History Literature / TheDinner

* FancyDinner: The main events of the novel take place in a nameless restaurant that's clearly on the higher end of fine dinning. The dishes served are clearly expensive and the general atmosphere of the place is meant to make the dinners feel like one of the upper crust.

* BlackmailBackfire: [[spoiler:Beau's attempts to blackmail his adoptive brother Rick and cousin Michel with footage of their murder of the homeless woman not only fail, but also cost him his life - Rick and Michel ultimately murder him.]]
* FancyDinner: Although the restaurant purposely isn't named, its high cost and atmosphere are described in almost endless detail.
* HappilyAdopted: Beau is Serge and Babette's adopted son from Burkina Faso, who was raised like one of their own. [[spoiler: By the end of the novel, considering Beau's attempts to blackmail his adoptive brother and cousin, Paul questions whether Beau was ever truly happy being part of the family.]]
* HappilyMarried: Although they've had some issues, on the whole, Paul and Claire are very much in love and happy together. [[spoiler: Serge and Babette]], meanwhile, are probably not.
* HowWeGotHere: The novel begins with both Lohman couples meeting for a FancyDinner to discuss an important matter. Through flashbacks, we gradually piece together the events that led up to the dinner.
* ItRunsInTheFamily: [[spoiler:More than halfway through the novel, we discover that Paul suffers from a neurological disorder that makes him prone to violent behavior. Michel's murderous actions make Paul (and the reader) wonder if he indeed has inherited that disorder - though its also implied that Michel could simply have been psychologically influenced by Paul.]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The ending suggests that Michel and Rick completely get away with their manslaughter of the homeless woman (and their murder of their cousin/adoptive brother Beau). Claire also gets away with her public assault of Serge, simply because Serge did not consider it a good idea to file charges against his own sister-in-law.]]

** The tension between Paul and Serge largely comes down to this. [[spoiler: Though, as we later learn, Paul's sociopathic tendencies, particularly the one time he physically assaulted Serge, also no doubt played a part in their antipathy towards each other.]]
** [[spoiler: Its possible that Beau's decision to blackmail his adoptive brother Rick (and his cousin Michel) also stems from this.]]
* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:It's very possible that Paul, as well as Michel (and maybe Claire), are sociopaths.]]
* TeensAreMonsters: It turns out that [[spoiler:while Michel may have murdered the homeless woman by accident, he kills his cousin on purpose. It's strongly hinted that his other cousin, the murdered boy's brother, helped.]]
* VigilanteMan: It is very subtly implied that [[spoiler: Michel might consider himself to be one. During one of Paul's flashbacks, we learn that Michel had once written a school essay justifying the extra-judicial killing of heinous criminals. His attack on the homeless woman in the ATM could have been motivated in part by a desire to punish her for her squatting. Indeed, during the dinner, Paul and Claire try to mitigate the boys' actions by suggesting that the homeless woman wasn't an 'innocent'.]]

''The Dinner'' (''Het diner'') is a 2009 mystery-thiller novel by Herman Koch. The entire novel is written from Paul's perspective and is split into sections, each one named after a dinner course.

It became a national bestseller, earning translations into multiple languages and garnering three different film adaptations: one in Dutch that was released in 2013, one in Italian (titled ''I nostri ragazzi'') that was released in 2014, and an American adaptation (titled ''The Dinner'') of released in 2017.

* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:It's very possible that Paul, as well as Michel (and maybe Claire), are sociopaths.]]
* VigilanteMan: It is very subtly implied that [[spoiler: Michel might consider himself to be one. During one of Paul's flashbacks, we learn that Michel had once written a school essay justifying the extra-judicial killing of heinous criminals. His attack on the homeless woman in the ATM could have been motivated in part by a desire to punish her for her squatting. Indeed, during the dinner, Paul and Claire try to mitigate the boys' actions by suggesting that the homeless woman wasn't an 'innocent'.]]

One day, Paul Lohman and his wife, Claire, receive an invitation to dine at a fancy restaurant. The one doing the inviting is Paul's brother, Serge Lohman, and his wife, Babette. Ostensibly, Serge wants to use the dinner as a kind of family meeting, so they can all talk about something important.

''The Dinner'' (''Het diner'') is a 2009 Dutch novel by Herman Koch. The entire novel is written from Paul's perspective and is split into sections, each one named after a dinner course.

It became a national bestseller, earning translations into multiple languages and garnering three different film adaptations: one in Dutch that was released in 2013, one in Italian (titled ''I nostri ragazzi'') that was released in 2014, and an American adaptation released in 2017.

''The Dinner'' (''Het diner'') is a 2009 Dutch novel by Herman Koch. The novel is written from the lone perspective of Paul and is split into sections, each one named after a dinner course.

Though reluctant to go, Paul accepts the invitation. Since he is a candidate in the upcoming elections for Dutch prime minister, Serge uses his high status to get them a table that very night. Once they're all gathered, the conversation starts politely enough, though bad feelings from each diner give the dinner an unpleasant aftertaste. As courses are served and cleared away, talk eventually turns to their children. The tension that had been present throughout the night finally reaches a tipping point as each diner must come to a decision that could affect their lives and those of their children.

''The Dinner'' is a 2009 novel by Dutch author Herman Koch. The narrator, Paul, dines with his wife, Claire, as well as his ambitious brother and brother's wife, Serge and Babette. The novel takes place, unsurprisingly, over the course of a [[FancyDinner high-end dinner]], with flashbacks explaining why the dinner's taking place. [[FromBadToWorse Things don't go very well.]]

The novel was well-received and a [[TheFilmOfTheBook Dutch film of the book]] was released in 2013, followed by an Italian adaptation and an American adaptation.

!!This book provides examples of:
* [[spoiler:BlackmailBackfire: Beau's attempts to blackmail his adoptive brother Rick and cousin Michel with footage of their murder of the homeless woman not only fail, but also cost him his life - Rick and Michel ultimately murder him.]]

* HowWeGotHere: [[spoiler: The novel begins with both Lohman couples meeting for a FancyDinner to discuss an important matter. Through flashbacks, we gradually piece together the events that led up to the dinner.]]
* ItRunsInTheFamily: [[spoiler: More than halfway through the novel, we discover that Paul suffers from a neurological disorder that makes him prone to violent behaviour. Michel's murderous actions make Paul (and the reader) wonder if he indeed has inherited that disorder - though its also implied that Michel could simply have been psychologically influenced by Paul.]]
* [[spoiler:KarmaHoudini: The ending suggests that Michel and Rick completely get away with their manslaughter of the homeless woman (and their murder of their cousin/adoptive brother Beau). Claire also gets away with her public assault of Serge, simply because Serge did not consider it a good idea to file charges against his own sister-in-law.]]
* SiblingRivalry: The tension between Paul and Serge largely comes down to this. [[spoiler: Though, as we later learn, Paul's sociopathic tendencies, particularly the one time he physically assaulted Serge, also no doubt played a part in their antipathy towards each other.]]

* [[spoiler:TheSociopath: It's very possible that Paul, as well as Michel (and maybe Claire), are sociopaths.]]

* InTheBlood: [[spoiler: More than halfway through the novel, we discover that Paul suffers from a neurological disorder that makes him prone to violent behaviour. Michel's murderous actions make Paul (and the reader) wonder if he indeed has inherited that disorder - though its also implied that Michel could simply have been psychologically influenced by Paul.]]

* [[spoiler:InTheBlood: More than halfway through the novel, we discover that Paul suffers from a neurological disorder that makes him prone to violent behaviour. Michel's murderous actions make Paul (and the reader) wonder if he indeed has inherited that disorder - though its also implied that Michel could simply have been psychologically influenced by Paul.]]

* HowWeGotHere: The novel begins with both Lohman couples meeting for a FancyDinner to discuss an important matter. Through flashbacks, we gradually piece together the events that led up to the dinner.

* [[spoiler:TheSociopath: It's very possible that Paul, as well as Michel (and maybe Claire), are sociopaths.]]

* HowWeGotHere: [[spoiler: The novel begins with both Lohman couples meeting for a FancyDinner to discuss an important matter. Through Paul's flashbacks, we gradually piece together the events that led up to the dinner.]]

The novel was well-received and a [[TheFilmOfTheBook Dutch film of the book]] was released in 2013.

* HappilyMarried: Although they've had some issues, on the whole, Paul and Claire are very much in love and happy together. [[spoiler: Paul and Babette]], meanwhile, are probably not.

* TeensAreMonsters: It turns out that [[spoiler:while Michel may have murdered the homeless woman by accident, he kills his cousin on purpose. It's strongly hinted that his other cousin, the murdered boy's son, helped.]]

* Teens Are Monsters: It turns out that [[spoiler:while Michel may have murdered the homeless woman by accident, he kills his cousin on purpose. It's strongly hinted that his other cousin, the murdered boy's son, helped.]]
* [[spoiler:The Sociopath: It's very possible that Paul, as well as Michel (and maybe Claire), are sociopaths.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://brodartvibe.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dinner.jpg]]

* Teens Are Monsters: It turns out that [[spoiler:while Michel may have murdered the homeless woman by accident, he kills his cousin on purpose. It's strongly hinted that his other cousin, the murdered boy's son, helped.]]

''The Dinner'' is a 2009 novel by Dutch author Herman Koch. The narrator dines with his wife, as well as his ambitious brother and brother's wife. The novel takes place, unsurprisingly, over the course of a [[FancyDinner high-end dinner]], with flashbacks explaining why the dinner's taking place. Things don't go very well.

The novel was well-received and a Dutch film of the book was released in 2013.