Koch-H2
2014 Longlist

The Dinner

Translated from the original Dutch into English
artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

A summer’s evening in Amsterdam and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant. Between mouthfuls of food and over the delicate scraping of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of politeness – the banality of work, the triviality of holidays. But the empty words hide a terrible conflict and, with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened…

Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. Together, the boys have committed a horrifying act, caught on camera, and their grainy images have been beamed into living rooms across the nation; despite a police manhunt, the boys remain unidentified – by everyone except their parents. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children and, as civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.

 

 

 

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Herman
Koch

Herman Koch, born in 1953, is a Dutch writer. He was a renowned television actor on the series Jiskefet and a former columnist for the newspaper Volkskrant. His novel The Dinner won the prestigious Publieksprijs Prize in 2009 and went on to be a huge international bestseller. Summer House with Swimming Pool is his seventh novel. He currently lives in Amsterdam.

Herman Koch, born in 1953, is a Dutch writer. He was a renowned television actor on the series Jiskefet and a former columnist for the newspaper Volkskrant. His novel The Dinner won the prestigious Publieksprijs Prize in 2009 and went on to be a huge international bestseller. Summer House with Swimming Pool is his seventh novel. He currently lives in Amsterdam.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Sam
Garrett

SAM GARRETT has translated some 50 novels and works of nonfiction. He has won prizes and appeared on shortlists for some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, and is the only translator to have twice won the British Society of Authors’ Vondel Prize for Dutch-English translation.

SAM GARRETT has translated some 50 novels and works of nonfiction. He has won prizes and appeared on shortlists for some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, and is the only translator to have twice won the British Society of Authors’ Vondel Prize for Dutch-English translation.

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

A tremendous and thrilling novel about differing (family) values; two brothers and their wives meet at a fashionable restaurant to discuss the terrible crimes committed by their sons.

Two couples meet in a fashionable restaurant. Behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.

A “must-read” in The Independent, “best reading on a beach holiday” in the Financial Times. Our readers enjoy the novel, all copies are constantly borrowed.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
01/08/2012
Country
The Netherlands
Original Language
Dutch
Author
Publisher
Atlantic Books
Translator
Sam Garrett
Translation
Translated from the original Dutch into English

RELATED FEATURES

News May 23 2025

2025 Dublin Literary Award Winner Revealed

Discover this year's winner!
Video May 23 2025

2025 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony

2025 Dublin Literary Award Winner Ceremony live from the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Video May 23 2025

2019 Winner Emily Ruskovich

Dublin Literary Award Celebrating 30 Years Q&A
Video May 23 2025

2010 Winner Gerbrand Bakker

Dublin Literary Award Celebrating 30 Years Q&A

STAY CONNECTED

Stay in touch and sign up to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and updates on the Dublin Literary Award.