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redhickory 's review for:
Netherland
by Joseph O'Neill
It took a while for “Netherland” to hook me, partly because Hans is almost neutral as a narrator. As a reader, I didn’t often feel for him, which I like to do when I read. Having said that, the events in his life are interesting and the way he allows his life to flow where it will is absorbing.
He has a skillful observational eye, which enables him to observe the true nature of people and to understand their motivations and yet he seems not to judge them. He also understands why he interacts with them and perhaps, why he shouldn’t, yet his self-awareness does not prompt him to act. This lack of motivation to change and his willingness to accept what is, is what made him accessible and "real" to me.
It is through his relationship with Chuck, who is compelling as a character, and the reconstruction of his marriage with Rachel that we see who Hans really is and come to understand how he views the world.
The descriptive pieces and metaphors were also very good and helped to keep me reading. O’Neill was adept at delivering valuable insights in just a line or two and by the end of the book, I appreciated and enjoyed the magnificent way Hans viewed the world and his place in it.
Some of my favourite phrases were the “somethingness of doing”, the “furnace of memory”, the “human flash light” (someone who illuminates things you previously but incorrectly thought were already illuminated), and “pots and pans under life’s leaking ceiling” (things you use, such as work, to avoid facing the reality of your life).
He has a skillful observational eye, which enables him to observe the true nature of people and to understand their motivations and yet he seems not to judge them. He also understands why he interacts with them and perhaps, why he shouldn’t, yet his self-awareness does not prompt him to act. This lack of motivation to change and his willingness to accept what is, is what made him accessible and "real" to me.
It is through his relationship with Chuck, who is compelling as a character, and the reconstruction of his marriage with Rachel that we see who Hans really is and come to understand how he views the world.
The descriptive pieces and metaphors were also very good and helped to keep me reading. O’Neill was adept at delivering valuable insights in just a line or two and by the end of the book, I appreciated and enjoyed the magnificent way Hans viewed the world and his place in it.
Some of my favourite phrases were the “somethingness of doing”, the “furnace of memory”, the “human flash light” (someone who illuminates things you previously but incorrectly thought were already illuminated), and “pots and pans under life’s leaking ceiling” (things you use, such as work, to avoid facing the reality of your life).