The Dinner (A Novel)
by Koch, Herman
- Used
- Near Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0770437850
- ISBN 13
- 9780770437855
- Seller
-
Chico, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London, New York: Hogarth, 2013. A dinner party that goes badly wrong. This is a Near Fine copy of the First Edition (stated; with full number line). Translation from the original Dutch by Sam Garrett. Cream paper-covered boards with a black cloth spine with titling in gilt. Clean text; 292 pages. Small stain (coffee?) on the front cover, else a Fine copy. The dustjacket is Fine, unclipped. In an archival plastic protector.. First American Edition.. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.
Synopsis
HERMAN KOCH is the author of seven novels and three collections of short stories. The Dinner , his sixth novel, has been published in twenty-five countries, and was the winner of the Publieksprijs Prize in 2009. He currently lives in Amsterdam.
Reviews
On Jun 30 2014, CloggieDownunder said:
The Dinner is the sixth novel by Dutch actor, television and radio producer, newspaper columnist and author, Herman Koch, and the first book to be translated into English. Two brothers and their wives meet for dinner at an expensive restaurant to discuss the management of the recent, shocking activities of their teenaged sons. Serge Lohman is the charismatic leader of an opposition party poised to take power at the next election, a few months away, making him a strong candidate for the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands. His younger brother, Paul, has little respect for his brother’s position and posturing, instead being focussed on the happiness of his own small family. The events of the evening are narrated by Paul and are interspersed with flashbacks to incidents that occurred months or years previously. Koch is a master craftsman when it comes to building his main character: Paul starts out as a reasonable, upstanding citizen, although his antagonism towards his brother is immediately apparent. As the story progresses, a different person begins to be revealed by glimpses, at first fleeting but gradually more sustained, and the reader starts to wonder about Paul’s reliability as a narrator. In fact, none of the characters is quite what they first appear to be. Koch uses his novel to comment on Dutch tourists, pretentious restaurants, politics, marriage, parental control and adolescent right to privacy, youth violence and the internet, eugenics, and the instinct to protect one’s young. Koch manages to include blackmail, a hereditary disorder, You Tube clips, quite a bit of violence, some hilarious descriptions of restaurant practices, a plot twist that will leave readers gasping and a chilling climax. This compelling, thought-provoking novel is flawlessly translated by Sam Garrett.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Quercus Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 005221
- Title
- The Dinner (A Novel)
- Author
- Koch, Herman
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Edition
- First American Edition.
- ISBN 10
- 0770437850
- ISBN 13
- 9780770437855
- Publisher
- Hogarth
- Place of Publication
- London, New York
- Date Published
- 2013
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9&f
- Bookseller catalogs
- Modern Literature;
Terms of Sale
Quercus Rare Books
We accept checks and money orders in US Dollars. Credit card orders are accepted through Biblio. California residents add appropriate sales tax. Items are returnable for any reason within ten days of receipt (please email or call first before returning item).
About the Seller
Quercus Rare Books
Biblio member since 2006
Chico, California
About Quercus Rare Books
Quercus Books seeks out and provides to the discriminating Reader or Collector noteworthy books in the First Edition. Our particular focus is on Modern Literature (roughly from the Second World War to the present) and Irish Authors. We also retain a small stock of non-fiction titles, mostly in the fields of American Western History, American Indians, and the American Civil War. Member of IOBA - the Independent Online Booksellers Association.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...