Not fiction?

Tuesday, 10th February 2009

Norm Geras takes his bat to "Netherland", the cricket-in-Manhattan novel that's been winning rave reviews everywhere. I'm still looking forward to reading it at some point, but it's interesting to hear a contrary view:

What a nothing book. Others, so the cover will tell you, have said 'wonderful', 'stunning', 'breathtaking', 'a brilliant, haunting novel', 'exquisitely written'; and there's more of the same inside - like 'dazzling', 'mesmerising', 'truly brilliant', and even 'sensitive and intelligent'. Do not believe this. "Netherland" is dull, dull, dull. It is mind-killingly dull. This is despite the fact that the author knows a fair bit about cricket and has some good passages on it; and despite the fact that much of the action takes place in New York, and those who know that great city better than I do seem to think it's good about New York.
However, it lacks two things: characters who are sufficiently well-formed to engage the reader's interest; and, above all, a plot to do the same.

Btw, it's a relief to hear that Pickled Politics' Shariq is joining me in the "Slumdog-is-overated" corner of the Internet. It's lonely down here.