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133 of 153 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wish I'd bought something different, 18 July 2008
I feel almost apologetic about the fact that I never quite got "Netherland" - especially in the light of the other glowing reviews posted here. I bought it on the strength of the newspaper reviews, because it sounded like the kind of literary novel I really enjoy (Updike, Bellow etc).
But I found it really confusing. The fact that a novel about cricket has an ice-skater on the cover is perhaps a symbol of how oddly disjointed the events of the book are - and like many others writing here, I expected a bit of a mystery plot as the novel begins with a dead body - but no such luck.
I never really came to like or care about the reserved (and verging on pathetic, I sometimes wanted to scream) narrator Hans. I disliked his wife. I know it's lame and schoolgirly to talk about whether you "liked' characters but I just didn't really care what happened. And where other readers clearly found the elliptic writing and long sentences profoundly evocative, I just got muddled. The one saving grace was the subtlety of the falling-apart marriage and its strange journey back to wholeness: all in all I felt the book had the potential to be really good, but in the end I just found it slightly irritating.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A demanding but worthwhile read, 6 Jan 2009
According to the dust jacket the critics loved it. I can see why but found it very demanding. It is not a novel in which plot plays a big part. In fact, it is more an extended meditation on experience - on love,class, fatherhood, friendship,and belonging. But the prose is breathtaking at times, and there are some sections of description and reflection which I won't forget in a hurry and which make it worthwhile in the end.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book to get lost in, 15 Aug 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Very little happens over the course of this book that might make for an exciting narrative, although the events, were they to occur to you or I, would feel earth-shattering. This is the story of business analyst Hans, his separation from his wife and child, and the things he does to fill his time while being alone and foreign in New York between 2002 and 2004.
The dust cover would have you believe this is a book about cricket. Not so. The quotes on said dust cover would lead you to think it is all about the experience of 'post 9/11' New York. Again, not so. These two items do figure into the narrative, but are hardly the focus.
This is, rather, a book about being lost and bewildered in a foreign land after everything you hold dear and take for granted is gone. Hans realises how little he saw before this point - both in terms of the feelings of his wife, and the New York that exists all around him. Once she is gone he loses himself exploring New York with an array of first, second and third generation immigrants and experiences New York in a whole new way. Meanwhile, he continues to experience his marriage in a manner which does not match his wife's interpretation.
The beauty of the book, slight narrative and all, is the quality of prose put to paper by Joseph O'Neill. Everything is filled with the wonder of a wide-eyed Henry Miller, and it seems that Mr. O'Neill really loves New York, life, and people in general. Even when describing Hans' lowest moments, the phrases on the book pages are marvelous. I have no interest in cricket whatsoever but found this book so beguiling that it didn't matter - the enjoyment of each sentence prevailed, regardless of the subject matter.
This is, simply, a beautifully written book. Like a good meal, I couldn't wait to get to the next bite, but wished it was longer once I reached the end.
Highly recommended.
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