Herman Koch The Dinner

The Dinner by Herman Koch is a chilling but enjoyable read. Koch’s writing skills and his use of plot twist made the story line seem disturbing but plausible. The Dinner was written by a Dutch writer named Herman Koch. He wrote The Dinner in 2009, since then it has been translated into 21 languages and was adopted into a Dutch movie in 2013. The Dinner surrounds two couples, Claire, Paul, Serge and Babette. They are meeting to discuss the details of a horrific thing their sons, Michel, Rick, and Beau, have done. It is clear from the beginning that Paul’s view is bias, especially when it comes to his brother, Serge. Serge is a high powered politician and Paul used to be teacher. Paul starts the story by making Serge out to be haughty and pretentious,
When ever there was a twist in the plot, there was always a something that was discovered about the characters that would justify their actions. Paul is a violent individual, he often beat up other characters when he did not like their opinion or felt judged by them. The principal was concerned about an essay that Michel wrote. Instead of trying to understanding what the principal was saying, Paul felt attacked and violently beat him. Throughout the novel we learn that Paul was born with a neurological disorder, he is unable to control his anger. The plot twist of Paul’s disorder was unexpected but allows the reader to better understand and justify Paul’s ruthless and dangerous
Technology was not used as a way to create a barrier but instead brought the characters together. Many times in modern novels technology is almost always seen as something that is a negative, instead Koch uses it as a way to connect the characters. Without technology the families would not even know about the son’s actions. Technology not only brings together Serge and Paul because they are forced to talk about what their sons had done. It also brings Paul closer to his son, Paul begins to understand that Michel is very similar to