“Is it life threatening?” they asked. They said it slightly sotto voce, but you could hear the thirst for sensation right through it: when people get a chance to come close to death without having it touch them personally, they… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“In the Netherlands, for beating to death a fellow human, you might receive eight years, I figured. It wasn’t much. With a little good behavior, a little raking around the prison grounds, you would be out the gates within five.” — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“We looked at each other. At that moment, I was also a hundred percent sure that Van Dieren and I were thinking the same… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“Some people might say it's not smart to be so insecure about what you wear. But that's not how I see it. The stupid… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“… when Michel came home from school, for example, and everything was as it should be. My own voice, above all, asking him what… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“They all had to do something: they had to make a start in life; they had to go through life. Even though a single… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
In one way or another, every parent is curious what their children... what are they doing when we don't see?... What double lives are… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“Life as a widow, she thinks, will always be like this. The friends will go on proposing toasts for months (for years!). To her.… — Herman koch Copy Share Image
“The smile remained suspended on her face, but it was as though it had been disconnected from the emotion behind it – if there… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“I let go of the pump as well now. I registered a sense of fatigue. And regret. It was the same fatigue and regret… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
“Is it life threatening?” they asked. They said it slightly sotto voce, but you could hear the thirst for sensation right through it: when… — Herman Koch Copy Share Image
