NETHERLAND

author:
JOSEPH O’NEILL

Fiction
272 pages
Pantheon

Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland is a contradictory book. It’s densely written—if O’Neill employs one metaphor, he employs three—but flows beautifully. The protagonist is extremely self-absorbed yet easy to root for. And, tellingly, the story is difficult to relate to but it manages to be one of the most honest novels about the human condition you are ever likely to read.

Dutchman Hans van den Broek moves from London to New York with his pregnant English wife. A professional step up for both of them, New York proves to be the stage for the demise of their marriage and Hans’ estrangement from his young son. His resultant “nether”—gazing, if you will—is cloying at first, but soon you find yourself drawn to this unusual Everyman: He stands on the edge of celebrity as a Wall Street analyst, and he is well-to-do, but is dealing with an emotionally and geographically distant family and his own depression. He confines himself to his room at the bohemian Hotel Chelsea, emerging for work and random games of cricket with other immigrants. He meets the outlandish and shifty Chuck Ramkissoon, a Trinidadian businessman, at one of those games. Their resulting friendship, however unlikely it is, and Chuck’s fantastical dream of bringing professional cricket to America form the fulcrum of the novel.

O’Neill provides no easy answers or pat conclusions as Hans wrestles with his despondency. The lives portrayed in Netherland’s depths are as real, stark and complex as any we know. Ultimately, this is a story of rejuvenation. Like Hans, we are all “just a boy on a boat in the universe,” alone and helpless, but there’s a pervasive belief throughout this excellent book that once on shore, there will be someone waiting for us.

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