Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - The Dinner

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Dinner by Herman Koch

6 reviews

floorvm's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Koch zn karakters vriend…. Hoe ze zo er van overtuigd zijn normaal te zijn, terwijl je langzamerhand gekke dingen begint op te merken… Sleept je helemaal mee. Ik had dit boek zo uit. Je zou wel kunnen zeggen dat dit een bijzondere familie is.
Ik had gehoopt dat de gerechten interessant zouden zijn vanwege het dure restaurant maar dat waren ze niet. Dat is niet Koch zn fout, ik wilde het gewoon even zeggen.
Beetje jammer van t n-woord maar zou ook de bedoeling kunnen zijn(?)

Content Warnings

domenicar's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The main characters are obviously despicable, but that is intended and the point of the book. If it is done well, I don't need loveable characters to enjoy a book. I am not sure if it was the case here.

First of all, I have never seen more racial slurs in one book. I am not sure whether it was to highlight the awfulness of the characters or the author's edginess. All in all, I feel like the point could have been made without them and they made me enjoy the book less.

I also briefly considered DNF'ing this book, because it was painfully slow-paced. It was meandering for ages to finally arrive at reveals that were mostly fairly easy to guess and/or anti-climactic, especially towards the end.

This is the first book I've read from Herman Koch and despite everything, I generally liked his writing style and would probably try another book of his in the future.

Content Warnings