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A review by nityaji
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
5.0
I read this book in 2010 and loved it so much that I recently listened to it on CD. The auditory experience was magnificent, and reminded me how much I admired this novel. Set in New York City in Aug. 1974, the book begins with the morning Phillipe Petit walks across the high wire he has illegally strung between the towers of the World Trade Center. Having just watched Man on Wire in January (a documentary about Phillipe Petit and his infamous escapade on the wire), I was primed and ready for Let the Great World Spin.
The novel starts with the narrative of an Irish fellow named Ciaran recounting his childhood in Ireland with his brother Corrigan, who is now a priest living among junkies and prostitutes in the projects in the Bronx. Ciaran has just landed in NYC and is living with his brother. Much to his surprise Corrigan is on a first name basis with this hookers and even leaves his door unlocked so the "girls" can come pee and wash up between customers. Two of the women are mother and daughter, both working the streets, Jazz and Tilly.
This book uses several different narrators, whose narratives eventually intersect. One is Claire, a Park Avenue housewife whose only child was killed in Vietnam. Claire is part of a support group for mothers whose sons were killed in the war, and she poignantly describes the awful day when the group meets at her penthouse, the same day Petit walks on the wire, the same day tragedy occurs with Jazz and Corrigan,the same day Claire's husband presides in the courtroom with Petit.
I love the way McCann weaves this story, the switch from narrator to narrator, the very real characters, the description of the man on the wire and how his walk that summer morning in Manhattan impacted those who saw it and even those who merely heard about it.
This is a beautiful novel whose characters moved me and touched me. I almost think the listening experience was better than the read. My local library had it on CD.
The novel starts with the narrative of an Irish fellow named Ciaran recounting his childhood in Ireland with his brother Corrigan, who is now a priest living among junkies and prostitutes in the projects in the Bronx. Ciaran has just landed in NYC and is living with his brother. Much to his surprise Corrigan is on a first name basis with this hookers and even leaves his door unlocked so the "girls" can come pee and wash up between customers. Two of the women are mother and daughter, both working the streets, Jazz and Tilly.
This book uses several different narrators, whose narratives eventually intersect. One is Claire, a Park Avenue housewife whose only child was killed in Vietnam. Claire is part of a support group for mothers whose sons were killed in the war, and she poignantly describes the awful day when the group meets at her penthouse, the same day Petit walks on the wire, the same day tragedy occurs with Jazz and Corrigan,the same day Claire's husband presides in the courtroom with Petit.
I love the way McCann weaves this story, the switch from narrator to narrator, the very real characters, the description of the man on the wire and how his walk that summer morning in Manhattan impacted those who saw it and even those who merely heard about it.
This is a beautiful novel whose characters moved me and touched me. I almost think the listening experience was better than the read. My local library had it on CD.