Koch's The Dinner: Danish Saul Bellow

Herman Koch's The Dinner is Danish Saul Bellow with a 21st century twist. Invoking Bellow is high praise for me. Koch's writing has the same dry, sharp insights into being human, leavened with a dash of cynicism, humor and darkness. Like Bellow, Koch makes keen observations about family, spouses, siblings, money, sex, love, loyalty, while spinning an engaging tale. In The Dinner, Koch adds a contemporary twist of senseless violence. Two brothers and their wives have dinner and through flashbacks and forwards reveal a terrible act committed by their two sons, as well as nicely developed subplots about the four adults. This heavy load is lightened by Koch's wonderful Bellow-isms about the two brothers, restaurants, politicians, and anything else the protagonist encounters, which often generate a chuckle. It's a great mechanism to employ to subtly develop the horrible story of the sons' action. To avoid any spoilers, that's all for now, other than to say, read this one.