Herman Koch

Once a celebrated writer, M had his greatest success with a suspense novel based on a real-life disappearance: a history teacher who went missing one winter after having a brief affair with a beautiful student of his. The teacher was never found. Upon publication, M's novel was a runaway bestseller, an international breakthrough. Now M's career is fading. But why is his bizarre, seemingly timid neighbor keeping a close eye on him and his wife?

A Novel

Dear Mr. M

Aleena Korell

"There are books in which the writer appears as well. As a character. Or there's a character in the book who enters into a discussion with the writer. I'm sure you know the books I'm talking about. You wrote some of them yourself.
That's what makes this different. I'm not a character. I'm real."

This is a really unique book.

I really enjoyed reading it. Dear Mr. M certainly has a fascinating premise. An old, once-famous writer, M, is fading into obscurity. His most successful work, a novel based on a real-life story about two students who were suspected of murdering their history teacher, was a long time ago. But M's neighbor, who watches him a little TOO much, is in fact one of the students once suspected of the teacher's murder, and it seems he finally wants to confront the writer who put it to paper.

There are many layers to this story, and most of them are incredibly intriguing. There's the letter to M from Herman-- which feels like a stream of consciousness, almost, and is rather sinister at the beginning but grows more sympathetic as the book goes on. There's M's POV, which is a fascinating and sad and humorous look behind-the-scenes of the writing world. And finally, there is the narrative from the past, about the teens and what really happened all those years ago, some of which, I suspect, is an "excerpt" of M's book. (At the end, there's a bit from the teacher's POV, but honestly, to me, it seemed to only state what I already knew/figured out.)

The writing is wonderful. If for nothing else, read this book for the writing. The character development of M and Herman was what I loved most about the book. M is curmudgeonly and unlikeable, but utterly fascinating, and Herman's young passion to live life to the fullest clashes with his grown-up, quiet, single-minded need for vengeance. There's a lot about writing, here-- Koch pokes fun at himself/other writers, which I enjoyed. It's a book within a book, and a tongue-in-cheek, rare glimpse into the mind of a writer.

Dear Mr. M doesn't spell everything out clearly for the reader in the end. It's a bit twisty and, yes, confusing at some bits, and there are some ends I don't feel like have been tied off (view spoiler)[where the heck is Laura in the end?! (hide spoiler)] and the "big reveal" didn't feel as big to me as some of the other reveals throughout the story. And my biggest disappointment is that I ended up feeling misled by M's narrative and how it seemed to be hinting at leading somewhere it's not. But all in all, I certainly enjoyed it and was very lucky to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway :)

Jacob Mishook

abhinav

Mr M is being watched. As a famous writer, he is no stranger to the limelight, although interest in his work has been dwindling of late. His print runs are smaller than they used to be, and so are the crowds at his bookshop signings. But there is someone still interested in Mr M and keeping an extremely close eye on him—someone whose own story bears more than a passing resemblance to the plot of Mr M’s bestselling thriller, in which a teacher has an affair with a student, only to be brutally murdered by the girl and her teenage boyfriend. In Mr M’s book, the body is never found—but in real life, bodies have an awkward habit of turning up.

Dear Mr. M A Novel

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