Dear Mr. M is my third book by Herman Koch, and I think it's safe to say that I'm a fan. I previously read The Dinner and Summer House With Swimming Pool, both of which were captivatingly disturbing in their own rights. Like these books, Dear Mr. M is a complicated story made up of flawed characters and sinister acts, but it's far less disturbing than his previous books. In … [Read more...]
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
As a vegetarian, I was looking forward to picking up The Vegetarian by Han Kang (tranlsated by Deborah Smith). The premise sounded interesting - a woman who gives up meat following a disturbing dream, thus uprooting her life and affecting those around her. Living in a culture where vegetarianism isn't widely accepted and in a society where women are expected to … [Read more...]
The Shore by Sara Taylor (Book Review)
Sara Taylor's debut novel, The Shore, has been getting some rave reviews and I was thrilled to snag a copy of it. Set in a remote set of islands off the coast of Virginia, it offers up a series of short stories that overlap to create a wonderful novel about the importance of home, the conflicting desire to run away and stay where you are, and the joys and sorrows that … [Read more...]
Herman Koch Tackles Taboo Topics in ‘Summer House’
I've read a lot of reviews of Summer House with Swimming Pool and the general consensus seems to be that those who read the author's previous book, The Dinner, enjoyed this one less. I am not one of those people. Maybe it's because I have a penchant for books that tackle difficult topics in a frank manner or because I'm just an oddity, but I enjoyed this book much more than … [Read more...]
‘The Dinner’ is Delicious
Thanks to April at The Steadfast Reader for this clever headline.What would you do if you knew that your son committed an unspeakable horror and would very likely get away with it? Would you discipline him? Turn him in? Pretend it never happened? These are the questions faced by two sets of parents in The Dinner by Herman Koch and the answers might surprise you. Punctuated … [Read more...]