Comments on: OK, I’ve Finally Had It

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:42:22 +0000

I am going to swim against the tide here and say that I found Netherland to be completely compelling on many levels — as a story of a marriage unraveling bit by bit, as an immigrants’ tale of otherness at a time (post 9/11) when such a standing was suddenly fraught with new judgment, even as a mystery of dangerous doings beneath placid surfaces. I was aided by having been introduced to — and frankly falling in love with — cricket while posted to South Africa. So I understood the call it had on these expats from parts of the English empire, and even the importance of the length of the grass on the pitch. I also spent many of my journalistic years as a critic and I know how much fun it is — and how easy — to pan something. (”What’s with this Hamlet guy anyway? Why doesn’t he just make up his mind? Three hours of this? Please!) It is especially easy for American writers to pan anything to do with cricket. (They break for tea! Games go on for days, then end in a tie!) This was a fine example of the well-done pan, beginning with a very cheap shot (the list of cricket organizations as an example of a boring sentence — think of what you could do with Proust?) and contining to pile on an assortment of jabs, hooks and haymakers. It was admirably crafted. But I would ask your readers to try Netherland and make up their own minds. Maybe not at the beach. It’s not a beach book.

By: Howard Weaver

Howard Weaver — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:51:43 +0000

Why, oh why, did I not see this post before I tried to read Netherland?

By: Katrin Stamatis

Katrin Stamatis — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:42:18 +0000

Sorry – I pasted it twice accidentally!

By: Katrin Stamatis

Katrin Stamatis — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:41:25 +0000

NY Times
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: April 28, 2009
On April 14, President Obama gave a speech at Georgetown University, trying to explain why he was taking on so many economic issues so early in his administration. … This was our third interview about the economy, the first two occurring during last year’s campaign. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of that interview…

At the end of our conversation, when I asked him if he was reading anything good, he said he had become sick enough of briefing books to begin reading a novel in the evenings — “Netherland,” by Joseph O’Neill.
At the end of our conversation, when I asked him if he was reading anything good, he said he had become sick enough of briefing books to begin reading a novel in the evenings — “Netherland,” by Joseph O’Neill.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:51:04 +0000

Haven’t read Netherland (and probably won’t), but not many novelists can compete with W.G. Sebald. “The Emigrants” is perhaps even more wonderful than “Austerlitz”.

By: don bradman

don bradman — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:00:16 +0000

I could not agree more with your commentary on this wretched, wretched book. In Blackwells Oxford today I saw that they were selling a wooden reading stand for £29.00. What better furnishing could there be for it than the wooden writing in Netherland?

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:49:12 +0000

You may want to read A Disorder Peculiar to the Country by Ken Kalfus. Though it predates Netherland by a couple of years, it does a good job at satirizing novelists’ tendencies to milk out post-9/11 shock for more than it’s worth.

By: Nimble

Nimble — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:07:52 +0000

I think MAS missed the beginning of your post and the very personal nature of your reaction to this novel.

I share your determination to finish some books even after already deciding that they are not pleasing. Maybe I find this process more entertaining than you do. I enjoy exclaiming over repeated examples of ham handed writing and unbelievable twists or developments. I drive my husband crazy telling him about this awful book I’m reading. “Just quit, find a better book,” he tells me. But if I’ve gotten far enough in, I get to a point where I want to discover just how bad a book can be. I also get a narcissistic enjoyment of pinning down just exactly what it is about a particular book that bugs me. It’s satisfying to be able to articulate that clearly. I assume you are feeling that sense of satisfaction, along with the (hopefully fading) irritation.

By: Bellerophon

Bellerophon — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:40:41 +0000

I have recently begun to consider the increasing re-relevance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” in modern culture and politics.

I highly recommend it. It is not at all boring.

Well, perhaps with the exception of “Hail Poetry”. At least that’s sardonic, though.

Some years ago, I read a lovely book about a violinist who, when he found himself in a hole, kept digging. It was beautifully written, but I found myself wishing that the poor violinist would just go ahead and kill himself to get the thing over with.

I have been careful not to repeat that experience. Good luck!

By: Gavin

Gavin — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:37:30 +0000

The thing with Sebald that he tells it directly, without fuss or supposition and then distances himself (and us) from that statement, however enormous. Nothing becomes lachrymose unless the reader wants it to be. But he manages to do this – and this is the real magic of his writing – and still conjures a palpable sense of Weltschmerz. AUSTERLITZ is truly one of the greatest achievements in writing of the past 20 years. Thanks for this post… I have avoided NETHERLAND to date; I will continue on that path.