This is a great book. After reading it I ordered The Dinner straight away. I love the way Herman Koch writes...page turning, intriguing, characters who are multi dimensional. This book kept twisting and so kept you guessing. A multitude of issues which can touch us all during our lives were addressed. Koch writes in almost a voyeristic way giving an interesting view of the human mind and how we are different. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed Herman Koch’s ‘The Dinner’ so I was suitably excited to read another of his novels. I was prepared to enjoy ‘Summer House with Swimming Pool’ just as much, but I didn’t anticipate being so drawn in to the story that I would read the entire book in a day.

Koch’s main character, Dr Marc Schlosser is flawed and, at times, utterly unlikeable. We see everything from his point of view. He is a GP who seems to have a sincere dislike of ‘bodies’ – there are many hilarious occasions where the doctor dwells a little too long on an ailment or an unsightly part of the anatomy of one of his patients. His clientele come to him because he is willing to give them the time, answers, and prescriptions they ask for.

There are a few themes to this story, some more prominent than others. Early on we learn that Marc has been accused of medical malpractice after the death of one of his patients, the famous actor Ralph Meier. Marc goes back to tell us about the developing relationship between his and Ralph’s families, and the events that lead up to the accusation of malpractice. Despite beginning and ending with Ralph’s death and subsequent investigation this is not the heart of the story. Amongst all the shocking, crude situations and thoughts that make up this story, there is one event that will trump them all.

Koch’s writing is clever, vivid and compelling. The plot was constantly evolving and despite the story being told through via the inner monologue of a disillusioned doctor, it still manages to be a suspenseful thriller. It is tough to review this book without giving away a vital element of the plot. All I can say is that I loved this story for so many reasons and that I have continued to think about the characters long after I finished reading it. Highly recommended!

Summer House With Swimming Pool is the seventh novel by Dutch actor, television and radio producer, newspaper columnist and author, Herman Koch, and the second book to be translated into English. Dr Marc Schlosser, a General Physician whose patients appreciate the time he takes with them, is summoned to appear before the Board of Medical Examiners. One of his patients, celebrity actor Ralph Meier, has died, and a question hangs over his medical management. Some eighteen months earlier, Marc, his wife and two daughters spent a week at a Mediterranean summer house with Meiers family, an ageing Hollywood director and his very young girlfriend. Most of Marcs narration is spent recounting, in hindsight, the events of that vacation that led to a shocking climax, and its aftermath. Koch so cleverly crafts his story that the reader is left wondering exactly what crimes or misdeeds were committed during that summer interlude, and by whom. While Marcs narration is entirely reliable, it is, of course, wholly biased, and it is equally apparent that others who contribute to the account of events have their own agendas. Many of the characters are easy to find loathsome or obnoxious and none is quite what they first seem to be. Marc demonstrates an ability to shift priorities and abandon responsibility with breath-taking ease, as well as a cold, calculating nature, which makes his actions seem thoroughly plausible. Kochs novel touches on the Dutch medical system, paedophiles, what is appropriate treatment of sexual deviants, justice, revenge and taking the law into ones own hands. It is a given that we cannot know mere acquaintances to any significant degree, but Kochs novel will have the reader questioning just how well we can truly know those really close to us: our children, our parents and our spouses. Koch gives the reader some marvellously descriptive prose (his depiction of abscesses and tumours is particularly imaginative) and he inserts some moments of sharp (and occasionally quite dark) humour to relieve the building tension. Female readers will be grateful that not all men are this shallow and most readers will hope their doctor is not this cynical. This thought-provoking, powerful, and compelling read is flawlessly translated by Sam Garrett. A brilliant novel that stays with the reader long after the last page is turned.