Reviewed on Richard & Judy's Book Club 2009 on Wednesday 4 March.
We loved reading this book. It is the story about a Dutchman and New York and cricket. But don't worry if you're not interested in Dutchmen, New York or cricket. This book provides a beautifully written insight into the mind of the protagonist, Hans van den Broek. The essence of the story is his exploration into the importance of friendship and human relationships versus the shallowness of his money-grabbing job in a Wall Street bank - which makes the timing of the book as brilliant as the writing. Our only negative is the rather weak pun in the title 'Netherland' because yes, we know Dutchmen come from the Netherlands but no, we don't think Hans faces a neither-here-nor-there dilemma. O'Neill writes wonderfully about real people in the real world struggling to make a living against the shallowness of the financial markets. His story is real and his values are right - as you will find in this book and as we all know now.
‘[I have] not read anything that quite so brilliantly captured the exuberant madness and cultural diversity of [New York].’ Jeremy Paxman, Guardian (Books of the Year)
‘There is a very special sort of gratitude you can feel for a book that is so formidably written that it has you anxious to get back to it and pining a little bit to be away from it .’ Sebastian Barry, Guardian (Books of the Year)
Author
About Joseph O'neill
Joseph O’Neill is an Irish barrister living in New York. He is the author of three previous novels, Netherland (longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2008), This Is the Life and The Breezes, as well as a memoir, Blood Dark Track.
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