they havent announced this year's Booker Prize winner, but they did give a list of the novels that are shortlisted for the prize. this book, written by Joseph O'Neill, is one of those shortlisted.
because i had nothing to do, i finished the book in a day. well, actually it took me 10 hours to read from the beginning till the end, stopping only to do the necessary stuff.
James Wood from The New Yorker has written that this book is "one of the most remarkable post-colonial books i have ever read". though i beg to differ with his opinion, i must say that the main reason why i chose the book was because of the word "post-colonial" there. yes, O'Neill brings the postcolonial issues in the form of the protagonist, Hans, a Dutch who followed his English wife to work in NY (in upper class Manhattan, naturally). but the only postcolonial element i see is the displacement suffered by the immigrants - the pakistanis, the indians, the West Indians, and Hans. O'Neill attempts to bring in the postcolonial issues by teaching Hans to respect his past, as the Dutch were the first settlers in New York, and also the legacy of cricket, that very English game, a legacy by the British, now played in Commonwealth countries. i would have liked it if 'O Neill had delved in it more.
the diction used was very articulate and vocabulary is wide-ranging, from very American to West Indianised English. however, i find O'Neil's time switching a bit disconcerting, as it's confusing to know whether a certain event happens after another or whether it comes before.
all in all, a good read. reading this should be smooth sailing, and not as daunting as Tolkie's LOTR.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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