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Het Diner

Het Diner

Literary FictionSuspense
Pages
314
Published
2009
Language
English

Synopsis

Four parents meet for a tense dinner, but the conversation quickly turns from polite small talk to a desperate defense of their children. When a terrible crime comes to light, these families must confront the horrifying choices they're willing to make to protect their own. Loyalty is tested to its absolute limit in this chilling examination of parental love and moral compromise.

1 review

How it reads

DarkTenseThought-ProvokingComplexReflective
Morally GreyBetrayal
Prose complexity 7/10
Content warnings (2)
ViolenceTrauma

Genres

Literary Fiction Suspense Thriller

Characters

All characters in Het Diner

Subjects

AmsterdamDinners and diningDutch fictionDutch literatureDysfunctional familiesElternErziehungFamilyFamily LifeFiction, family lifeKindMichel LohmanMoralische VerantwortungNetherlandsNew York Times bestsellerNiederlandeParent and childPaul LohmanRick LohmanSerge LohmanThe NetherlandsViolence

Places

AmsterdamThe Netherlands

About the author

Frequently asked questions

  • Is there a movie adaptation of Het Diner?

    Yes, this novel has been adapted into multiple films. There is a Dutch film adaptation from 2013, a 2014 Italian film, and an American film adaptation also released in 2017.

  • Does Het Diner have a sequel or follow-up books?

    While the story of Het Diner is self-contained, Herman Koch has written other novels that explore similar themes of morality and social critique, though they do not directly continue this narrative.

  • What makes Het Diner stand out from other books about family secrets?

    The novel's unique structure, unfolding almost entirely over the course of a single dinner conversation, creates a claustrophobic and intensely psychological experience. The narrative gradually reveals disturbing truths through the unreliable perspective of one of the fathers, making the reader complicit in the unfolding moral dilemmas.