· The Dinner

I recently finished The Dinner by Herman Koch. I had a bit of trouble getting into this one, but I'm 95% sure it was because my brain was overwhelmed with work stuff. Then again, the slow pace might have also been a factor.

The story goes during an evening meal at a posh restaurant. The narrator voluntarily omits saying precisely where (besides being in Amsterdam), which is intriguing in itself. Over the course of meals, you live the present and learn about the past of these characters.

I found myself pretty much disliking everybody (mainly the narrator), for each their own different reasons. Lol! However, for me, disliking them isn't necessarily a bad thing: I find it interesting to try and understand people's different perspectives and did my best to guess, over the course of the book, why they are the way they are. I had fun with that!

The characters are often gritty and nasty in their ways of thinking and acting, which is an interesting thing I have not read often. Overall, especially after the first half when things become clearer, I liked it. It wouldn't make my top 10 faves, however, there's other reasons to like a book, like the different kinds of challenges they give you.