Friday, October 10, 2014

Summer House With Swimming Pool by Herman Koch

What They Say.....When a medical mistake goes horribly wrong and Ralph Meier, a famous actor, winds up dead, Dr. Marc Schlosser is forced to conceal the error from his patients and family. After all, reputation is everything in this business. But the weight of carrying such a secret lies heavily on his mind, and he can't keep hiding from the truth…or the Board of Medical Examiners.

The problem is that the real truth is a bit worse than a simple slipup. Marc played a role in Ralph's death, and he's not exactly upset that the man is gone. Still haunted by his eldest daughter's rape during their stay at Ralph's extravagant Mediterranean summerhouse-one they shared with Ralph and his enticing wife, Judith, film director Stanley Forbes and his far younger girlfriend, Emmanuelle, and Judith's mother-Marc has had it on his mind that the perpetrator of the rape could be either Ralph or Stanley. Stanley's guilt seems obvious, bearing in mind his uncomfortable fixation on the prospect of Marc's daughter's fashion career, but Marc's reasons for wanting Ralph dead become increasingly compelling as events unravel. There is damning evidence against Marc, but he isn't alone in his loathing of the star-studded director.


 What They Say.....Blech, blech, blech.  I had previously read Koch's "The Dinner" and was pretty disgusted with those characters, but this book took repulsive to a whole other level. 
As a nurse, I hope that people realize that most doctors don't think like this, or practice like this.  The amount of disdain that Dr. Schlosser has for his patients is truly off putting.

He doesn't even seem to have any interest in his high profile patients, he's irritated when he is invited to any of their events.  He's an equal opportunity hater.  But after his daughter's rape, Schlosser finds how far he will go to revenge.  But how much did he contribute to his daughter's attack?  

This was a disgusting book full of horrific people, but I couldn't stop reading it or thinking about it. So I guess that is the mark of great writing, that you aren't comfortable with all of it.

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