Summer fiction suggestions: “Netherland” and “Water for Elephants”

Summer fiction suggestions: “Netherland” and “Water for Elephants”

Two contemporary novels to consider for your summer reading list

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I recently heard author Joseph O’Neill interviewed at a bookstore in Corte Madera, California. Impressed by him and by the few pages of his book that I read while awaiting his arrival, I purchased a signed hardback copy of “Netherland,” published by Pantheon ($23.95 US, $27.95 CN).

It’s the inner and outer post-9/11 journey of a young professional from Holland, as he navigates his way through cricket-playing foreigners in New York City. That doesn’t sound interesting, but it is.

O’Neill is an exceptional writer. “Netherland” has more asides and parenthetical vignettes than any dozen novels, and these set pieces become the core, instead of the periphery of his saga.

This novel is literary fiction, meaning it’s as much about your reading experience as about Hans’ travel through the pages. Read slowly, don’t hunt for too much action in the plot, and you’ll be rewarded.

You can reserve “Netherland” at your local public library, buy it now in hardcover, or wait for the softcover edition next year. If you are a serious reader, you’ll treasure the hours quietly spent under the spell of author James O’Neill.

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“Water for Elephants” is a huge current bestseller by Sara Gruen. Algonquin Books is the softcover publisher ($13.95 US).

The elephants are in the circus, where young Jacob Jankowski finds himself in 1931. Seventy years later, he’s narrating an unbelievable autobiography, and his nursing home scenes as a very oldster are the best ones in this plot-driven novel.

I can’t reveal anything about the incredulous plot. It’s linear, but it bounces back and forth in time. Reading is easy and straightforward, and one brisk action-packed page quickly turns you to another and another.

The fiction is not so literary as in “Netherland,” which is not a criticism. “Water for Elephants” is lighter in tone, although serious in content. Both of these novels are adults-only.

The ending in “Water for Elephants” is — whoops, can’t say any more. You’ll see why when you finish the book. Don’t sneak peek or skip ahead!

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Other suggestions for summer fiction or non-fiction? Let us know. Enjoy your reading.