The Dinner is an enjoyable read–written as events unfold over the course of a dinner between two couples at a fork in their road of life. It’s quite interesting, to be inside of someone’s thoughts over the course of a formal, if not pretentious, dinner—-the random asides and thoughts back as the events and conversations unfold. Although the story is told as it happens over about four hours, the thoughts back in time fill the gaps, but they come so naturally as Paul, the narrator, allows his mind to wander at times to the issues that brought these two couples together.
There’s a great darkness to Paul that unfolds slowly enough that I almost want to forgive him for that darkness when manifested. His wife, Claire, though, is puzzlingly surprising. I’ll say no more lest I give anything away.
The stories—both that of the dinner and that of the events that brought them there—twist in several unexpected (and some expected) ways. The pace kept me interested and intrigued, making this a quick, entertaining read that, on reflection a day later, also gives me pause as to “who’s bad” and, naturally, who’s not.