Netherland: A Novel
by Joseph O'Neill
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Book Reviews of Netherland: A Novel
Book Review: American Dream Revisited
Summary: 4 Stars
It's always a risky endeavor to write a book that draws on a beloved American classic -- in this case, The Great Gatsby. But O'Neill pulls it off -- and does so brilliantly.
The story is set in post 9/11 New York; Hans van den Broek, an expatriate Dutch banker, is alone and alienated, with his marriage, even his identity, at risk. He meets a colorful, idealistic, and shady Trinidadian entrepreneur and cricket fanatic that evokes Jay Gatsby; through his association with the man, Chuck Ramkissoon, he is introduced to a New York where the American Dream is still alive and well.
Through Ramkissoon, Hans -- and by extension, all of us -- encounter the not-often-viewed parts of New York -- cabdrivers, cooks, less-than-ethical small businessmen. And we travel to the not-for-tourist neighborhoods in New York, primarily, the boroughs. For this Brooklyn-born reader, these sections offered unexpected delights and trips down memory lane. O'Neill got it precisely right.
The echoes of The Great Gatsby -- updated by decades -- abounds, particularly now when the dream has lost so much of its enchantment. The only problem for me (and this says more about me than it does the book) is that the much-developed cricket story didn't resonate and sometimes distracted me. Again, I am aware that this is my specific issue.
In Chuck Ramkissoon, O'Neill creates a very original and memorable character, and in Hans van den Broek, he develops a deceptively complicated and tortured narrator. But make no mistake -- New York is also a character in this novel, and she plays her part with great color and aplomb. I'd recommend highly.
Book Review: Not "The" Great American Novel, But Still a Great American Novel
Summary: 4 Stars
In Netherland: A Novel, Joseph O'Neill has created a beautiful novel set in modern New York City and told from the perspective of an affluent, immigrant protagonist, Hans van den Broek. O'Neill has written the book in the first person. His author bio hints that he knows something about the setting and the novel itself confirms the fact. The novel portrays a marriage on the rocks, displacement in the midst of the September 11, 2001 attacks, love affairs, perhaps the best translation of sport into literature I have ever read, and upper class malaise. Cricket is both a prop and a subject. O'Neill is able to convey Hans's passion for the sport in elegantly rendered prose, while never making this a novel about sports. He touches on many other aspects of modern life. Each of these aspects lends insight into Hans, and American society. Of course, O'Neill, like Hans, is not a native New Yorker. But then who is? O'Neill achieves contrast by pairing the upper class Hans with a less accomplished immigrant practically boiling over with enthusiam: Ramkissoon. Ramkissoon steals the show almost from the first that he steps onto the scene. For the rest of the novel, Ramkissoon provides the bulk of the narrative tension and much of the humor. O'Neill writes beautiful sentences and has constructed a tightly plotted story.
O'Neill has, more so than any other book I have recently read, captured present-day New York. As impressively, he has done so with very well crafted prose. O'Neill is an artist and this could be his masterpiece. I can only hope he manages to surpass this effort in the future.
Book Review: Quite possibly the worst book of the decade
Summary: 1 Stars
I am a native New Yorker and can say, quite unflinchingly, that this is one of the worst (if not most offensive) books I have ever read in my life. I have to wonder if Michiko Kakutani, who is widely considered to be one of the toughest and most unsparing book critics of the New York Times, gave this book her stellar review because she is perhaps either friends with Sally Singer (the author's wife and a veteran member of the NY editorial glitterati) or she has some sort of inexplicable soft-spot for the author and is doing him a huge, career-establishing favor. The only thing this book did was make me deeply regret the time I wasted reading it, hoping (in vain) for it to get somewhere, hoping for its completely wooden narrator to shed some sort of INSIGHT into either his character (which has about as much soul as the cricket bat he so endlessly rhapsodizes over) or the supposed circumstances of his life (which end up seeming random and unimportant). It seems like the writer was engaging in a narcissistic literary dance, in which he blathers on about every topic he happens to have some experiential knowledge of (i.e., cricket, the topography of the Netherlands, the topography of the Chelsea and general Midrown-West region of NYC, birdwatching, lawn-mowing tools, fishing tackle, West Indian culture and a few other areas of dabbling expertise) thinking that by simply projectile-vomiting it all on the page using the uppity, non-committal, effete, pseudo-wit made famous by the British, he has the recipe for a great novel. Reality check: Only if your wife is friends with Michiko Kakutani.Book Review: Post 9-11 New York illuminated
Summary: 4 Stars
Hans Van den Broek, a Dutch native living in New York after 9/11, is estranged from his wife, Rachel and befriends Chuck Ramkissoon, a man from Trinidad who envisions building a cricket emporium in New York that would popularize the game in America and around the world. It's amazing how much of this book deals with cricket, but it also focuses on the multiple worlds of New York City, from the Chelsea Hotel where Hans lives after his family is displaced following 9/11 to Staten Island, where he goes to play cricket to the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, where Chuck lives and operates a numbers game, based on an old one from Trindad called weh weh. Rachel returns to London with their son, Jake, and starts an affair with a famous chef, but Hans returns for visits and attempts to win her back. Chuck's body is found in the Gowanus Canal at the beginning of the book, but we never learn exactly how he died. He was obviously murdered amidst his varied business dealings, which occurs after he befriends Hans and provides him with countless stories about life in a New York that is far from typical. As Hans is incorporated in his world and tries to steady his own, we are illuminated about conditions in NYC in the aftermath of 9/11. Although this is frequently descibed as a 9/11 novel, there is virtually no discussion of 9/11 during the book, except once when Hans says it was a "big deal" to someone in London who downplays it. It's a post-9/11 book since it describes life in the city after it happened and there's an awareness that the world that's described is a result of the tragedy.Book Review: Cricket in America
Summary: 4 Stars
As someone who plays cricket in America, manages a team and even built a pitch on a public park, I was able to in fact relate very much to the main character in the book, although I certainly don't want to end up dead like him for his efforts! Not giving anything away here, the book begins with the murder and builds suspense while winding its way through politics, romance etc...which could be exasperating...enough smut, mon, lets play ball ;-)
Seriously, to us expats in America from cricket loving countries, this book gives a voice. Everything in our lives, seems, has an analogy in the game, but somehow all of that gets buried by the culture of our adopted home. Soon life feels very pseudo, only to be saved when we indulge in the game.
But say what you will about cricket being somewhat underground activity in America and great "back home" wherever it may be, I think it is truly a lot more fun playing here...we get a unique perspective of the world that even the top international cricketers don't get...perhaps for a season or two, when they are at the top of their game, playing away from home, if that. As for pitches, most of us cannot relate to authors lament about "bush cricket" at all...we used to play in sand-pits in India and beaches in the Caribbean...bottom line...for many of us, this is a move up!
I know this is fiction, but I found one episode to be completely unbelievable. The author goes to India, the modern home of the game, and instead of cricket gets wrapped up in some spiritual mumbo jumbo. Whatever...