ACPL Online Book Club discussion

Join us for face-to-face discussions the first Monday of every month at 7 pm and/or follow the continuing conversations here!

The group rated this book a 3.6 out of 5 stars. There seemed to be a lot of agreement on the high quality of the writing but the effect of the content was rather divisive. Personally, the book left me scratching my head a bit while also being impressed by the execution of the diabolical twisting of the plot.

I too thought the writing was interesting with twists - never knowing what was going to come up. But - oh, the people in the story, what was with them? Toward end you knew this book could not have a happy ending - and yet!!. did it? I think it was a book you could love to hate.

Yeah, most of us were quite bothered by the book, but we couldn't stop talking about it ... love to hate it? As for the characters, hmm, am I the only one who thought Serge Lohman was likeable?

I may have liked him had I finished it, Craig. Now I'm thinking maybe I need to!

Rarely do I ever not finish a book, but this was one of those times. The writing was fantastic! I think it was so well written, and the characters were so real that I couldn't stand to spend any more time with them. There are people for every book, reading the other goodreads reviews I see some people loved this one. I'm just not one of them.

Ok. I just finished The Dinner. And yes, Serge was the only likable character. The others? Omg. I'm trying to decide what Koch is trying to say with this book...the propensity toward violence, nature vs nurture? "Happy" families, or the illusion thereof? Still. I'm glad I finished it. It's interesting to read things outside my comfort zone. :)

Kris wrote: "Ok. I just finished The Dinner. And yes, Serge was the only likable character. The others? Omg. I'm trying to decide what Koch is trying to say with this book...the propensity toward violence, natu..."

Whoa, you like blasted through the rest of that book in an afternoon. Congrats. I'm glad you found Serge likeable, too. I mean he doesn't have much competition, right?
I found myself also trying to figure out what Koch's message might be. It seems like there's more to it than meets the eye, but it's a bit elusive. Kind of like the empty space on all of those dinner plates he describes.
Your first post made me laugh quite hard by the way. = )