Cory's review of Netherland (original) (raw)

Top Horror from the Past Five Years

Discover new books on Goodreads

Meet your next favorite book

Cory's Reviews > Netherland

Netherland by Joseph O'Neill

Netherland
by

614097

Beautiful. At times, devastating.

Firstly: this book is not about the sport of cricket, so if that's at all a hindrance to your reading it, let that go. Sure there's some talk of the game and its particulars, and it creates a central catalyst from which the action of the story takes place, but it is about so much more: the city of New York post 9/11, the state of being lost, and the nation one comes from, goes to, and feels an outsider of or assimilated into, not to mention the vast universe of relationships (marital, parental, friend-al) and the responsibilities and heartbreaks inherent in each.

A few disclosures that may have affected how moved I was by the book:

1. I lived in New York for the exact number of years, even the exact years, 1998-2003, as the narrator. I think he did a great job reflecting on those post-shock days of 2001, without going overboard on descriptions. It's more impressionistic than that. But if you haven't lived in New York, or visited for at least a small amount of time, some of the references and reveries may not mean as much to you as they did to me. If you haven't seen the man dancing tango with a full sized female mannequin (a femalequinn?) in the Times Square subway stop, the narrator's description of him may seem like so much novelistic invention. Rather, to me, it's a detail that he draws from actuality that makes me that much more absorbed into the surrounding invention.

2. I read this at a time when I, like the narrator, was feeling a bit lost and raw. Sometimes there's a perfect collision of the right book at the right time, and this was definitely one of those for me.

3. During my time in NYC, I dated a girl named Cricket (honestly - although it wasn't her given name).

Books like this are why I read. They're worth the slog through mediocrity and the not-quite-thereness of other books if you find one that hits the sweet spot. This particular book may not be that for everyone, but let me know when you get to O'Neill's definition of a fathom and tell me if you don't have to catch your breath a little bit.

Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read_Netherland_.

Sign In »

Reading Progress

July 1, 2008 –Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)

back to top

Add a reference:

Search for a book to add a reference

add: link cover

Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.

Login animation