 Newspaper View
 Print
 Email
 Comment
 RSS
 Bookmark
If you would like to bookmark this article you will need to Login to your tulsaworld.com account
close
Off in the 'Netherland'
It's the New York O'Neill figured he'd one day write about
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Published: 9/20/2009 2:28 AM
Last Modified: 9/20/2009 8:45 AM
Joseph O'Neill's ambition when began his third novel was to write the sort of book he didn't think he was able to write.
"We all have things that come relatively easy to us, and for me, it's quite easy to write comedy," O'Neill said, speaking by phone from his New York City home. "And so I tried to resist writing the sort of novel that would have come easily to me — a kind of black comedy."
O'Neill had written two other novels — "This is The Life," about a London barrister's idolization of a fellow lawyer, and the disillusion that sets in when he is given a glimpse at his hero's true life, and "The Breezes," the saga of a family dealing with misfortunes on an absurd scale — as well as "Blood-Dark Track: A Family History."
"I wanted to write something that would be of value, something that would push me in new directions," he said. "And although I had by that time lived in New York City for some time, it took me a while to muster the presumption to write about it."
When O'Neill finally did "muster the presumption," the result was "Netherland," one of the most highly praised novels of 2008.
The novel won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by the New York Times, among other publications. The paperback edition was rushed into print when President Barack Obama revealed that he enjoyed O'Neill's novel as a welcome break from reading policy tomes.
"As you can imagine," O'Neill said, with a laugh, "I am very grateful to the president."
Last week it was announced that Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes was planning to direct the film version of the novel, which will be adapted by Christopher Hampton, author of the play "Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons)," who also adapted Ian McEwan's "Atonement" for film.
"Netherland" begins with Hans van den Broek, a Dutch financial analyst, moving from London to New York City with his wife and child for what he thinks will be a short stay. But the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occur, and the family is forced to move into a hotel. Soon after this, Hans' wife informs him that she wants to go back to England — without him.
Left adrift in so many ways, Hans finds solace in the city's thriving, if little-known, world of cricket players. It's here that he meets Chuck Ramkissoon, one of the leaders in this little community who has a dream of building a world-class cricket pitch in Brooklyn.
O'Neill is himself an avid cricket player — "I've played every summer since I was 10," he said. "It would be rather tragic for me to have a lovely summer afternoon and no cricket to play."
And that passion, he realized, was his way to confront writing about New York City.
"It was a world I knew about, from my own passion for the game," he said. "And since it is a part of the city that few people know about, I thought it would be my way to make a contribution to the literature of New York City, through the cricket world."
"Netherland" does have some autobiographical elements. A native of Ireland, O'Neill spent much of his formative years in Holland and came to New York when his wife got a job in the city.
"I tend to write from my life," said O'Neill, who worked as a barrister in London before turning to writing full time. "Some of the events borrow from my circumstances, and some of the characters are composites of people I know or have met."
One aspect of "Netherland" that has attracted much attention is how O'Neill's novel is seen as a kind of contemporary version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." "Netherland" resonates with images and language that deliberately evoke Fitzgerald's classic novel, down to the two novels' underlying theme of the "American Dream" being the chance to start one's life over.
"I don't like to get too close to 'The Great Gatsby' when talking about my book, but it's true that my novel is obviously a kind of conversation with Fitzgerald's," he said. "I think 'Netherland' could not have been written without 'The Great Gatsby,' but that's as far as I want to elaborate on that."
I’m still smiling when I answer the ringing phone. A New York Times reporter … tells me that
Chuck’s “remains” have been found in the Gowanus Canal.
There were handcuffs around his wrists and evidently he was
the victim of a murder.
I don’t say anything. It seems to me this woman has told
an obvious lie and that if I think about it long enough a rebuttal
will come to me …
“So — is there anything you can tell me about his milieu?”
“His milieu?” I say, startled into correcting her mooing
pronunciation.
“Well, you know — who he hung out
with, what kind of trouble he might have
gotten himself into, any shady characters
…” She adds with a faint laugh, “It is
kind of unusual, what happened.”
I realize that I’m upset, even angry.
“Yes,” I finally say. “You have quite a
story on your hands.”
The next day a small piece runs in the
Metro section. It has been established
that Chuck Ramkissoon’s body lay in
the water by the Home Depot building
for over two years, among crabs and car
tires and shopping carts, until a so-called urban diver made
a “macabre discovery” while filming a school of striped bass.
Over the next week there is a trickle of follow-up items, none
of them informative. But apparently it is interesting to readers,
and reassuring to certain traditionalists, that the Gowanus
Canal can still turn up a murder victim. There’s death in
the old girl yet, as one commentator wittily puts it.
— From “Netherland” by Joseph O’Neill
BOOKSMART TULSA PRESENTS
JOSEPH O'NEILL
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Central Library, Fourth
Street and Denver Avenue
James D. Watts Jr. 581-8478
james.watts@tulsaworld.com
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Copy Text
Search for this phrase/name
Close
Newspaper View
Print
Email
Comment
RSS
Bookmark
If you would like to bookmark this article you will need to Login to your tulsaworld.com account
close
 |
|
