Present Books In Favor Of Netherland
| Original Title: | Netherland |
| ISBN: | 0307377040 (ISBN13: 9780307377043) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Hans van den Broek, Chuck Ramkissoon |
| Setting: | New York City, New York(United States) Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, New York(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Booker Prize Nominee for Longlist (2008), Warwick Prize for Writing Nominee for Longlist (2009), PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2009), Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award (2009), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2010) |
Joseph O'Neill
Hardcover | Pages: 269 pages Rating: 3.41 | 17074 Users | 2469 Reviews
Specify Regarding Books Netherland
| Title | : | Netherland |
| Author | : | Joseph O'Neill |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First American Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 269 pages |
| Published | : | May 20th 2008 by Pantheon (first published January 1st 2008) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. New York. Novels. Literary Fiction. Contemporary |
Relation Toward Books Netherland
In a New York City made phantasmagorical by the events of 9/11, Hans--a banker originally from the Netherlands--finds himself marooned among the strange occupants of the Chelsea Hotel after his English wife and son return to London. Alone and untethered, feeling lost in the country he had come to regard as home, Hans 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. Ramkissoon, a Gatsby-like figure who is part idealist and part operator, introduces Hans to an “other” New York populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality. Hans is alternately seduced and instructed by Chuck’s particular brand of naivete and chutzpah--by his ability to hold fast to a sense of American and human possibility in which Hans has come to lose faith.Netherland gives us both a flawlessly drawn picture of a little-known New York and a story of much larger, and brilliantly achieved ambition: the grand strangeness and fading promise of 21st century America from an outsider’s vantage point, and the complicated relationship between the American dream and the particular dreamers. Most immediately, though, it is the story of one man--of a marriage foundering and recuperating in its mystery and ordinariness, of the shallows and depths of male friendship, of mourning and memory. Joseph O’Neill’s prose, in its conscientiousness and beauty, involves us utterly in the struggle for meaning that governs any single life.
Rating Regarding Books Netherland
Ratings: 3.41 From 17074 Users | 2469 ReviewsCriticize Regarding Books Netherland
Netherland received much pre-release praise and deservedly. If Netherland is not a masterpiece, and I certainly am not saying it is not, then Joseph O'Neill is at the very least a masterful writer. Reading this book is like being taken on a treasure hunt through New York; London; The Netherlands; the game of Cricket; and mostly, love, loneliness, and loss. Drift along O'Neill's stream of consciousness and you'll be treated to gems of glittering prose, deep psychological understanding, andIt's really too late to talk about this book, but I had to finish it tonight and that should say it all. The loneliness of New York (and let's face it: modern life or whatever that means to you) is so palpable in this book. Chuck and Hans are two unlikely friends, thrown together in a post 9/11 New York, out of step with their families and connected by a love of cricket. This connection makes up for the wayward actions played out by these men. Postcolonial, post 9/11: Isn't it all about finding
This book, somewhat reminiscent of Ian McEwan's book Saturday, tells the story of Hans, a banker originally from The Hague, and late of London, who lives in New York with his lawyer wife, Rachel, and their small son until the events of 9/11 sour Rachel on their New York life and she and the little boy return to London. Hans, finding himself adrift in the city, living at the Chelsea Hotel, is befriended by a Trinidadian businessman who introduces him to the New York immigrant subculture centering
I don't know, I might get back to this. I like the side characters, the writing is nice, but God, middle aged apathy and anomie is just about the most boring subject imaginable, pretty much on par with teenage vampire romance.Later...After sampling the praise heaped upon this novel by the literary establishment (and at least one of my more literarily-inclined friends), sitting down and reading it did nothing to assuage my acute sense of literary insecurity. What, exactly, am I not getting here?
purchased this book off big hype id been reading about it. another post 9/11 book about new york (it seems like thats all i read these days!) that deals with one man's coping (or lack thereof) after his family returns to london after the towers fell. couldnt really get into it after the first 100 pages or so - i could only read so much about cricket - but i found the more i read, the more i liked. o'neill comes across as a very intelligent author who writes beautiful sentence after sentence. i
I hesitate to judge this book because I stopped midway through it. I hate quitting on a book, especially one considered to be the second coming of "The Great Gatsby," but I just don't have the confidence that I will ever get into it. From the get-go, it was hard for me to follow its meandering narrative. It constantly jumps to different time periods, going back and forth between memories, and dreams, and the present situation, like a storyteller with ADHD. It delves into moments of the
This Booker Award nominee has all the makings of a favorite book for me-- a lonely man searching for his purpose in life. I love understated, quiet novels that force readers to look at everyday happenings and interactions in a different way. And this book started off lovely with passages like this: Some people have no difficulty in identifying with their younger incarnations: Rachel, for example, will refer to episodes from her childhood or college days as if they'd happened to her that very
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