"LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN" by COLUM McCANN
A tight-rope walker stuns New Yorkers as he walks, skips, and even lays down on the wire between the World Trade Centers in 1974. How did this amazing act affect those below in a deteriorating, bankrupt city? Perhaps this feat was the light, the thread, the "connective tissue" that held a disparate group of people together in the story.
And so we are introduced to an assortment of authentic characters in this gritty yet beautiful novel. One reviewer described this book as having an "edgy grace". This is not a plot driven book, at times it can make the reader a little dizzy and, perhaps, wonder where it is going and if things are going to "spin" out of control.
Thank you Maddy, Mary Lib, Sherri, Joanie and Linda for braving the winds and driving out to Wellington for a meeting of the B&B's. Here are some thoughts from the group:
- Everyone was taken by Phillipe Pettit's (though he was never named in the book) artistry and whimsey. This set the tone for much of the book. Mary Lib suggested that the "darkness shifted" when the tight-rope walker was seen.
- Sherri was struck by Claire's apparent discomfort, even anger, over the man on the wire. In Claire's mind, he was "throwing his life in everyone's face, making her own son's life so cheap..."
- Maddy had an artist's view of the book: McCann was a "painterly" writer--his play of dark against light, the kaleidscope of characters and events, the many artists in the book. She loved the chapter about the taggers; she related to the photographer taking pictures of the graffiti as inspiration for his art.
- I noted how McCann changed his style of writing in line with the characters in each chapter. Short, choppy, slangy sentences in Tilly's chapter; softer, more flowing sentences/language in Gloria's chapter.
- from ML: Corrigan was not equipped to deal with everything he had immersed himself in; he was a neutral force in the chaotic lives he surrounded himself with. When it came down to it, was he ineffectual or just trying to find his equilibrium.
- I think we all agreed that everyone of us is walking a tight-rope, just that some are a lot higher than others!
- Final thought: the techie chapter. Not a favorite. But, ARPANET was the progenitor of what was to become the global internet, back in the 70's. The information about the hackers appeared to be accurate for the times.
- A complex, sometimes puzzling book. But, it was a mostly thumbs up for those in attendance today!
