Last year I kept hearing reviews, some very laudable, about Joseph O’Neills’ Netherland and what kept sticking with me was the comparison to one of my all time favorites, The Great Gatsby. So, now that Netherland is out in paperback, I decided to take a leap in hopes that our Lemuria book club, which reads only current paperbacks, might read it someday.A very unusual novel this is, but also one which merits attention. Set in New York and in London only a couple of years after 9/11, the action revolves around two plots: one, the seemingly dying relationship between Hans, a native of Holland, and his London wife, who are the proud parents of a seven month old son; and two, the relationship between Hans and Chuck Ramkissoon, a native of Trinidad, who both share the obsessive adoration of the game of cricket and now play with a group of other immigrant friends on Staten Island on Sunday afternoons.
A subplot emerges where the reader learns that Hans’ wife is not happy with the status quo of living in a hotel after 9/11 with their baby, and thereby, shortly after the novel begins, she announces that she is moving back to London, from whence they had both moved a few years before. The foundations of her discontent become all too clear as she explains to her husband Hans that no one in his or her right mind would want to rear a child in the United States. Obviously, the rationale behind her unhappiness is at its heart purely political.
Meanwhile, Hans, now residing in the colorful Hotel Chelsea, becomes peripheral friends with all sorts of characters, including the middle age man who daily sports eye-catching white wings, proclaiming he is an angel. Playing cricket with Chuck becomes Hans’ modus operandi in dealing with loneliness, rejection, ennui, and disillusionment. Although he embarks on a helter-skelter life by traveling to London every other weekend to see his son, Hans barely stays afloat. Chuck, a flavorful, energetic, and shady thirty-something almost coerces Hans into a proposed scheme of becoming joint partners in creating the New York Cricket Club and talks Hans into actually driving a tractor to lay the foundation of a cricket field near Queens. Throw in some money laundering, and things really do get interesting!
Not to let too much out of the bag, I’ll stop with the plot development here, about half way through. Some readers will be happy to learn that this notable novel was one of President Obama’s “Newsweek” picks last year. It has been a while since I have read what I would call a “political novel”, and even up to mid way through the novel, I was not convinced that the author did not have a contrived agenda. I was convinced that the “humanness” was lacking. Yet, what the author did in the last third of the book, resounded with talent and sensitivity, for what O’Neill created here was truly a twenty first century look at multiple nationalities not only in New York City but worldwide and, much to my surprise, made it undoubtedly clear and beautiful that basic human emotions know no boundaries.So, what does this novel share with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece? I know now, but I don’t want to fill in the blank, so that the reader can make his or her own assertions. That is worth doing in this challenging work! Oh, and by the way, if you want to discuss this book with an intimate group of intelligent readers, come join Lemuria’s book club “Atlantis” on the first Thursday in December when we will tackle this noteworthy read.
-Nan
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