards. I think a movie is in the works.

I downloaded this from the library.

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