The first pages of Joseph O'Neill's Netherland suggest that it will be an amazing book. Unfortunately, good books come with some major research....this one involves research on cricket, which I admit I don't understand in the slightest bit. The research on CLR James I can handle- I love all that commie, marxism, red-flag stuff- his influence on O'Neill I cannot. How on earth does one play this game? Goal: Understand cricket and the postmodern American tradition by the end of the book.
What I know:
- Cricket is DEFINITELY an English game.
- It is the second most popular sport in the world.
- You play on an oval field with a rectangular dirt strip in the middle called a pitch.
- An aerial view of the field stirs an impulse to flick giant coins through the pitch.
- Players wear white.
- C.L.R. James wrote a book called Breaking a Boundary (which I'll admit, I previously thought it was about racism in America. It is. But its also about cricket). This book is considered one of the greatest sports books ever written, according to O'Neill. It is at least considered the greatest cricket book ever written according to The Secret Bureau of Cricket Book Lovers aka the staff of the Guardian.
- What would be considered an "out" in baseball is called being "dismissed" in cricket. How English.
What I do NOT know:
- How to play Cricket.
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