...is a book written by the Dutch writer Herman Koch that I finished reading this morning. It was given to me earlier these month, as a late birthday present, with the comment "that I should read more Dutch as I was starting to forget how to speak and write proper Dutch". Well, no wonder....after nearly 9 years of living abroad - listening, writing, reading and speaking Norwegian every day, without many chances of speaking og writing Dutch. Ok....yes, it's no excuse, I really should be able to maintain my native language.
Anyway, this book is definitely a good read. The story graps you right from the first page, it's hard to put the book down. No wonder it won a readers award in 2009. I read it in Dutch, but the book is already available in several other languages, among which Danish, and is being translated to English at the moment.
The book is about two sets of parents, with the two fathers being brothers. The two sets of parents meet for dinner at a posh Dutch restaurant in the capital of Holland - you know...one of those restaurants where you pay a lot of money for nearly empty plates of food, leaving the restaurant probably more hungry than when you arrived. The whole purpose of the dinner is to discuss how they will deal with the terrible act their children have commited together. While the main theme of the book is the way parents want to protect their children to the very end, the book also touches upon the life of a politician - or more correctly the public image of a politician -, mental illness, family life and marriage.
Have a good read!
