Netherland

Joseph O'Neill, Netherland

Hailed as one of best books of the year in 2008, Netherland is a tale written by the Ireland born writer who, raised in Holland but now lives in New York City, infuses his personal experience into the character portrayed in his narrative. The story is about Chuck, the narrator, and his rediscovering of life, with the reminiscence of his childhood in Netherland and his time spent in England with his wife, while a greater part of the novel dwells on his own living in New York City, when his wife and son leave him for London after the 911 incident. Being left alone in a city where the apocalyptic uncertainty lingers, the protagonist shares no less the same suffering that overtakes the all New York residents.

The tale focuses largely on the relationship between the protagonist and a friend he meets in a cricket game in New York City. Chuck Ramkissoon, an optimist and a dreamer, is perhaps Hans’ only friend during his lonely exile in the city, where he strives hard to reinvent the purpose of life. Chuck introduces to Hans, as well as the readers, an underside of the city, where countless of minority groups fights for their own existence and living. Chuck’s dream of establishing a standard cricket field in the city where the sport is not acknowledged offers a prototype for all the American dreams that are yet to be realized. Even though Chuck’s dream in the end comes to a tragic halt, his ambition revives much of the same spirit in the protagonist.

Netherland is a post-colonial novel, in which all the characters are under the influence of diaspora. Han’s constant remembering of his childhood past is his greatest comfort among all the misadventures in America. The cricket game that Hans and the immigrants take to heart so dearly is their final and perhaps only grasp to their lost past. It is always difficult to adapt, once you leave your hometown. During the process, some fail to get used to the new land, while still others perseverate; however, the bottom line is that most live the same way as they did. Those who stay have never accomplished in adapting to the new culture; they just do better in establishing their old life in the new place.

Even though O’Neill combines in his novel a large variety of urban experiences and, at the same time, gives much different perspectives in life, the work overall tends to get too ponderous as we slowly follow through. The usage of cricket as the symbolic idea throughout the novel arouses little interest from the readers, who are neither familiar with the sport nor care much about its going-ons. Netherland, successful perhaps in its reestablishment of the little known, beyond surface city life, is a work that does not necessarily appeal to all readers. For those who want to explore similar subjects, it is better to start with The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a classic that is comparatively more accessible, more profound, and at the same time, a lot shorter.