Crucket calls it the best ever cricket book he has ever read. I don’t exactly agree, but let me say this: If you tore out all the pages not relating to cricket and made a book out of it, “Netherland” would indeed be one of the most well-written novels on cricket. The writing is excellent and the author is clearly knowledgeable about cricket. So the passages about cricket really light up the book.

Unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to say good words about the rest of the book and the overall plot. First of all, regardless of the book cover, it is not really about cricket. It could have been any other immigrant sport and the book would have been the same. The book is primarily about New York City, the days and months after 9/11 and about a person (a non-American) who is trying to come to terms with that world as his life is being disrupted. And it is not a great story.

The main plot centers around a Dutchman, Hans van den Broek. After the September 11 attacks, he and his family are unable to adjust, and his wife and son return to their residence in London. Hans remains in New York, making frequent flights back to London. While in New York, he starts playing cricket and meets Chuck Ramkissoon, an enigmatic character who has a plan to build a cricket arena in New York. To see what happens, read the book as I don’t want to dish out spoilers.

Here is the trouble, though. The book uses a non-linear time structure, so you actually get the spoilers right there in the book. You more or less know what happens to Hans and Chuck and their plans. Everytime a plot point seems to be building up to an interesting climax, the author pulls a fast one, announcing the ending with flashing lights. There is no real reason for the flashback and flash-forward, except the author trying out writing gymnastics and generally undercutting the effectiveness of the novel.

The novel also jumps into unnecessary trivialities. Every novel needs color to create a background, but when they do not add substantially to the novel, they seem like an exercise in filling up empty space. There were a couple of dead-end side stories that were unnecessary and distracting. The author seemed to have forgotten that less is more.

There is one surprise in the book that, in retrospect, seems less of a surprise than a setup. And I would go far as calling it “cheating the reader”. Here is an example of what cheating means. Say in a story, a prince is climbing up the stairs of a castle to save a princess. You would expect the prince to fight dragons spitting fire and have a generally hard time reaching the top. That’s fine. What you don’t expect is the prince reaching the top floor and then slipping on a banana peel and breaking his neck. That’s stupid and meaningless. And all the fine phrases of the English language cannot save such a story.

Some people have suggested that the novel is similar to “The Great Gatsby” because of the New York parallels and the general sense of wistfulness. I would agree in so far that both novels are over-rated and bereft of characters that evoke no sympathy from the readers. Some may say maybe that is the point. I reject that thinking. Great literature grips the reader in strong emotions. If instead you just despise or care less about all the characters and the plot seems incredible and unbelievable, then the book is simply not good.