Showing results by author "Herman Koch"

It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse - the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened. Each couple has a 15-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families.

When a medical procedure goes horribly wrong and famous actor Ralph Meier winds up dead, Dr. Marc Schlosser needs to come up with some answers. After all, reputation is everything in this business. Personally, he’s not exactly upset that Ralph is gone, but as a high-profile doctor to the stars, Marc can’t hide from the truth forever.

When Robert Walter, popular mayor of Amsterdam, sees his wife toss her head back with laughter while chatting to one of his aldermen at a New Year's reception, he immediately suspects the worst. Despite their long and happy marriage, Robert is convinced that Sylvia is cheating on him - with the respectable alderman who is dedicated to the environment, no less. The man who wants to spoil the capital's skyline with wind turbines. 

Dans la veine du Dîner, une comédie noire au suspense redoutable où il est question - entre autres - des affres de la vie conjugale, de la disparition d'un chat, de préjugés racistes, d'un François Hollande en goguette, de la finitude de l'univers, de tri des déchets... le tout sur fond de satire sociale acerbe. Maire d'Amsterdam, aimé du petit personnel et respecté des puissants de ce monde, époux comblé, heureux père d'une adolescente, Robert peut savourer pleinement le sentiment d'une vie accomplie.

Mr. M is being watched. As a famous writer, he is no stranger to the limelight, although interest in his work has been dwindling of late. His print runs are smaller than they used to be, as are the crowds at his bookshop signings.... Our narrator clearly takes a keen interest in M.'s work, and indeed in every aspect of his life. But what exactly are his intentions? And to what does Mr. M owe the honour of his undivided attention? 

¿Hasta dónde es capaz de llegar un padre para encubrir a un hijo que comete un delito injustificable? ¿Debe prevalecer el instinto de protección paterna, o la lealtad a unas normas sociales que garantizan la coherencia y la fortaleza del grupo? Estas y otras preguntas de igual calibre surgen como dardos durante la lectura de La cena.

Dem Allgemeinarzt Marc Schlosser ist ein Kunstfehler unterlaufen, an dessen Folgen der berühmte Schauspieler Ralph Meier verstorben ist...

Fred Moorman ist Ende vierzig und träumt von einem schwarzen Jeep Cherokee und einem neuen, interessanteren Freundeskreis. Sein Leben ödet ihn an. Die Zeiten, als sein inzwischen vierzehnjähriger Sohn noch zu ihm aufschaute, sind lange vorbei und seine Frau denkt laut darüber nach, wie das Leben ohne ihn aussähe. Da trifft Fred Max G. wieder, den er schon in der Schule bewunderte. Max hat alles, was Fred nicht hat: Durchsetzungsvermögen, schöne Frauen, ein schillerndes Leben.

Seine Triumphe sind schon lange her, sein schriftstellerischer Stern ist am Sinken. Noch immer zehrt M. von seinem größten Erfolgsroman, der auf einer wahren Begebenheit beruht: Das aufsehenerregende Verschwinden des Lehrers Jan Landzaat, das landesweit Schlagzeilen machte. Landzaat hatte eine Affäre mit einer Schülerin und wurde kurz vor seinem Verschwinden vor dem Ferienhaus ihres neuen Freundes gesehen. Für Herrn M. bedeutete diese boulevardeske Geschichte den internationalen Durchbruch. Doch nun tauchen Briefe auf, die danach fragen, was er mit dem Verschwinden des Mannes zu tun haben könnte.

Once a celebrated writer, M's greatest success came with a suspense novel based on a real-life, unsolved disappearance. It told the story of a history teacher who went missing one winter after his brief affair with a stunning pupil. Upon publication, M.'s novel was a bestseller, one that marked his international breakthrough.That was years ago, and now M.'s career is almost over as he fades increasingly into obscurity.

Wie weit darf Elternliebe gehen? Was darf man tun, um seine Kinder zu beschützen...

Roman populyarnogo gollandskogo pisatelya i zhurnalista Germana Koha v 2009 godu udostoilsya v Niderlandah "CHitatel'skoj premii". S tekh por on byl pereveden na dva s lishnim desyatka yazykov i prines avtoru mirovuyu izvestnost': na segodnyashnij den' prodano svyshe milliona ekzemplyarov knigi. Syuzhet ee, ponachalu kazhushchijsya nezatejlivym, zaklyuchen v zhestkie vremennye ramki: eto vsego lish' odin vecher v feshenebel'nom restorane. Dva brata s zhenami prishli tuda po-uzhinat' i koe-chto obsudit'.