The Ditch

Herman Koch, Sam Garrett

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Paperback

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English

Text Publishing Company
18 June 2019

Fiction & Literature; Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

When Robert Walter, popular mayor of Amsterdam, sees his wife toss her head back in 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 - and with the straitlaced alderman, no less, who is committed to the environment and wants to spoil the capital's skyline with wind turbines. Soon afterwards, a journalist produces a photograph of a police officer being beaten up by three protesters during a demonstration against the Vietnam War. She claims that the mayor is one of the protesters.

Then, out of the blue, Robert's 94-year-old father turns up on the steps of the city hall, desperate to speak to him. He and his wife want to die together. They do not want to burden their son with their deteriorating health, so why not end their own lives when the time is right?

The Ditch shows a seemingly stable man rapidly becoming entangled in his own fears and suspicions. Or is everything not what it seems, and is Robert Walter actually seeing things clearly for the very first time?

By: Herman Koch
Translated by: Sam Garrett
Imprint: Text Publishing Company
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 231mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 418g
ISBN: 9781925773361
ISBN 10: 1925773361
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 18 June 2019
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Herman Koch is an actor, screenwriter and columnist in the Netherlands and the author of a number of satirical novels, including The Dinner, Summer House with Swimming Pool and Dear Mr M. Now a major film, The Dinner was the first of his books to be published in English and spent a year on the New York Times bestseller list. It has sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide and been translated into thirty-nine languages.

Reviews for The Ditch

‘Herman Koch is rapidly becoming one of my favourite writers. His three novels, taken together, are like a killer EP where every track kicks ass.’ * Stephen King * ‘Chilling, nasty, smart, shocking and unputdownable.’ * Gillian Flynn on The Dinner * ‘The Dinner is a riveting, compelling and deliciously uncomfortable read... both a punch to the guts and...a tonic. It clears the air. A wonderful book.’ * Christos Tsiolkas * ‘Blackly funny, full of sharp edges and hot issues, and compulsively readable. Verdict: feast on this.’ * Herald Sun on The Dinner * ‘The Dinner is a masterful, disturbing piece of theatre.’ * Age/SMH *