The Ditch
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Gildart Jackson
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By:
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Herman Koch
About this listen
When Robert Walter, popular mayor of Amsterdam, sees his wife toss her head back with 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 - with the respectable alderman who is dedicated to the environment, no less. The man who wants to spoil the capital's skyline with wind turbines.
The New Year's reception marks the end of the "happy family" era that the mayor has enjoyed for so long. His wife and their daughter, Diana, however, are not aware of his suspicions and carry on as usual. Robert starts spending a lot of time and energy "behaving normally." Naturally, his normal behavior is far more suspicious. Normally Robert's not really present when he's at home - he's preoccupied with his phone, the newspapers, and his own thoughts. But now Robert is so sure he'll miss the clues if he doesn't pay attention that he starts to be almost alarmingly attentive and interested - ultimately losing himself in increasingly panicked and paranoid trains of thought.
Written with Herman Koch's trademark originality, playfulness, and edge, The Ditch is a wildly clever - and guttingly familiar - story of a man whose sadistic skill for undermining himself and his marriage comes to cost him nearly everything.
©2016 Herman Koch; translation copyright 2019 by Sam Garrett (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Annie Adams is days away from her 32nd birthday and thinks she has finally found some happiness. She visits the world's most interesting places for her syndicated travel column and she's happily cohabiting with her movie director boyfriend Nick in Los Angeles. But when Nick comes home from a meeting with his therapist (aka "futures counselor") and announces that he's taking a break from their relationship so he can pursue a woman from his past, the place Annie had come to call home is shattered.
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Meh
- By Bernice Holland on 05-16-21
By: Laura Dave
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We Know You Remember
- A Novel (The High Coast Series, Book 1)
- By: Tove Alsterdal
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s been more than 20 years since Olof Hagström left home. Returning to his family’s house, he knows instantly that something is amiss. The front door key, hidden under a familiar stone, is still there. Inside, there’s a panicked dog, a terrible stench, water pooling on the floor: The father Olaf has not seen or spoken to in decades is dead in the bathroom shower.
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New author
- By Michael on 09-30-21
By: Tove Alsterdal
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The Royal We
- By: Heather Cocks, Jessica Morgan
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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An American girl finds her prince in this "fun and dishy" (People) royal romance inspired by Prince William and Kate Middleton. American Bex Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister Lacey was always the romantic, the one who daydreamed of being a princess. But it's adventure-seeking Bex who goes to Oxford and meets dreamy Nick across the hall - and Bex who finds herself accidentally in love with the heir to the British throne. Nick is wonderful, but he comes with unimaginable baggage.
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I deserve a medal for getting to the endless end.
- By Anne on 09-30-17
By: Heather Cocks, and others
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A Nail Through The Heart
- A Poke Rafferty Thriller
- By: Timothy Hallinan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt. But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out.
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Ever been to Bangkok?
- By Richard Delman on 12-11-11
By: Timothy Hallinan
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Before You Knew My Name
- A Novel
- By: Jacqueline Bublitz
- Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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When she arrived in New York on her eighteenth birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city’s latest Jane Doe. She may be dead but that doesn’t mean her story is over. Meanwhile, Ruby Jones is also trying to reinvent herself. After travelling halfway around the world, she’s lonelier than ever in the Big Apple. Until she stumbles upon a woman’s body by the Hudson River, and suddenly finds herself unbreakably tied to the unknown dead woman.
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Excellent
- By cristina on 11-11-22
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Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
- Auntie Poldi, Book 1
- By: Mario Giordano
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Auntie Poldi can think of no finer place to wait for death than Sicily. All she asks is a sea view, fine wine (and plenty of it), and her family close around. When death instead takes her handsome young friend Valentino - and under mysterious circumstances at that - Poldi will not take it lying down. Perhaps it's in her blood, but Auntie Poldi's hunting instincts have never felt more alive. Justice must be served - if it's the last thing she does....
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More fun and murder in Sicily!
- By MolllyT on 02-19-18
By: Mario Giordano
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An Ocean Apart
- A Novel
- By: Robin Pilcher
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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For six dreadful months, David Corstorphine has tried to come to terms with his young wife's death while caring for his three motherless children. Try as he may, David is unable to return to work, and his only form of solace comes from working in the garden of his parents' estate in the Scottish countryside. Dispatched unexpectedly to New York, David's family hopes that the impromptu business trip will help him get back on his feet. But the journey proves both disastrous and heartening.
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This book had such heart
- By Lesley Harrison on 07-19-24
By: Robin Pilcher
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Child Taken
- By: Darren Young
- Narrated by: Katy Sobey, Jonathan Keeble, Jilly Bond
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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One hot summer's day, two-year-old Jessica Preston disappears from the beach. The police are convinced she drowned, but Sandra Preston won't give up hope that her daughter is still alive. How can she? Twenty years later, another child goes missing, and Sandra is approached by a young journalist who raises questions about what really happened to Jessica Preston all those years ago.
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Wonderful story!
- By KDB on 04-28-18
By: Darren Young
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Under the Midnight Sun
- A Novel
- By: Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith - translator, Joseph Reeder
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In Osaka in 1973, the body of a murdered man is found in an abandoned building. Investigating the crime, Detective Sasagaki is unable to find the killer. Over the next 20 years, through the lens of a succession of characters, Higashino tells the story of two teens, Ryo and Yukiho, whose lives are most affected by the crime, and the obsessed detective, Sasagaki, who continues to investigate the murder, looking for the elusive truth.
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So many subplots and twists
- By Janani Vasudevan on 07-03-20
By: Keigo Higashino, and others
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The Night She Disappeared
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite place for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
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Oh my… gave me chills
- By Kelly on 09-10-21
By: Lisa Jewell
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The Promise
- By: Damon Galgut
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Haunted by an unmet promise, the Swart family loses touch after the death of their matriarch. Adrift, the lives of the three siblings move separately through the uncharted waters of South Africa; Anton, the golden boy who bitterly resents his life’s unfulfilled potential; Astrid, whose beauty is her power; and the youngest, Amor, whose life is shaped by a nebulous feeling of guilt.
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Excellent novel
- By ALG on 11-09-21
By: Damon Galgut
What listeners say about The Ditch
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Nicholas Wilson
- 08-05-21
Not Worth It
I love Herman Koch. His cynical, yet relatable, unreliable narrators are so intriguing and the provocative rants they go on are entertaining and, though quite “edgy”, equally relatable. You know they are up to no good, and not giving you the full story, but you can’t help but root for them. On that note, this book is no different from his earlier works. And the voice performance just enhances that.
However, this story is just generally a mess. Starting out with suspicions about his wife’s affair, then anxiety about his aging parent’s plans to commit suicide, then his past (or not his past?) catching up to him via an investigative reporter, and a lot of other unfortunate situations plague the narrator of The Ditch, the mayor of Amsterdam. However, where he starts out vague, in order to “protect” his family’s identities, he ends on the same vague note. The end tries to convey how the stories all tie together in some plot, but the lack of information, coupled with confusing motivations by every character involved, and a few characters who would need to be rather stupid to not become weary to the narrator’s crimes (I think?), make for an unimpressive ending.
The book is still entertaining if you like Koch’s other works. The narration is key there. However, while his other books reward you for reading or listening to the first 200 pages of slow burning events, this book doesn’t really have much of a burn at all, and the end does not have any great payoff. You might be better off just skipping this one.
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- Mrs. C.
- 12-24-23
Another great story
Herman Koch does not disappoint. His stories are always intelligently written, yet twisted, with complicated characters. I decided to neglect the negative reviews due to past experiences with this author. I was not disappointed.
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- Ginas13
- 02-01-24
Dark
It was interesting but dark. I found the narrator’s voice grating. The story is pretty depressing.
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- NGupta
- 10-12-23
Time waster
every character is despicable except for the daughter. Don’t waste your time on this book.
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1 person found this helpful