Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Netherland

By: Joseph O' Neill
Narrated by: David Thorpe
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £24.99

Buy Now for £24.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

What do you do when your wife takes your child and leaves you alone in a city of ghosts?

Dutch banker Hans ver den Broek chooses cricket. But New York cricket is a long way from the tranquil sport he grew up with. It's a rough, almost secret game, played in scrubby marginal urban parks by people the city doesn’t see - people like Chuck Ramkissoon.

Years later, when a body is pulled out of a New York canal, Hans is forced to remember his unusual friendship with Chuck - dreamer, visionary, and perhaps something darker...

©2010 Joseph O'Neill (P)2010 Oakhill Publishing Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Crickonomics cover art
The Destructors and Other Stories cover art
Chinaman cover art
Fierce Pajamas cover art
Immortality, Inc. cover art
Off to Be the Wizard cover art
The Cycle of Arawn cover art
The Time Traveler's Wife cover art
Fresh Air cover art
Agent to the Stars cover art
Hitting Against the Spin cover art

Critic reviews

"I'm reading this book called Netherland by Joseph O'Neill … it's fascinating. It's a wonderful book" (Barack Obama)

What listeners say about Netherland

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it

excellent narrator
The idea of reading about cricket nearly put me off but even I became interested in these white costumed enthusiasts. The book is a real love affair with New York and my favourite parts were his observations of the characters.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, wonderful New York novel

A most unlikely story - cricket in New York, played by a lonely Dutchman. From such absurd (?), impossible elements O'Neill has crafted a most elegantly put-together tale that I wanted to go on and on.

Confession: not having come across O'Neill as a writer, I spent the first half of the book believing it to be a true story. I spent the second half of the book wishing it was.

The detail (including lengthy details about cricket) and characterisation are simply exquisite!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Aimlessly entertaining.....

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I'd like a bit more plot and a bit less of the quirky, characterful digressions....

Would you ever listen to anything by Joseph O' Neill again?

Possibly.....with different subject matter; his writing flows really nicely.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

All the scenes where he's talking with his wife - the dialogue is insightful.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Nope. Not enough plot for me.

Any additional comments?

This is a quirky, rambling read with endless time jumps and digressions into interest and entertaining but ultimately pointless asides. But it is entertaining.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Unless your a REAL cricket fan.....and even then??

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

A very serious cricket person....Perhaps.?

What was most disappointing about Joseph O' Neill’s story?

I bought the paper back version of his book back in 2010, even then I struggled to get through the first for pages and never did finish the book.
when I noticed the same book available on Audible I decided to give it another go, sadly this book really did nothing for me at all, I felt it was far to slow and it never really caught my imagination, even after the death/murder of Chuck Ramkissoon where I felt there might be a glimmer of excitement there was little, I finished the book simply because i wanted to see if anything was going to happen that might just liven things up....Sadly not and even the ending paragraphs to me left me empty.
The only one thing that intrigued was David Thorpes accent.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of David Thorpe?

?

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disapointment

Any additional comments?

For £26.....Its not worth it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!