Netherland

One of the best post-9/11 and postcolonial books I've read. Easily in the same infield as Delillo's post-9/11 short novels ('Falling Man', 'Cosmopolis', 'Point Omega'). In someways it surpasses these shorter Delillo works and stands closer to 'Underworld'. Besides the obvious Baseball vs. Cricket, Underworld and Netherland are looking at the same point from the views of New Yorker in New York vs Immigrant in New York, and Big vs. Small. Also, at the same time 'Netherland' is a retelling of 'The Great Gatsby'. I only recognized this after reading James Wood's New Yorker review, but all it took was the briefest mention of Gatsby and the floodgates opened. Anyway, brilliant.

THis book came as somewhat of a surprise, I didn't think I would be in the mood, but it starts off so well and the reader is so good, I just couldn't put it down and was engaged before I could protest. THe reader's accents were perfect and the tone was so perfect for the character, I must say I was very impressed with both the reading and the very moving story told in such an associative way rather than chronologically--I liked that. I look forward to hearing the book again soon, I read it so fast the first time I want time to savor it more slowly again.

Essentially a novel for men (lots of sports and sports metaphors), this is a book about a guy whose wife dumps him and who ends up living alone in post-911 New York City. Cricket is his salvation, and through it he becomes involved with a fascinating West Indian subculture. It's a book about human migration, about love and work and sex and the loss of a charismatic (and enigmatic) friend. Wonderfully written and narrated.

I was somewhat shocked to read other reviews that derided this book as boring and pointless. I would imagine that those readers/reviewers lean toward more popular fiction as a general rule.

"Netherland" is a beautifully written story about the ordinary things we must all deal with--how to find meaning in a relationship that has grown stale, how to find meaning in a post 9/11 world, how to find meaning in general, when one's dreams seem faded in the distant past.

Brought to life by the simple, entrancing narration of Jefferson Mays, "Netherland" draws us into the life of Hans, transplanted to New York from Holland via London. The game of cricket, about which I know zip, binds many of the characters together. And even though I know nothing of cricket, I was captivated by Hans's reflections of his cricket greatness as a youth. Who among us does not think back on our younger sporting selves with nostalgia?

O'Neill is deft with a pen: whether describing a cricket match or the hollowness of Manhatten after 9/11, he puts on a novel spin on every phrase. His scene in the New York City DMV, with its ludicrous hoops one must jump through had me smiling, maybe even laughing. Such a great commentary on the world today.

I loved this quiet book, loved the themes, loved the narration, and was captured by the poetry of O'Neill's prose. If you like Ian McEwan, Ann Patchett, Michael Chabon, Colm Toibin, John Cheever, or John Updike, you will probably also love this book.

loved this book and the reading of it. i was hesitant about the novel given its subject matter - cricket - but enjoyed every moment of the story...

This is amazing prose. If you love exact, incisive, inventive writing, read this book. Made me think of Ian McEwan but better. Desolate but so beautifully written. I felt privileged by the glimpse into a hidden world of NYC immigrants.One of the finest books I've read in the past year.

This is an intriguing and interesting book about New York after 9-11. It focuses on a wealthy European banker with few friends who spends most of his leisure time playing cricket with third world immigrants after his wife flees New York. It is lucid and well narrated (the Indian/Trinidad accents seem authentic.) Its is intriguing and a bit of a mystery. I enjoyed it.

Jefferson Mays is absolutely inappropriate as the narrator of this book. His arch, bored tone takes away from a very interesting book. I saw Mays perform, "I am my own wife," and he was brilliant in that play but simply awful at reading Netherland.

I heard O'Neill read a bit of his own book on Fresh Air and it was an entirely different experience. But this performance.....very, very disappointing.

I was very disapointed in this book. The characters all felt smart without any wisdom and with a profound lack of empathy. If the author was trying to make a comparison between America after 9/11 and who we see and treat the rest of the world, it didn't work for me. The narrator was very good and if it weren't for that I'd have abandoned the book.

I must admit I got this for class, so its not really my style. But I have liked a few that we have had to read. This one was not fun. It was slow and the characters were not likable.

Probably not.

Nope. The main character was from the Netherlands and sometimes he had an accent, sometimes he didn't. Really annoying.

The main character.