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kiwiflora 's review for:
Let The Great World Spin
by Colum McCann
On 7 August 1974 an incredible thing happened. A magical young man, a genius, some would say a freak of nature, walked a tightrope between the north and south towers of the recently opened World Trade Centre, 110 floors up. In light of what happened in 2001, there is an even more amazing photo in the book taken from street level of this ting wee human and his balancing pole, part way along his wire, and not that far above him a much larger plane going about its business. How poignant.
Tightrope man lives in his magical escapist world, continually perfecting his tricks, his techniques to micro-nth degrees. Meanwhile at street level, on this particular day, life is not quite so harmonious, together and carefree. Two Irish brothers, a mother-daughter pair of street walkers, a group of mothers united in their grief for their sons killed in Vietnam, a disillusioned city circuit judge, and a young woman artist are all loosely linked to each other in the events that enfold either side of this day. Thees people are all trying to lead good lives as best as they can, yet life seems to continually throw curve balls at them, making me think of that sad phrase that we all live lives of quiet desperation.
The other character in the story is New York City itself. Virtually bankrupt, crime and violence out of control, the justice system barely able to cope, the ugliness and squalor of living in the Bronx, contrasted with the wealth, starkness and civility of the Upper East Side, the city is the back bone to the story. It is the city, strangely enough, that provides the link and humanity between this diverse group of people. This is not the first book the author has written with New York City at its core. 'This Side of Brightness', another stunning piece of writing, is a story of the men who built the train tunnels underneath the Hudson River linking Manhatten and Brooklyn. It is hardly surprising that this Irish-born author now lives in New York.
This book has won a number of awards since it was published - the National Book Award 2009, 2010 Ambassador Book Award Winner, 2009 Prix Deauville, and Amazon.com's 'Book of the Year'. I am not at all surprised.
Tightrope man lives in his magical escapist world, continually perfecting his tricks, his techniques to micro-nth degrees. Meanwhile at street level, on this particular day, life is not quite so harmonious, together and carefree. Two Irish brothers, a mother-daughter pair of street walkers, a group of mothers united in their grief for their sons killed in Vietnam, a disillusioned city circuit judge, and a young woman artist are all loosely linked to each other in the events that enfold either side of this day. Thees people are all trying to lead good lives as best as they can, yet life seems to continually throw curve balls at them, making me think of that sad phrase that we all live lives of quiet desperation.
The other character in the story is New York City itself. Virtually bankrupt, crime and violence out of control, the justice system barely able to cope, the ugliness and squalor of living in the Bronx, contrasted with the wealth, starkness and civility of the Upper East Side, the city is the back bone to the story. It is the city, strangely enough, that provides the link and humanity between this diverse group of people. This is not the first book the author has written with New York City at its core. 'This Side of Brightness', another stunning piece of writing, is a story of the men who built the train tunnels underneath the Hudson River linking Manhatten and Brooklyn. It is hardly surprising that this Irish-born author now lives in New York.
This book has won a number of awards since it was published - the National Book Award 2009, 2010 Ambassador Book Award Winner, 2009 Prix Deauville, and Amazon.com's 'Book of the Year'. I am not at all surprised.