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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
this book was absolutely awful. if someone asked me to summarize the plot I honestly couldn't tell you. I definitely would not recommend.
I'm just going to give a few reasons why I disliked this book.
1) the writing was terrible and border lining purple prose. his sentences sometimes stretched full paragraphs containing 10 or more commas. I genuinely could not understand what he was talking about most of the time.
2) the timeline was messy and made no sense. the writer jumped around time as if it worked however he pleased, starting at one event, going backwards to 2 completely unrelated points in time, going forwards into the future to add insight, before finally returning to the original event. by the time he had finished skimming through time I had completely lost his point and forgotten what the original event was. by the end of this story I felt as if Hans hadn't really changed and not a lot of time had passed at all, let alone years.
3) a very boring main character. Hans came off as sort of an asshole the whole novel, placing himself above others most of the story. the author tried to make me feel bad for him after Rachel had left him, but I truly did not. he made a point oftentimes of how much money he had, and how he didn't have to work for what he wanted. that was the problem with Hans. it seems like he never tried to get something he wanted. After Rachel left him, he made little to no effort to keep their marriage together, but got angry when Rachel started seeing someone else. All around he was a predictable, boring character.
4) the story had no point. I'm not exactly sure what this book was supposed to be about. in the beginning of the story, I had predicted that this was supposed to be about Chuck and his effect on Hans, but after only hearing about Chuck about 1/4 of the time I read this book, I was left wondering why else the book could be about. Hans marriage with Rachel? no, as their marriage basically didn't change significantly from the start. Basically this book had no significant plot.
I didn't exactly expect to enjoy this but I am upset with how much I absolutely loathed every second of reading it.
I'm just going to give a few reasons why I disliked this book.
1) the writing was terrible and border lining purple prose. his sentences sometimes stretched full paragraphs containing 10 or more commas. I genuinely could not understand what he was talking about most of the time.
2) the timeline was messy and made no sense. the writer jumped around time as if it worked however he pleased, starting at one event, going backwards to 2 completely unrelated points in time, going forwards into the future to add insight, before finally returning to the original event. by the time he had finished skimming through time I had completely lost his point and forgotten what the original event was. by the end of this story I felt as if Hans hadn't really changed and not a lot of time had passed at all, let alone years.
3) a very boring main character. Hans came off as sort of an asshole the whole novel, placing himself above others most of the story. the author tried to make me feel bad for him after Rachel had left him, but I truly did not. he made a point oftentimes of how much money he had, and how he didn't have to work for what he wanted. that was the problem with Hans. it seems like he never tried to get something he wanted. After Rachel left him, he made little to no effort to keep their marriage together, but got angry when Rachel started seeing someone else. All around he was a predictable, boring character.
4) the story had no point. I'm not exactly sure what this book was supposed to be about. in the beginning of the story, I had predicted that this was supposed to be about Chuck and his effect on Hans, but after only hearing about Chuck about 1/4 of the time I read this book, I was left wondering why else the book could be about. Hans marriage with Rachel? no, as their marriage basically didn't change significantly from the start. Basically this book had no significant plot.
I didn't exactly expect to enjoy this but I am upset with how much I absolutely loathed every second of reading it.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had high hopes but it was dreary, self-important and I disliked the central character.
Joseph O'Neill earns his five stars with crisp, inventive, descriptive language and an original story that weaves a husband's heartbreak over the disintegration of his marriage and family life with his immigrant's exploration of New York City, his falling-in with a fledgling cricket club, and the murder of his best friend here in post-9/11 New York, one Chuck Ramkissoon.
But the real reason I loved this book was because the New York he describes is MY New York. He includes all kinds of semi-obscure places and gets them *right* (at least the ones I've been to) and he *nails* the feelings that were in the air those first few years after 9/11.
But the real reason I loved this book was because the New York he describes is MY New York. He includes all kinds of semi-obscure places and gets them *right* (at least the ones I've been to) and he *nails* the feelings that were in the air those first few years after 9/11.
Netherland is een mooi en stil verhaal. Het vertelt over Hans van den Broek, hij woont alleen in New York sinds hij is verlaten door zijn vrouw en zoontje. Eenzaamheid, twijfels. Als hij plots besluit weer te gaan cricketen, een jeugdliefde, komt hij de zeer excentrieke Chuck tegen. Hoewel zijn karakter precies het tegenovergestelde is van die van Hans, worden de twee vrienden. Chuck laat Hans een nieuw New York zien, en langzaam begint Hans zichzelf weer te voelen. Netherland is een prachtig boek. Mooie schrijfstijl, netjes in elkaar gevlochten (ik vond het heel bijzonder hoe de schrijver ineens in een herinnering weg kon duiken, om dan ineens weer te re-surfacen in het moment dat hij zonet zo subtiel verliet), en zeer bijzondere scenes. Trinidad, New York, Londen, Den Haag; begraafplaatsen, boten, cricket fields, huizen in buitenwijken; vogels, sterren, engelen. En toch is het een rustig en stil boek. Een enorme aanrader!
Read this a month ago so let's see what I remember-
Netherland is the story of a multiply displaced individual - a Dutchman with a British family, living in the US - who feels isolated from work and his family. Beautifully written, with prose that gets out of the way of the story, while simultaneously adding to it, this book is one of the seeming few that use New York City as more than just a name. The city is on display with all its eclecticism front and center.
There are two other stories that the main character is carried down like a leaf down a stream, and though they take up the bulk of the plot, to me they were more important as a representation of the main character's state of mind.
Netherland is the story of a multiply displaced individual - a Dutchman with a British family, living in the US - who feels isolated from work and his family. Beautifully written, with prose that gets out of the way of the story, while simultaneously adding to it, this book is one of the seeming few that use New York City as more than just a name. The city is on display with all its eclecticism front and center.
There are two other stories that the main character is carried down like a leaf down a stream, and though they take up the bulk of the plot, to me they were more important as a representation of the main character's state of mind.
I have a lot to say about this novel, but I'm still thinking about it. It should be required reading in a freshman English course. Packed with ideas, as all good novels are.
Beautiful writing, meaningful story. Still surprised at how I hooked I was from page 1 about a story that revolves so much around cricket.
The first of my "hospital books", which I saved all summer to read during what ended up being my 9 day marathon at Weiss.
I found this book to be remarkably well written, both in prose, in structure, and in it's use of themes. The characters are very realistic and quite rounded. Their problems and feelings smack of a genuine authenticity, so much so that I wondered how much of the book could be autobiographical.
The narrator's wife leaves him and takes their son from New York to London after the 9/11 attacks. She uses the attacks as the reason, but the true reason is their marriage is falling apart. To cope, the narrator (Hans) joins a cricket league. There he meets the ambitious Chuck who involves Hans with his high-set dreams of making a high-end cricket court/stadium. Hans struggles with his wife's distance and her obvious desire to just let everything between them fall apart. He also struggles to get a driver's license, make and maintain friendships with New York's multiple immigrant populations (Hans himself is Dutch, his wife British), and keep his head above water—especially when imaginative and reckless Chuck is around.
The author was able to weave emotions, memory, philosophy, and the actual story in a seamless fashion; it was a pleasure to read. He described a New York that I think has never been explored by the majority of Americans—the New York City of the immigrant. Hans' cricket playing buddies are all immigrants, hailing from India, Pakistan, Haiti, Jamaica, and other places where cricket stayed even after the colonials left. The reader, with Hans, is introduced to the back-alley, curry-scented diners, and neighborhoods where people try to get a foothold on being American without losing their cultural heritage. Hans faces this dilemma, too, along with the need to be reunited with his distant, estranged wife.
Beautiful, smart, and authentic. A great book.
I found this book to be remarkably well written, both in prose, in structure, and in it's use of themes. The characters are very realistic and quite rounded. Their problems and feelings smack of a genuine authenticity, so much so that I wondered how much of the book could be autobiographical.
The narrator's wife leaves him and takes their son from New York to London after the 9/11 attacks. She uses the attacks as the reason, but the true reason is their marriage is falling apart. To cope, the narrator (Hans) joins a cricket league. There he meets the ambitious Chuck who involves Hans with his high-set dreams of making a high-end cricket court/stadium. Hans struggles with his wife's distance and her obvious desire to just let everything between them fall apart. He also struggles to get a driver's license, make and maintain friendships with New York's multiple immigrant populations (Hans himself is Dutch, his wife British), and keep his head above water—especially when imaginative and reckless Chuck is around.
The author was able to weave emotions, memory, philosophy, and the actual story in a seamless fashion; it was a pleasure to read. He described a New York that I think has never been explored by the majority of Americans—the New York City of the immigrant. Hans' cricket playing buddies are all immigrants, hailing from India, Pakistan, Haiti, Jamaica, and other places where cricket stayed even after the colonials left. The reader, with Hans, is introduced to the back-alley, curry-scented diners, and neighborhoods where people try to get a foothold on being American without losing their cultural heritage. Hans faces this dilemma, too, along with the need to be reunited with his distant, estranged wife.
Beautiful, smart, and authentic. A great book.
I think there was an interesting post-9/11 story here. Unfortunately, it wasn't the story of the protagonist. Everything in the protagonist's story seemed half-developed, but not in a way that could be considered intentional.
The character seems to be in a fog, to be flattened. If we'd been given an indication that this was a change brought about by experiencing 9/11 in NYC, then it may have made sense. Unfortunately, the flatness and the fog predate the event, and seems wholly unaffected.
I can say the language is beautiful, and the international scope well-executed, but I just didn't care for it in the end.
The character seems to be in a fog, to be flattened. If we'd been given an indication that this was a change brought about by experiencing 9/11 in NYC, then it may have made sense. Unfortunately, the flatness and the fog predate the event, and seems wholly unaffected.
I can say the language is beautiful, and the international scope well-executed, but I just didn't care for it in the end.