Alternate cover edition can be found here An internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives - all over the course of one meal. It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse - the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened. Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love. Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner promises to be the topic of countless dinner party debates. Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy.
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
Read this for book club, 6/5/19.
During the reading, there were multiple moments of me saying 'oh, really?' Which made it hard to take things seriously. While there are a few reviews that compare this book to Gone Girl, I don't see that comparison. I did think a couple of times during the reading of Big Little Lies, I think in part because the main character Paul seems to be giving an interview or speaking to the reader. This reminded me of how there were excerpts of people giving interviews with the police throughout BLL. However, this is never really revealed or explained for The Dinner.
The main element that was discussed during my book club meeting was the morality of the characters in this book. Or lack thereof, really. What bothered me quite a bit was that it seemed like the characters didn't have any feelings? When Paul and his wife first see the TV broadcast of the crime and have their realization, Paul at least doesn't show any concern or horror at the fate of the woman or discovery of the crime's perpetrator! Throughout the rest of the book, everyone has met at this restaurant to discuss just what exactly is going to happen and what the fate of their sons will be (at this very public spot, seems like a poor choice to me...), and yet none of them seem upset at the situation, just super matter of fact about it.
0 0