Play Book Tag discussion

Netherland by Joseph O'Neill - 4* - My Review

“Perhaps the relevant truth—and it’s one whose existence was apparent to my wife, and I’m sure to much of the world, long before it became apparent to me—is that we all find ourselves in temporal currents and that unless you’re paying attention you’ll discover, often too late, that an undertow of weeks or of years has pulled you deep into trouble.”

Hans van den Brock, originally from the Netherlands, is living alone in New York City in 2006. He is estranged from his wife Rachel who has returned to their former home in England with their young son due to the experience of living in NYC on and just after 9/11. Hans is a cricketer, and he finds there is a cricket playing community in NYC. He joins people from the West Indies and the Indian sub-continent playing cricket in a local park. He meets cricket referee Chuck Ramkissoon, a charismatic Trinidadian. Chuck is a man of many talents, dreams, and schemes. He is passionate about bringing the sport of cricket to the US and wants to raise funds to build a regulation cricket pitch. The storyline follows two relationships – the developing friendship between Hans and Chuck, and the marital troubles between Hans and Rachel.

Themes include the variety of immigrant experiences, pursuit of the “American Dream,” identity, alienation, loneliness, and dealing with sadness and loss. The writing is stellar. The plot involves the death of Chuck Ramkissoon by nefarious means (revealed in the opening pages). The storyline is full of flashbacks, storytelling, and digressions that provide a more complete picture of the characters’ lives. For me, the title is a dual representation of Hans’ place of origin and Chuck’s interactions with the “underworld” of NYC, which Chuck navigates as part of his foray into gambling. I particularly enjoyed the multicultural environment of NYC, and the references to cricket (which I have recently discovered). Anyone who has been to NYC will recognize buildings, landmarks, street names, and the general milieu. I do not think this will be a book for everyone, but I found myself glued to it.

PBT Steeplechase - tagged "NYC" x37:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...