This isn’t an easy book to review. On the one hand, Herman
Koch is a brilliant writer. He creates characters bursting with grit and life.
He writes vivid, masterful dialogue and gorgeous prose…
But at the end of this book, you might feel like you need a
good mind scrubbing. His characters – at least the adults – range from sleazy
to morally reprehensible. Yet, each character is so human, and the questions
posed are the kind that might bring out the very worst in any of us.
The first question: How far would you go to protect those
you love? If your child is hurt or taken advantage of, how far would you go to
exact revenge? Marc Schlosser,
obviously, takes things to the limit.
The second question: How far would you go to protect
yourself? For all of Schlosser’s indignation and disgust toward those around
him, his own behavior is questionable at best. He gives in to petty jealousies
over attention (unsolicited and unwanted) paid to his wife; yet when the opportunity
presents itself, he throws himself head over heels into an affair of his own. When
his own actions risk exposure, he is willing to compromise those he loves in
order to protect himself.
I have a feeling that I’m starting a love-hate relationship
with Herman Koch. Koch offers up brilliant, gritty writing, but characters so
unpalatable that you’ll hardly be able to keep reading. I was torn in my rating
of this book – and I don’t think that’ll change.
