|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CookDojo.com |
home | recipe box | cooking recipe e-book | recipe management software | gourmet web template | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Others say...
"struggling to finish " I'm more than halfway through this book, but I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to finish it. I agree that there is far too much focus on the sport of cricket, but worse, this book is weighed down by its sentimental, overly complex prose. It became tedious to read. Every word, every sentence is anguished over. But not in a good way -- the writing is filled with bombast. The other problem I had is that I couldn't connect with the main character. He was not very sympathetic. "smart and recommended" This is a very good (but not truly great) book about our capacity for reinvention. It's also very much about NY and cricket and is terifically readable despite (or maybe because of) the not quite likable main character. Cricket? Yes! "A Modern 'Great Gatsby' With Unforgettable Doomed Dreamer" 'Netherland' is a powerfully written novel that's deservedly being called the latest Great American Novel. The book's an introspective, slow-paced and mournful story of New York City that has the audacity to evoke both 9/11 and F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby.' The novel concerns Dutch-born financial analyst Hans van den Broek, an affluent denizen of New York's Chelsea Hotel who loses the joy and purpose in his life when his wife Rachel flees both the city and their marriage after the trauma of 9/11, taking their infant son with her. Hans tells his own story, but devotes considerable energy to being the captivated narrator of another man's story -- a fast-talking and grandiose Trinidadian immigrant named Chuck Ramkissoon, a friend whose larger-than-life plan for achieving success and respectability in America is as doomed as that of Jay Gatsby. This is not a spoiler. Readers learn early on that Ramkissoon has been found tied up and murdered in the Gowanus Canal. The novel spends a great deal of time on cricket, the only spark in Hans' dark existence after his wife leaves. Although I know nothing of the sport that I didn't pick up from this book, it doesn't detract from the impact of O'Neill's long and lyrical passages about the role of the game in Hans' life, its role in the lives of first-generation American immigrants like Ramkissoon, and the invisibility of the game to most citizens of the United States, where cricket serves as a stand-in for other exotic foreign subjects we might want to know better after 9/11 shrank the planet. I was amused by the notion, held deeply by the cricket players in the book, that the U.S. will not become truly civilized until it embraces cricket. "There's a limit to what Americans understand," one of Ramkissoon's potential investors tells Hans. "That limit is cricket." Ramkissoon's big dream is to build a cricket pitch on an abandoned airfield in Brooklyn, believing it will attract the world's best teams, worldwide TV audiences and the long-withheld affection of Americans. O'Neill packs the novel's 256 pages with observations about New Yorkers that are worth repeating. Two of my favorites occur in rapid succession when the heartsick and unsociable Hans finally lures a woman home, providing a welcome respite from his morose internal dialogue: "... while I changed, Danielle wandered around my apartment, as was her privilege: people in New York are authorized by convention to snoop around and mentally measure and pass comment on any real estate they're invited to step into. ... "Like an old door, every man past a certain age comes with historical warps and creaks of one kind or another, and a woman who wishes to put him to serious further use must expect to do a certain amount of sanding and planing." In one conversation Ramkissoon uses a bit of Trinidadian slang that I really like. He derides one of his more obnoxious business associates as a pawmewan, a poor-me complainer who is always feeling sorry for himself. Hans is a huge pawmewan whose personal suffering occupies a majority of the book, but O'Neill describes the grieving and loss associated with failed marriage and parenthood with great skill. I read that blogger Janice Harayda believes that Hans is an unreliable narrator, a prospect that adds considerable intrigue to Ramkissoon's murder. I don't know if I buy that, because O'Neill doggedly refuses to make Hans' life dramatic, devoting several pages at one point to an intolerably long day he wastes at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Although 'Netherland' is by no stretch a thriller, O'Neill manages in Chuck Ramkissoon to create an unforgettable American character -- like Jay Gatsby another dreamer dead in the water. "Longwinded" This book seemed to get great reviews from other people in the literary world as a profession, but as just a person who enjoys reading novels this book was not interesting. Yes, the author can use a lot of big words and flowery language, but that does not make the story good. I was extremely bored throughout this book, but forced myself to finish it (though it took a long time because I could not engage with the story), since I thought I must be missing something with all the hype. Now I don't think I am missing something, but that the book was. The long descriptions about cricket throughout the book also caused some serious skimming instead of real reading. I did not feel any strong connection with the characters, except maybe twice during some analyzing of the failing marital relationship. It is difficult to even describe this book, as the timeline jumped all over the place and the story had many strange characters and storylines. Not worth the money or time. "Intoxicating " "The Adversity of Hans van den Broek, as such a tale might be called, amounts to not very much." Thus the narrator of this unusually acute and well-written novel describes his own misery during a two-year stay in NYC. The misery was triggered indirectly by 9/11 and directly by the departure of van den Broek's acerbic wife and little son Jake. The marriage at the heart of this tale is hardly charged with warmth. In fact, both Hans and Rachel, his wife, are cool customers, fancying themselves as intellectuals and superior beings. Hans, however, is brought down to earth in a hurry, and winds up in residence at the Chelsea Hotel, under whose roof a collection of eccentrics resides that provide him with odd yet comforting company. These characters are well described and are fascinating. The true heart of this work, however, beats in Chuck Ramkissoon, the Trinidadian cricket maven, raconteur, shady character, womanizer, gangster, and roving genius with whom Hans takes up during his forced hiatus. Chuck's dream is to bring cricket center stage in America and to bankroll a major stadium for the sport at Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn. At the very outset of this novel, we know that Chuck's body has been found in the Gowanus Canal, hands cuffed behind his back. Yet this information does not detract one bit from the tale, and in fact, brings out Chuck's life even more. The narrative is hypnotic in parts because of Chuck's long and fascinating rants, and the book is hard to put down. I was repulsed at times, however, by Hans's sometimes blatant narcissism and self-absorption. In fact, van den Broek's personal melodrama "amounts to not very much," but it's couched within a fresh eye's view of my city, New York, and all its familiar places, including the outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. I recommend this work, but O'Neill puts his vocabulary on display a number of times, which might send you off to the dictionary if you are a conscientious reader. One might say this is a bit of overwriting, but this is a minor quibble with a very good piece of work.
|
Netherland: A Novel
Special offer for you..find the cheapest!
cellar-of-books offers this stuff with condition New, new for:
aerkeen from VA, United States offers this stuff for:
spotsworth from OH, United States offers this stuff for:
2ndstorybooks from MD, United States offers this stuff for:
zp_books offers this stuff with condition New, new for:
lesliecook2 from CA, United States offers this stuff for:
a1books from NJ, United States offers this stuff for:
ob1s offers this stuff with condition New, new for:
a1books from NJ, United States offers this stuff for:
--caiman-- from FL, United States offers this stuff for:
What our customer's say! "A document of our time", When this book was published in the spring of 2008, it received wonderful reviews, most notably in May on the front page of the New York Times Sunday Book Review Magazine. The usually difficult and persnickety Michiko Kakutani also gave it high marks in another review in the Times' daily edition. It was therefore a surprise when the book was ignored by the Booker Prize, not even making the long list for the prestigious award in England. This is a complex novel, moving along the timeline between a few weeks after September 11, 2001 and three years later, when the upheaval created by the terrorist attack starts to become a healing memory with persistent repercussions. Details of life and the mindset in New York and of the U.S. at large are nicely detailed, but the most compelling narrative is the way the terrorist attack disrupts and almost anihilates the marriage of the protagonist. Interwoven with the marriage break-up is the main character's pursuit of the game of cricket in New York, and his involvement with a shady character who wants to popularize the game in the U.S. What's the connection between the two story lines? The main character is Dutch, reared in England, and finds in cricket a civility and a comfort that has been denied him since the departure of his wife back to her native England after September 11. Joseph O'Neill is wonderful writer. His prose is sure-footed even as it jumps from future to present to past, never confusing the reader, and always with near-poetic language that is beautiful as well as evocative of the action on the page. Let's hope the National Book Awards later this year (2008) recognize this tremendous achievement. "Enormously Disappointing", That I am even writing this is evidence of my dislike. I have a million things to do, and yet, out of sheer disgust and disappointment, I must critique this work. That this earned the reviews it did, has made me more intrepid about reviving my own writing career. If this author, whose name I will never remember, since the work itself is immemorable, can write and get the reviews he did, so can I. So can You. So can my dog. If there were beautiful sentences, I missed them! You want beautiful sentences, read Fitzgerald, to whom this author, shockingly, erroneously, has been compared. Read Roth's Everyman, Llosa's The Bad Girl, Petterson's Out Stealing Horses. You want a substitute for Ambien, read this novel. My problem with this book is that I didn't care about the characters. Had I not recommended it for my book group, I wouldn't have finished it. (Having finished it, I can say I wouldn't have missed much!) Around page 175 I felt a twinge for the protagonist, Hans, the stirrings of feeling, but this didn't evolve into anything more significant. The female character was flat and unbelievable, which made Han's affection for her unbelievable. The Chuck character was uneven. He was like a sketch of a character. I felt as though the author didn't really know him. When, finally, something happens to him I thought, who cares? (Who's Chuck?) The narrator spends a lot of time telling about the events in his life. but he is a royal bore, thus, so were his exegeses. I would launch into one of these paragraphs, and, midway through, substitute blah, blah, blah. In my opinion, the author undertook a literary task that proved out of his league. He developed a depressed and disassociated first person narrator undergoing life altering experiences. Unlike say, Salinger or Roth or Petteron or Charles Baxter, he failed to make this narrator evoke feelings in the reader. There was a lot of telling in this book. I often had the impression the author himself wasn't intimate with his characters. I never got there. Based on the reviews I read everywhere I recommended this dull mass of words to my book group and I am embarrassed. I plan to fill the time talking about all the other good books I recently read. "Uneven and frustrating", "Netherland" is a book that received very positive reviews from major newspapers as well as this web site. It always is a cause for reflection when one's opinion runs contrary to "experts" but I believe this book fails to live up to a five star rating. I feel the writing is uneven, mannered and more focused on the technical elements of the fiction rather than its substance. The narrator can be an annoying and petulant presence and when he bemoans the number of friends and acquaintances (not to mention his wife) who leave him or fail to maintain contact, it is not hard to understand why. There were times when I wondered whether I wanted to finish it but abandoning a book in mid-read has been a rare occurrence for me. There was a redemption, of sorts, in the final chapter (the book is divided into three chapters.) The author began to write in a freer and more relaxed fashion and with greater emotion. It actually felt like someone else had picked up the pen or, at the least, the author had decided to get to the heart of the matter. There may be a time when I am willing to give this book a second read but,overall, I see it only as a partially successful effort. "The Only Review You Need", Ok, first off I didn't read this book. Nor do I know who the author is or what it's about. But look at the cover. It's soooo stupid. I mean, come on, what's the stupid kid in the front doing? Is he even in the book? And why is it just a little picture with all that white around? I hate when they do that. When I draw I never leave a bunch of empty space unless it's supposed to be snow. I hope it doesn't snow as much as it did last year. My car is terrible in the snow. In conclusion, this book leaves something to be desired. Love, Ted "Authentic expat experience", The story begins with the protagonist, Hans van den Broek who is a Holland native living in London with his wife and son, reminiscing about his time spent living for a few years in New York and wondering whatever happened to a West Indian friend he made there named Chuck Ramkissoon. Such details go a long way to explain how cricket can produce such cultural fusion when it becomes part of the expatriate experience, taking comfort in something old and familiar and treasuring it when thrown into a whole new world. The novel deals a lot with the awkwardness of life after 9/11 and feeling out of place in the world, not knowing how to proceed with day-to-day activities after a life-changing event. The story can be hard to follow at times as it unfolds in a unique anachronistic style that more closely resembles stream of consciousness as opposed to flashbacks or reflections. But one of the book's biggest strengths, and what makes it feel authentic, lies in the attention to detail and experiences that could only be known by an expat, and especially one who plays cricket. There are other little anecdotes too, like the great northeast summer blackout of 2003 and the Thanksgiving Day parade balloon characters that blew out of control in the wind that same year. They make the reader get involved and relate to how Hans experienced these events. People from the New York metro area will appreciate moments like these more than others, which is absolutely fine because it adds more character to the story. But I suppose the best and most vivid element of the book is Hans' relations with the people around him, especially immigrants. Hans is the only white player in any of the matches he ever plays in. Writing this review as a white American cricketer, this is very believable. There has been one time in three years where an opponent had a white player in their team, an Australian at a match in Kansas. Hans meets Chuck, a black Trinidadian who at the time is an umpire. In part through Chuck's knowledge of the local communities, Hans comes across people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the West Indies, and Sri Lanka. Most of Hans' fellow players have low paying jobs and live in poor run down areas of Brooklyn and the other boroughs. It generally isn't possible to find Australian or English or Kiwi expats playing cricket in the US, because more often than not, these people are white and they fit in seamlessly with the rest of mainstream America. It is a different story for almost all non-white immigrants. They have to stick together if they want to survive and one of the ways to do that is building around a sport, in this case with cricket. Hans is all alone though. His family has left him and his job just is. He tries to fit in with America by joining a fantasy football pool with the night staff at the Chelsea Hotel, his current residence, but it is beyond him. So he crosses over the cultural divide of America to get back into something he knows, the culture of cricket. Netherland has the requisite twists and turns of any good plot to keep readers on their toes. O'Neill also has a creative, 21st century approach to writing about relationships and love. It definitely makes the book original. However, what makes it worth reading is its authenticity, something that is as hard to accomplish as keeping the ball on the ground when playing cricket in America. 
Read this reviews before You buy... "Funny and sad, the best view of post 9/11 NYC I know of", This is a well written and knowing book. Its sad but has true wit as well. "another one not to be missed", Netherland was truly one of the finest books I've read this year. O'Neill's writing is incredible, offering the reader a look at how one man tries to find his way and carve out a new life for himself after he is basically left alone in exile in New York City just after the events of 9/11. Without going into plot details (others have done it so well in many places), the book is simply beautiful. It's sad but at the same time funny, depicting at times what a nightmare it must be to be an immigrant (the scenes at the DMV had me laughing out loud) in this country, and the disconnection people often endure until they can find their own place or discover how to find meaning or recreate themselves by whatever means possible. I would highly recommend this book; it's definitely something you won't forget after you've read it. I read this about a week ago and still find myself thinking about it off and on. I don't think you need to live in New York City to appreciate it, either -- we're all kind of adrift in some aspect. "Wow. Wow. Brilliant", I have not read a book this wonderful in years. The man can write a sentence that can stop you cold. This book will be a classic that people will talk about for years. I never would have believed this book could be as fantastic as all the hype. It is. Only better. Enjoy. "subtle, no need for big gestures, in short: my type of writer", For me a big surprise to come across a writer I hadn't read or heard of before, who is so in synchrony with my own way of thinking. No big words, gestures or hollowness, but instead to the point, sharp as a razor and 'my generation' (born in the early sixties). After reading Netherland I got hold of copies of his two other novels, his debut "This is the Life" (1991) and "The Breezes" (1995). O'Neill also did write a marvelous non fiction work of both his grandfathers, one in prison in Ireland and the other in Palestina at some time during the wars there. A must read "Post 9/11 Mileu...again", Joseph O'Neill's elegant novel about an English cricket player in post-9/11 New York is an interesting, though ultimately superficial and topical portrait of a Gatsby-esque friendship between a Dutchman and Trinidadian who go into business together. Hans' wife is leaving him and is disgusted with the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The writing falls into the pitfalls of polemics; Rachel's diatribe against the war on terror is a flat and contrived bit of historical tagging. There are finely crafted moments of narration, with many elegant descriptions of New York. But Netherland is a slim and uninteresting little book with unlikely scenarios and dialogue, and the relationships are manipulated for the sake of O'Neill's artificial political posturings. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Software Download Directory / Files Download / Digital Camera Review
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:45:33 GMT
Server: Apache/1.3.37 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.8.28 OpenSSL/0.9.7a mod_deflate/1.0.21 FrontPage/5.0.2.2623 Sun-ONE-ASP/4.0.0
Vary: Host
Last-Modified: Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:13:00 GMT
ETag: "33151c-56e-48e68adc"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 1390
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/plain
Free Online Recipe,
Lowongan Kerja,
Indonesia Map,
Kamus,
Video Lyrics,
Health Vitamin,
PAD Generator,
Free Web Template, Wordpress Theme,
Deal Bargain Offers,
Affiliate Datafeed,
Mac OSX Tricks
Online Game Cheat,
Online Flash Game,
Electric Guitar Review,
RC Helicopter Reviews
Ascii Art, Anagram Finder, Clapper Generator, Post-it Note, Dog Name Generator, Freelance Jobs, Network Tools © Copyright 2000 - 2008 . All Rights Reserved. Online Recipe Collection 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
