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Netherland

by: Joseph O'Neill

May 06, 2008
Joseph O'Neill's bid for literary plaudits is clear. He paints an outsider's view of the nation from the perspective of a Dutch investment banker who is forced to live alone when his wife leaves for London.

New York as depicted in the book is a big recycling bank, processing the exiled, the dispossessed, the junk of the world. During his two years in the wilderness, Hans turns to cricket, and the company of a shady businessman, Chuck. Narrated from a distant vantage point in 2006, the story takes the form of a disjointed, whimsical, dreamy tour through the fog of Hans' banal and miserable memories. Indeed, the narration is so distant that when pivotal events took place I felt like I was watching through a net curtain -- unlike, ... Read More: