Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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The Dinner

The Dinner by Herman Koch

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An unremarkable couple stand in an unremarkable pub drinking unremarkable beer. Their names are Paul and Claire. They’re bracing themselves, for they are about to go to dinner with Paul’s brother Serge and his wife Babette. Serge is a rising star in national politics, primed for the position of PM after the elections, which are only six months away. Paul has picked the restaurant (mere mortals will need to book months in advance but they keep a table back for ‘people like me’), for they […]

Eat Up

The Dinner by Herman Koch

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Read as part of CBR13Bingo: Libations.  Truthfully, this should be a “White Whale” read. I’ve been putting this one off for years and I further buried it when I wasn’t impressed with the beginning of Herman Koch’s Dear Mr. M. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have picked up a copy had I not been stuck at a bookstore with money burning a hole in my pocket and nothing else looking appealing. Sometimes, I make bad decisions regarding impulse book purchases. This is not one of those times. […]

The Woman Upstairs. You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry.

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This novel appeared on several 2013 “best novels” lists and it seems to fit into a genre that’s very popular these days, featuring a narrator whose truthfulness and mental well being are unclear. As I read, I was reminded of novels like The Other Typist and The Dinner, but The Woman Upstairs carves out its own place. The narrator comes across as abrasive yet sympathetic, a flawed human deserving compassion and yet somewhat self-involved, too. This contradiction compelled me to stay with the story and find out […]



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