The Dinner by Herman Koch

This is a must read novel. Translated from the Dutch, the language nevertheless retains that sparse, non nonsense style that is so quintessentially Netherlandish, and is just gripping. And the story. Well, put We Have to Talk About Kevin and The Slap in a pot and get rid of the stereotypes and fairy dust, add some grit and a narrator whose true nature only dawns on you as you work your way through, and there you have one of the most compelling, dark and disturbing reads I’ve come across in months. In tone, not content, it’s a literary version of the Spacey version of House of Cards. Fabulous.

Emma by Alexander McCall Smith

This is a modern retelling of the Emma story. I do like Alexander McCall Smith’s somewhat dry Scottish voice. I suspect he is incarnate in Miss Taylor, Emma’s Scottish governess. However it is almost a colouring in by numbers retelling – the translation into the present doesn’t sparkle. I felt there was a lot more he could have done with it but it’s almost as if he’s just trotted it out. Having said all that though, it’s a pleasant enough read, though it does rely on a clear recollection of the original. Not worth buying; wait till someone lends it to you!

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I cared desperately about the protagonist in this novel. I was with him every step of the way, like his mother, grieving at the things that happened to him, at the poor decisions he made, at the inevitability of the story. He is a child lost and struggling to find himself. But perhaps this is because I am a mother. This is another of Donna Tartt’s compelling stories. However it’s overly long I think, wordy, sometimes ponderous and some of the monologues, both internal and external, do become tedious. I admit to skipping slabs of it. And I’m not sure about the story line. It is very black and white – good mum, bad dad, good wizard-like antiques dealer, bad antiques shysters, crooks and criminals and evil but good best friend Boris. It took me quite a while to work my way through this novel and I’m really not sure about it. It’s certainly not as good as her two previous books.