In a New York City made phantasmagorical by the events of 9/11, and left alone after his English wife and son return to London, Hans van den Broek stumbles upon the vibrant New York subculture of cricket, where he revisits his lost childhood and, thanks to a friendship with a charismatic and charming Trinidadian named Chuck Ramkissoon, begins to reconnect with his life and his adopted country. As the two men share their vastly different experiences of contemporary immigrant life in America, an unforgettable portrait emerges of an "other" New York populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality.
Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Joseph O'Neill
Joseph O'Neill was born in Ireland and raised in Holland. He received a law degree from Cambridge University and worked as a barrister in London. He writes regularly for The Atlantic Monthly and is the author of two previous novels, This Is the Life and The Breezes, and of a family history, Blood-Dark Track, which was a New York Times Notable Book. O'Neill received the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his third novel, Netherland. He lives with his family in New York City.
Question: President Obama mentioned in a New York Times Magazine profile that he's reading Netherland. How do you feel about the President reading your book?
Joseph O'Neill: I'm very honored, of course.
Question: How is the world of Netherland particular to the United States after 9/11?
Joseph O'Neill: The story takes place in the aftermath of 9/11. One of the things it does is try to evoke the disorientation and darkness of that time, which we only emerged from with the election of President Obama.
Question: What is the importance of the sport of cricket in this book? Do you play?
Joseph O'Neill: I love sport and play cricket and golf myself. Sport is a wonderful way to bring together people who would otherwise have no connection to each other.
Question: One of your reviewers calls Netherland an answer to The Great Gatsby. Were you influenced by Fitzgerald's book, and was your book written with that book in mind?
Joseph O'Neill: Halfway through the book I realized with a slightly sinking feeling that the plot of Netherland was eerily reminiscent of the Gatsby plot: dreamer drowns, bystander remembers. But there are only about 5 plots in existence, so I didn't let it bother me too much. Fitzgerald thankfully steered clear of cricket.
Question: Many reviewers have commented on the "voice" of this novel. How it is more a novel of voice than of plot? Do you agree with this?
Joseph O'Neill: Yes, I would agree with that comment. This is not a novel of eventful twists and turns. It is more like a long-form international cricket match (which can last for 5 days without a winner emerging), about nuance and ambiguity and small slippages of insight. And about language, of course.
The book critics love it. Barack Obama reportedly thinks it's wonderful. Amazon readers however mostly say it's rambling and boring, so what's happening and who's right ? The clue to these sharply divergent views can be found in the interview with Joseph O'Neill at the back of the UK edition of the book. He's more interested in letting the voice hold the narrative than rely on conventional plotting to tell the story.
In the interest of his lawyer wife Rachel's career development, equity analyst Hans... more info
A Great Literary -- I Mean, Really Literary -- Novel:
[Impertinent question: Why did they make the cover of the paperback edition look like the cover of the paperback edition of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace?] This is an almost perfect literary novel. The writing is gorgeous, full of poetic insights. It is not a long book, but it took me a long time to read. There are many passages to savor. It was something I'd been seeking for a long time, an old-fashioned reading experience, a leisurely report from another world that moves, delights, instructs.... more info
Doesn't live up to the hype:
O'Neill's Blood Dark Track is one of the most interesting books I've read, so I expected a lot from Netherland - but for me, it didn't really deliver. One of the problems is that for a book structured around the idea that the ritual (rather than the sport) of cricket can be both a social unifier and a sea of calm in the emotional maelstrom of post 9/11 America, the narrator err....isn't very convincing on cricket. Its as though Death in the Afternoon was written by someone who hadn't seen a bullfight. This... more info
Way Overrated:
This is not Gatsby, or an interesting book on cricket (I'm Australian and believe me the author says nothing at all revealing about cricket. I'd rather listen to Warney all day and surely that is an indictment). And O'Neill is not John Banville either however much he may want to be.
As many readers have noted this is a book about a drearily bourgeois, occasionally mildly insightful character who after a series of tepid 'adventures' manages to hit a couple of sixes and walk out on a dinner party with... more info
Question: President Obama mentioned in a New York Times Magazine profile that he's reading Netherland. How do you feel about the President reading your book?
