Catastrophic thinking is defined as “ruminating about irrational worst-case outcomes.”

Example: My travel anxiety: unrelenting New York traffic to the airport, TSA strip search, delayed flight, middle seat surrounding by not one, but two crying babies, no on board TV, lost baggage. Pretty catastrophic, right?

This cognitive rational can be akin to Murphy’s law – what can go wrong, will go wrong. It’s panic-inducing and exhausting.

The Ditch follows the mayor of Amsterdam who begins to unravel at a seemingly casual interaction between his wife and colleague. From the second chapter, I immediately felt connected to our narrator. The prose allowed me to feel the angst and paranoia of a fellow catastrophic thinker with a truly vivid imagination.

The encounter forces him to analyze his wife and her behavior, both past and present, in a completely new light as he tries to snuff out the potential affair. Koch’s writing was perfect to transport the reader into the mayor’s mind.

Unfortunately, there were many subplots and tangents that never really hit home for me. I felt the author was trying to hard to be cerebral, and it came off as forced and a tad pretentious. I debated quitting on the book, but ultimately needed to know whether the mayor’s seemingly far-fetched theory was true. Was his wife cheating on him?

I know Koch is a very popular author but The Dinner and The Ditch both fell short for me. Is there a beloved author you just can’t seem to connect with?

Verdict: Skip it (2/5 Stars)
Length: 320 pages
Quote: “All right already!” he shouted, twisting his arm around to give the man the finger.  “What’s the big deal? You in such a hurry to get someplace where nobody wants to see you anyway, d***head?”
Instead Try: The Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton (B2C review)– this book is not exactly in the same vein but a bit more Talented Mr. Ripley-esque

Buy The Ditch by Herman Koch